It is important that you be actively engaged in developing your academic plan with your adviser. Consider the things you most love to study as well as the things you find most challenging. A broad liberal arts education involves developing your talents, but also taking on difficult challenges. Your adviser will expect you to prepare thoughtfully for meetings, to look at a range of courses, and to reflect on various options. This means doing some background research yourself.
Your adviser will not direct you to a prescribed set of courses. Rather, through a process of dialogue and negotiation, you and your adviser will decide together what you will take each semester. You have an adviser for a reason: to discuss ideas, to give advice, and to provide mentoring as you craft an individualized program of study in the liberal arts.
An important place to start is by completing the "Advising Information" form. (That form can be found in the Tutorial Registration module on Pweb and should be returned to Academic Advising — advising@grinnell.edu) Your comments on the "Advising Information" form will give your faculty adviser a sense of your academic background and interests.
