<p>My opinion on Stanford’s advising programs is this: they will do as much as they can to help you, provided (1) you actively seek out their assistance, and (2) you do as much as you can on your own to answer your own questions.</p>
<p>I’ve seen my econ advisor once, the mandatory meeting I had with him when I first applied for the major. Since then, I’ve emailed him a few times with random questions, and he’s been more than willing to help me out. Other than that, I haven’t had any questions on my own, so I haven’t bothered him.</p>
<p>The vast majority of faculty will be more than willing to help you out, but they’re not mind readers, you have to be clear with exactly what help you need, and how you think they can use their position to assist you. I think a lot of times kids just come in saying their “lost” or something like that, and then expect their all-knowing advisor to have some sort of magic cure all. It doesn’t work like that in the real world, and college is as good a place as any to learn that.</p>