Advisor Definitely Exaggerated how “Doable” Heavy Courseload Would Be

When Alley Brockwell (C '21) was on her 400th mock schedule, it was her freshman advisor who calmed her down. Brockwell, a potential Biology major and premed student, told UTB that after her first meeting with her advisor, she walked out of the office reassured and confident in the classes she chose. “My advisor told me that I definitely wouldn’t have any issues if I took all the classes I wanted to at the same time: CHEM 101, PHYS 151, CIS 160, and even BIOL 251!”

She stated that her advisor gave her the green light, reassuring her how easy these classes would be and that it was definitely “doable” with a bit of hard work and sleep deprivation. “She was like, ‘Oh yeah, people definitely take these classes together all the time,” Brockwell said. But now, she reports she has 10 hours of class each day and “hasn’t slept since Tuesday.”

Brockwell’s advisor, Stacy Adams, has been working for the university for about 16 years, but apparently has yet to realize the difficulty of certain courses. “I don’t know what they want from me,” she stated, “I mean, I never took orgo in college, but it can’t be that hard.”

Many students who have been haphazardly “advised” by Adams state that it has ended up causing serious stress for them. One student stated that he may not even be able to graduate on time because he has been on academic probation ever since Adams suggested he take all his math requirements at the same time.

As students start creating mock schedules for the Spring semester, Brockwell decided to give her advisor one more shot, but quickly stopped responding to all her emails after she suggested she take Mandarin over Spanish I.