Did you get bad advice from advisers in college?

[Fenris]

My father is pissed because he claims that I've taken a math course that was not required for my degree plan. I argue that despite what my father thinks, the adviser told me I needed this particular math class to get into a legitimate (read: credit) math class. I apparently am stupid for not reading the entire goddamn undergraduate catalog cover to cover and telling the adviser she is wrong. I have no doubt that the book says that I don't need this class, but the adviser (who works for the college) told me that I did. If said adviser is giving me bad information it is either because A) she is an idiot or B) the college wants more money (shock! horror!).

So now, my dad's pissed at me because I apparently do not stand up for myself and cannot take matters into my own hands. This IN SPITE of repeated explanations that THIS IS WHAT THE COLLEGE SAID. And I took a fucking test to place out and I FAILED.

GodDAMMIT!

:grr::grr::grr:

[physioex]

1. Sounds like you dad is wrong...

Talk to another advisor and verify that the first one was correct. But don't metion that you talked to the 1st advisor. In the end you are getting an education. Taking a math course is not a bad thing no matter how you look at it....

[Fenris]

2. That was my argument.

I'm not any good at mathematics anyway. This could only strengthen my very weak abilities.

[physioex]

12. BTW...

College is the time you are in your young manhood. It is time to start taking responsiblity for your own life. At this point what your father says is not very important and the resposibility is yours. Not that you shouldn't listen to what he has to say...

[neoteric lefty]

9. Phy is right,

you can keep talking to advisors until one of them gives you the answer you want. At least thats how I do it. Never take the first opinion if you are unhappy with it.

[physioex]

11. Hehehe...

Kinda like a doctor, or mechanic...

[neoteric lefty]

13. its funny but it works

at least at a big university like the one that I attend.

[physioex]

14. Read my post #12 it sums things better for him...EOM

[MidwestMomma]

3. Your dad should have warned you that college advisors can screw up

And to always double check what they say. That's what I told my daughter. (This is based on my experience in college anyway.) So maybe you can tell your dad it's his fault for not warning you about this pitfall of college...Okay, maybe not!

[Fenris]

4. You know, I don't see that happening.

;)

[carpetbagger]

5. The catalogue is your best advisor.

Your faculty advisor has probably never read the thing. It is the final authority (except for revisions, which usually have a grandfather clause anyway).

I got out of college in three years, coming in with 16 AP credits and picking up 8 in a 6-week summer session in between my middle and senior years. I did it only because I knew what class sequences I needed to take. At my senior audit, a required meeting in the fall of my senior year to make sure I could graduate, I actually had to fill in my advisor on what the requirements were. I had my handy UMCP 1990-91 Undergraduate Catalogue, my advisor, to counter the advice their advisors gave.

So yes, read your major's graduation requirements, read the schedule of classes for the last two years, and then talk to upperclassmen to learn the mistakes everyone makes. Then find a way to neutralize your faculty advisor. I did it by signing up for scuba. You needed like 160 credits to get into scuba. So the computer kicks my proposed schedule out, and I'm free to modify my faculty advisor's approved schedule.

Oh, your advisor is not looking for money, and she's probably not a total idiot. She probably doesn't know the requirements, and is merely trying to guide you towards a rewarding undergraduate experience, which may or may not help your goal of graduating from college in a reasonable timeframe.

[carpetbagger]

6. BTW, everybody in HS needs to read this thread.

You won't regret it.

[SheilaT]

7. Several things here.

First of all, were you not able to go straight into the credit math class? Sounds like you were needed the first one (probably an algebra class of some kind) to get the credit one. Most colleges won't grant college credit for algebra I or II. And if you didn't take it in high school, or didn't score well enough on a placement test, you need to take it before the credit class, usually College Algebra.

As someone who's been reading college catalogs for fun but not profit for forty years now, you really need to familiarize yourself with your college's catalog. Your adviser may or may not know it cover to cover. She should, but bad advice is often given.

As someone who has been attending college on and off my entire adult life, I know about this. And right now I'm battling my junior college over whether or not I need to take another semester of English Composition, which is a lengthy story I won't go into here. Suffice it to say I will NOT take another semester of English comp.

[Donkeyboy75]

8. Unfortunately, if you go to a really good school,

chances are that your advisor (if she is a prof) is much more interested in research than advising students. That's how they get tenured, plain and simple. My sister got shit advice from her advisor, and spent an extra two quarters in school.

Question for you: is your advisor plugged in to the math department? If not, you probably shouldn't have taken her advice. Make sure you do read your catalog. It's the only sure way for you to get out on time. If you have questions about a particular course, ask someone in the department.

[SheilaT]

19. A really good school is,

for my money, one which cares more about educating students than professors doing research. Imagine that!

So the good schools, not the research institutions, will do a good job of advising students. For the most part these are smaller liberal arts colleges.

[Donkeyboy75]

38. I agree with you completely,

at least at the undergrad level. By "really good" I meant highly ranked.

[Gogi]

10. I took 4th year english composition in High School (not a required course)

...,attended a two year college (honor society) and still got stuck in a remedial english composition class when I transferred to the University of MO for my junior year.
Here's a horror story about college advisors: While I was attending the University of MO School of Library Science one of my dorm mates was completing her master's degree. She elected to do an oral exam instead of a thesis. When she got to the place for the exam they told her she had been assigned the wrong advisor and she would have to attend the summer session to make up for their mistake!
She was so angry she said she would never tell anyone to attend MU.

[flamingyouth]

15. I managed to get through college without ever taking math

And that is a good thing, because if I had had to take math, I'd still be there, almost 15 years later, trying to pass Math 105, I swear to the gods.

Aren't you a history major? Do you really have to take math? Can't you fulfill the credit with a philosophy class or something?

[Fenris]

21. No way out.

Required for my degree. :eyes:

[flamingyouth]

26. I'm sorry

How about a tutor?:shrug:

[Fenris]

27. Well, these are remedial classes, so it's the same thing.

:(

No math smart be I.

[flamingyouth]

28. I feel for you

Even thinking about it years later gives me anxiety.:scared:

[Fenris]

29. They do offer logic as a sub for college algebra

You said it was OK for you?

[flamingyouth]

31. Yes, that was actually okay

And you are logical, sir, so you should not only survive but thrive as well.:D

[Fenris]

32. Well, hooray for that then!

My minor is (supposedly) philosophy, so I suppose I should take logic at some point. :D

Thanks for the advice!

[flamingyouth]

34. Good luck!

I know you'll do fine!:loveya:

[Fenris]

35. Awwww

*blush*

Thanks Lisa! :loveya:

[flamingyouth]

36. If it makes you feel any better

I need to get help to copy those CDs for you - you should be getting them within a couple of weeks or so.:D

[GOPisEvil]

22. How the hell did you pull that off?

Even the BA's had to take math when I was college.

[flamingyouth]

25. At the University of Washington you could take a logic course

Which is what I did, and I did quite well in it. I double-majored in journalism and political science, so I didn't have to take math. And like I said, there's no way in hell I would have passed it.

Over the past couple of years, however, I've tried to make peace with math. I bought a book called "Demystifying Algebra" and started studying in my spare time. Lo and behold, it doesn't seem all that hard to me anymore.:shrug:

Maybe it's the lack of asinine math teachers who always seemed to make me feel like an idiot in their classes?

[GOPisEvil]

33. Ahhhh...makes sense.

I have a BS in Poli Sci, so I think I have 12 hours of math. Most of it was fairly easy though. I darn near failed calculus in high school, only passing because I made an effort. I took calculus for business in junior college and made an A...go figure. :shrug:

[hunter]

16. Getting into fights over ONE class?

It's not worth it. I went through college thinking most of the advice I got was bad. Most of it was actually good. I got into fights with various people, including my father, over at least a dozen classes. (That's one reason it took me nine years to get a BA. There are other reasons too, but fortunately various university people thought I was an interesting pet, and I was always a hard worker.)

If you know what degree you are after then map it out for the full four years using the catalog and if you have any uncertainties double-check your plan with someone who actually has the authority to graduate you when the time comes.

But fighting over one math class, a math class that will get you onto a regular college math track... that doesn't make any sense. You don't want to avoid math, nor do you want to drop into something like calculus cold turkey, sink-or-swim, without adequate preparation.

Math is always good, the more math you can take (or afford) the better. My father, and my grandparents, would have happily paid me to take more math classes; it was the upper division English classes that made them crazy, even when I was paying.

They wanted me to be an electrical engineer.

Good luck!

[GingerSnaps]

17. I failed two entrance tests

Basic math and basic English which was very odd because both of the subjects I had gotten straight A's throughout my school years.

After basic math and English I had to take the college level.

I paid close to $600.00 dollars for all of my books and I wasted 2 semesters taking the BS classes that I didn't need.

They told me that I failed the tests on the computer I asked to take them over and they said that I was only allowed one chance.

It's a crock of shit to make money off of us.

[hunter]

18. College is short, life is long.

And you can always go to another college another time.

[cheezus]

20. I never once went to see my advisor

and it took me 6 years to graduate.

[Nikia]

23. What's so bad about taking an extra math class?

I guess that since you and your dad upset about this, this was a class that you had to take in addition to everything else, not a course that you took instead of an elective that you would have liked better. If it was the latter, why is this a big deal? I took some classes that ended up as electives when I made the decision to be an anthropology major too but then decided that anthropology wasn't as cool as I thought.
For some reason, since high school, I thought that reading college course catalogs and trying to figure out what I would like to take was fun so I knew my college catlog very well. In additional, a couple times per year we were sent the list of general education requirements which listed our completion status. My adviser was the department head so he knew the majopr requirements and recommendation pretty well. By my junior year though, he pretty much let me take whatever I wanted to take. My senior year, he presigned my course selection form and didn't even see what I was taking. I had fullfilled all my requirements though except the last two classes in my major so it was mostly electives for the year.

[Jokerman]

24. My adviser was a drunk

I could usually smell alcohol on him and once, after he blew off a scheduled appointment, I saw him passed out in the library stacks.

After that I learned to just skip the meeting and sign his name whenever I needed it.

[JVS]

30. I need that for a job

[Kellanved]

37. Yes

, but without costly consequences.

They told me that the oral exam in History of Technology 1 I took was not enough to satisfy my department's requirements. I later learned that the oral exam was enough, but only after I notified the Prof - took some work and apologies to clear the matter.