At Berkeley Haas, academic advising is more than course selection, degree requirements, and academic policies. The Undergraduate Academic Advising team partners with students as they make informed decisions, navigate change, build confidence, and shape an educational experience that reflects their interests, values, strengths, and goals. We believe that academic success is not defined solely by grades, résumés, prestige, or completing a checklist as quickly as possible. Success also includes developing intellectual curiosity, meaningful relationships, self-awareness, resilience, a sense of belonging, and the ability to make thoughtful decisions in moments of uncertainty.

Haas Student Success Milestones are a research-informed, data-aware framework for supporting students throughout their undergraduate experience. They translate leading higher education research on belonging, student agency, mentoring, transfer transitions, help-seeking, experiential learning, career development, and post-graduation transition into practical opportunities for growth at Haas. The framework recognizes that students’ needs are not static. Students encounter different academic, personal, and professional questions as they move through Berkeley, and those questions may look different depending on a student’s class year, lived experience, prior educational background, and goals.

First Year Students

  • LEARN: Enroll in one class solely because you are interested in the topic.
    • Resist the urge to rush into upper-division UGBA courses.
  • ENGAGE: Have a conversation with a professor at Haas or elsewhere on campus.
    • This can include office hours, a one-on-one meeting, or a conversation after class.
  • CONNECT: Build community within and beyond Haas.
    • Connect with an Academic Advisor or explore a non-Haas student organization through CalLink: callink.berkeley.edu
  • DISCOVER: Find a place in Berkeley that feels like “home.”
    • This could be your residence hall, a library, a local restaurant, or a gathering space with friends.
  • UNLEARN: Question assumptions and beliefs you may have brought with you.
    • Consider whether they align with your own values and definition of success.
  • REFLECT: Attend a Haas Career Center event or one-on-one meeting.
    • Begin exploring your interests, strengths, and possible career directions.

Second Year Students

  • DEVELOP: Continue building routines and spaces that help you feel grounded at Berkeley.
    • Make the people, places, and practices that support you part of your regular routine.
  • ENGAGE: Consider how your experiences inside and outside the classroom connect to the world around you.
    • Identify the communities, issues, and values that matter most to you.
  • LEARN: Choose a class or learning opportunity that helps you strengthen a skill or knowledge area.
    • Focus on something you are genuinely interested in developing.
  • GROW: Pursue a leadership role, internship, research opportunity, volunteer experience, or campus job.
    • Choose an opportunity that builds on your strengths and helps you explore your interests.
  • CONNECT: Invest in at least one friendship, organization, or community you want to sustain.
    • Focus on building deeper, more meaningful relationships.
  • NAVIGATE: Establish intentional checkpoints that help you manage a more independent college experience.
    • These might include study routines, meal planning, advising meetings, wellness habits, and hobbies.

Third Year Students 

  • REFLECT: Explore one or two academic or professional pathways within business.
    • Refine your goals based on your values, interests, and sense of purpose rather than outside expectations.
  • CONNECT: Build at least one meaningful mentorship relationship.
    • Connect with a faculty member, staff member, alum, campus professional, or peer who can support your growth.
  • DEVELOP: Meet with an Academic Advisor to review your progress and priorities.
    • Clarify your academic and professional goals and identify resources for your remaining time at Berkeley.
  • NAVIGATE: Finalize your academic plan for completing your degree.
    • Review upper-division requirements, major policies, study abroad, simultaneous degree options, and course planning.
  • ENGAGE: Participate in at least one high-impact learning experience.
    • Consider research, study abroad, public service, volunteering, experiential learning, or a case competition.
  • GROW: Develop a leadership identity grounded in your values and strengths.
    • Think beyond titles and consider how you practice leadership through collaboration, relationships, and shared goals.

Transfer Students

  • DEVELOP: Define your goals and aspirations for your time at Haas.
    • Ground them in your personal values, professional interests, and confidence in your ability to achieve them.
  • GROW: Recognize the knowledge, strengths, and perspectives you bring as a transfer student.
    • Consider how you can use those experiences in the classroom and the Haas community.
  • UNLEARN: Question limiting messages about your worth, strengths, and belonging as a transfer student.
    • Reflect on assumptions about success and value in higher education, business, and society.
  • CONNECT: Build relationships with both transfer and continuing Haas students.
    • Use opportunities such as PreCore, the Transfer Student Center, and Haas programming.
  • REFLECT: Connect with Berkeley Career Engagement through programs or one-on-one meetings.
    • Gain clarity about career timelines and opportunities while remaining open to exploration.
  • NAVIGATE: Work with Academic Advisors and campus offices to understand policies, requirements, and resources.
    • Build the knowledge and support network needed to move forward with confidence.

Fourth Year Students 

  • DEVELOP: Reflect on the people, places, and experiences that shaped you at Haas.
    • Consider the kind of graduate, professional, and community member you want to become.
  • ENGAGE: Share your knowledge and give back to the communities that supported you.
    • Consider mentoring younger students or continuing activities that brought you meaning and joy.
  • CONNECT: Reflect on the relationships you built during college.
    • Reconnect with mentors, peers, faculty, staff, or campus offices before graduation.
  • NAVIGATE: Identify the habits, practices, and resources that helped you succeed as a student.
    • Consider how you will carry them into your professional and post-graduation life.
  • UNLEARN: Let go of the belief that you must have everything figured out by graduation.
    • Define success on your own terms rather than through external pressure or expectations.
  • REFLECT: Use gratitude, feedback, and reflection to prepare for your next chapter.
    • Think intentionally about internships, job offers, further education, and the life you want to build after Berkeley.

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