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What We Do: While
all of our Virtual Advisors had a grand
old time while we were in college, our rides could've gone much
smoother. For many of us, choosing our majors wasn't the easiest
thing in the world to do. Neither was trying to figure out whether
to go to grad school, or what the best way was to appeal a bad grade,
or any of the other academic rough spots we stumbled over on our
way to — and beyond —
graduation. It would've been kind of cool, we realized, if we'd
had someone to chat with about the academic problems we faced from
time to time.
Most schools
provide academic counseling services to help students out with just
these kinds of problems, but those centers often find themselves
overwhelmed by the sheer number of students they're required to
serve. Many students also find themselves too shy or simply unwilling
to go to a counselor to ask for help. And sometimes students just
want a second opinion.
Then there
are the millions of people those counseling centers aren't even
designed to reach: folks who've spent time in the real world and
are looking to get back into academia; high-school students trying
to get a better sense of their options; international students.
There's a ton of great advice and information out there, but without
someone on your side to help you get it, it can be awfully tough
to find.
So that's why
we're here: to lend a hand if you need us and help you through your
academic problems. You don't need to pay us to use us; you don't
need to sign up for a newsletter; you don't need to agree to receive
an endless stream of e-mails asking you to buy something from our
sponsors. Believe it or not, there are no strings attached; it's
just cool to have the chance to make a difference.
—Myles
Helfand, Director, Co-Founder and General Advisor
Our Privacy Rant:
If there's one thing we've learned by starting up this service —
though hopefully we've learned a lot more than just one thing —
it's that you're not alone. There are about 14 million college students
in the U.S. and many more outside of it; usually at least one of
them is going through (or has gone through) the same troubles you
are. That's why we publish many of the questions we've received
and our answers to them. We hope that by doing so we can help other
folks who might stop by the site but either don't want to send an
e-mail or don't even realize they've got the same problem.
But the last
thing we want is for you to avoid writing us because you're afraid
your question might be plastered on the Web for the world to see.
So we always make every effort to obliterate personal information
from your questions before we put them up. If you're still uncomfortable
with your question appearing on Virtually Advising, though, just
say so in your e-mail to us and we'll honor your request.
Also know that
your name, e-mail address and any other personal information you
provide will only be used to help us better counsel you. While we
may, extremely rarely, send an e-mail to all of our advisees with
important updates about our service, we will not give or sell your
information to any other company or organization. Whatever you tell
us about yourself stays here with us.
Disclaimer:
The goal of Virtually Advising is to connect those with academic
questions to experienced students, professors and professionals
who can help answer them. Virtually Advising exists for educational
purposes only and is not in the business of rendering professional
advice — psychological, administrative or otherwise. Our content
and services are offered with advisees' best interests in mind,
but do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of our organization.
The information and advice provided by Virtually Advising should
not be used as a substitute for professional counseling. It is intended
for use as a supplement to academic services provided by individual
schools, not as a replacement.
Special Thanks: Since
we started this humble little venture up last year, we've gotten
a lot of help from a lot of people, and we'll probably get a whole
lot more help from a whole lot more people before all's said and
done. Special thanks, though, are due to Kimberly Scheck, former
Managing Editor at studentadvantage.com, for her support, her feedback,
and for allowing us to reprint some truly awesome content that was
originally published when Myles and Mary Anne were editors of Student
Advantage's Web site. So... Thanks. :)
Got
a question for our team of Virtual Advisors? Ask
away!
© 2008 Virtually Advising, Inc.; All rights reserved. Whatever that means.Say Hi to the Webmaster.
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