Advising Resources

Advising Resources for Students 

Students are encouraged to come prepared for advising meetings by bringing questions, exploring available options, and considering their next steps.

• Preparing for Registration at Bowdoin College
• Tips for Meeting with your Liberal Arts Advisor
• The First Year Experience
• Course Selection
• Advice From Departments and Programs
• The Curriculum (including Distribution and Division Requirements)
• Pre-Health: Advice for Meeting Academic Requirements
• The Bowdoin College Catalogue and Course Handbook
• Registrar's Office (AP/IB Regulations, Transferring Credit, Satisfactory Academic Progress and more)
• Office of the Dean of Students
• Career Exploration and Development
• Bowdoin Advising in Support of Excellence
• Declaring Your Major

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Advising Resources for Faculty

Bowdoin faculty advisors support students as they select courses, engage in the liberal arts, complete their degree requirements, and navigate college life. Incoming students work with an assigned liberal arts advisor during their first two years. After declaring a major early in the fourth semester, a student is advised by a faculty member in their major department or program. Academic advising at Bowdoin is best defined as a mutual partnership between students and their faculty advisors, designed to support and enhance academic decision making.

The primary goals of a successful advising partnership should be to:

• promote engagement with a liberal education,
• provide opportunities for structured discussions about, and reflection upon, students’ academic goals and curricular choices
• foster connections beyond this partnership that include other students, faculty, and staff,
• foster a sense of belonging and inclusion for every Bowdoin student.

(Fundamentals of Advising, Recording Committee, 2020)

Advisors are encouraged to approach advising as a growing partnership—one shaped by curiosity, trust, and sustained engagement over time. 

Liberal Arts Advising at Bowdoins’s Canvas Course provides practical guidance for advisors, including:

• An overview of advising at Bowdoin,
• An Advising Resource Guide with tips and suggestions for advising during orientation
• Registrar's Office (AP/IB Regulations, Transferring Credit, Satisfactory Academic Progress and more)
• The Bowdoin College Catalogue and Course Handbook
• The Curriculum (including Distribution and Division Requirements)
• Office of the Dean of Students
• Supporting our students using comment cards, the CARE referral form and Campus Safety and Security
• The First Year Experience for incoming and first year students