The so-called “sophomore slump” is a difficult time for Yalies caught between their bright-eyed freshman year and the complicated realities of upperclassman-hood. But the peer-advising program proposed by the Yale College Council, which envisions seniors advising sophomores, would not help.

An added layer of advising would waste resources that could improve existing advising or mental health services. Stripped of the concrete responsibilities of FroCos, “residential college counselors” offer little more than the advice that any casual older acquaintance would provide. Further, paying seniors to essentially hang out in their rooms during “open room hours” would attract counselors for all the wrong reasons. Most importantly, many sophomores — including all those interviewed by the News about the proposal — don’t believe it would add to the resources that already exist.

The real solution lies in improving the current, underperforming system of sophomore advising. The administration needs to push professors to take sophomore advising seriously and engage more directly and frequently with advisees. But students also need to meet their advisers halfway by reaching out to forge the relationships that will make the system worthwhile.