Your faculty adviser will be your primary source of academic guidance for your first year (BSE) or first and sophomore years (AB). Your adviser knows not only his or her field, but also the general requirements of a Princeton undergraduate education, and can help you navigate the Princeton curriculum, plan according to your own ambitions, and take advantage of special opportunities. 

Your first academic program forms gives us an idea of your academic interests. With this information, we try to match students with advisers. This is not an exact science, nor is it meant to be. The adviser’s job is precisely that: to advise. Advisers provide general advice on constructing a program of study and are not authorities on every single course and major. They do not dictate programs of study, nor do they make choices for students between equally plausible alternatives. Advisers can make suggestions, offer opinions, and provide feedback on ideas related to your academic interests. They can warn against overly ambitious or unduly light programs of study. They can push for the fulfillment of requirements. In order to get the most from meeting with an adviser, however, students should come in with ideas, plans, and some possible course selections to discuss.

You’ll meet with your adviser each term before course enrollment, but for the best advising experience, make sure you see your adviser at other times of the term too! Please contact your adviser if you'd like to drop or add a course, if you think you might need academic support, or if you'd like to discuss the pros and cons of different majors, study abroad, or research.  Take advantage of your adviser’s office hours and advising meals at Rocky: share how you’re doing, benefit from your adviser’s experience, or just chat informally. It's worth investing some time to build this relationship; after all, the better your adviser knows you, the more able he or she will be to advise you!

Dean Levine and Dr. Tippenhauer also provide supplemental academic advising and support for all Rocky students.