You’ve received your admissions letter, found your roommate, and started compiling the essentials for your dorm room. You’re excited to start your first year, but when course registration opens, your mind goes blank. What classes should you take and in what order? What should you major in? Where do you even begin?
At NYU, you’ll never face these questions alone. Why? Because your academic adviser will be with you every step of the way. They’ll help you navigate college life, choose the right courses, set career goals, find tutors, connect with financial aid, and much more. Simply put, your academic adviser will be your go-to person for all things NYU. No matter the question, they’ll have an answer. And if not, they’ll connect you with someone who does.
“You academic adviser will be your number one support system throughout your NYU journey, so it’s crucial to develop that relationship,” says Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Management major Anjali Felder. “My adviser has substantially impacted my time at NYU. She has always had my best interests at heart and consistently goes above and beyond to help me achieve my goals.”
Creating Tailor-Made Educational Experiences
As a first-year student, Anjali worked with her adviser to create an academic roadmap for her college years. “I wasn’t required to meet with her, but I knew I’d benefit from seeing a breakdown of my courses,” Anjali explains. “We worked on the file together, and each semester, I used it to remind me which classes I needed to take to fulfill my requirements.” Having this file, she continues, made the course selection process feel more streamlined. “I’ve never had to scramble to find the right class. I have my adviser to thank for that.”
Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, Anjali’s adviser helped her thoughtfully curate a course schedule that aligned with her goals. “I feel like she really cares about my interests and wants to make sure my educational experience is as meaningful as possible,” Anjali concludes.
Fueling Connection and Academic Growth
Like Anjali, Game Design major Ethan More recalls how his adviser simplified the course registration process. “My adviser is very good at explaining things on my level,” says Ethan. “Because he’s so approachable and down-to-earth, it’s been easy to find courses that align with my interests.”
Beyond course selection, Ethan’s academic adviser also made an impact in the classroom. “My adviser is a professor in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study,” explains Ethan. “He specializes in writing for video games, so I decided to enroll in his independent study course. As a result, he helped me structure the study and choose a focus—I chose music and games. And he guided me to resources when he didn’t have the expertise.” That experience, says Ethan, was critical to his development and academic growth.
Overall, when it comes to the student-adviser relationship, Ethan says it’s more like a partnership. It’s all about making an effort to connect. “Your adviser is there to help you,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to reach out and get to know them. When talking to my adviser, I learned that he studied at NYU at the same time as my mom. Moments like that helped me feel more connected to NYU’s faculty and staff and added a more personal touch to those interactions.”
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