<p>JHS,</p>
<ol>
<li> Departmental advisors at Chicago are called directors of undergraduate studies. You can learn more about the process here: [The</a> University of Chicago College](<a href=“http://www.college.uchicago.edu/academics/majors.shtml]The”>http://www.college.uchicago.edu/academics/majors.shtml)</li>
</ol>
<p>Maybe you want to change your bold statement "there is never any departmental advisor. "?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There are specialty advisors for law, health professions, business, study abroad, arts and sciences and fellowships/scholarships. See this page: [The</a> University of Chicago College](<a href=“http://www.college.uchicago.edu/academics/academic_advising.shtml]The”>http://www.college.uchicago.edu/academics/academic_advising.shtml)</p></li>
<li><p>Sorry about your kid’s advising experiences. I think the experience is what the kid makes of it. For mine, her adviser was absolutely crucial to her success in many ways. </p></li>
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<p>The key to satisfactory advice and protecting the kids from themselves if necessary is that these professionals have experience with lots of different kids and access to a lot of information about the kid, whether from the admissions materials or from o-week testing. Not much is new to them.</p>