When two undergraduates in the Anthropology Department decided last fall that their concentration's advising system was lacking, they sent an e-mail message to all concentrators proposing the creation of a peer advising club.

The next day, their new club had 80 members on its e-mail list.

Increasingly, students who are fed up with inadequate advising in their departments or just looking for a different perspective on academic advice are organizing clubs and programs to get the information they need.

In addition to the Anthropology Club, two math clubs are developing new one-on-one mentoring programs. The Psychology Department has organized a peer counseling program this year. Moreover, established student mentoring programs have attracted increasing numbers of students this year.

Although Faculty members and administrators warn undergraduates not to rely on their peers' advice, dissatisfaction with the current academic advising system leaves many students feeling like they have nowhere else to turn.

According to a report released by the Committee on Advising and Counseling, the 1997 senior survey revealed a satisfaction rating of just 2.5 on a five-point scale for biology concentrators, while psychology and math concentrators reported a 2.64 and 3.31 satisfaction rating, respectively.

"I felt like I was on my own for choosing most of my classes, and I had to ferret out other students and sometimes past TFs to swap experiences with," said Elisa K. Cheng '99, a peer counselor for psychology concentrators.

Peer advising may never replace the need for official counseling, but students are overwhelmingly positive about the benefits of students advising students.

Bonding Over Problem Sets

The peer advising clubs and programs have two related purposes-they offer not only academic advice but also the personal advice and support that harried senior tutors and department chairs don't have the time to give.

"We try to be an impartial listener in the lives of the freshmen. They have many problems that we remember because we went through them ourselves very recently," said Dionne Fraser, president of the Black Students Association (BSA). "My formal college advisers have never been as helpful as they thought they were on issues that were important to me personally."

The BSA targets first-years with a mentoring program that pairs first-years with upperclass students. Fraser said the program helped her during her first year here and sees the program as very helpful to its participants.

Like the BSA, the Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe club (WISHR) creates a support system through its Big Sib/Little Sib mentoring program, social study breaks and peer study groups at which undergraduates volunteer to tutor fellow students in introductory science classes.

"Through Big Sib/Little Sibs, we hope that all female students will have a resource to turn to at all times for guidance," said Linda Bi '01, the program coordinator.

The program also helps students to find student advice in a more centralized location.