It's an innovation that seems to work well. Because the counselors live with their advisees, first-year students say they find the freshman--counselor relationship easier and often more informative.
"People come to them like older siblings," Strom said.
But like any advising system, Yale's structure is only as good as its counselors.
"In terms of freshman counselors, it's a pretty competitive process to get to be a counselor. Some are really good, but others are not," said Sarah M. Aviel, a Yale junior.
Freshman counselors are not the only source of advice and support for first-years.
In addition to the counselors, Yale first-year students are assigned a member of the faculty or administration for more involved, non-resident academic advising.
"The big flaw is that advisers freshman year range from unhelpful to utterly useless," Abraham says.
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