Informed by self-directed learning theory, we explored the relationship between community college students' ages and their use of academic advising. Although academic advising has been shown to be an important part of student success, few studies have explored academic advising at community colleges and among adult learners. We performed regression analyses on data representing two incoming classes (n = 4207) at an urban community college in the Northwest. We investigated if older students used first-year academic advising services similarly to younger students while controlling for time commitments such as work and family. We found as students' age increased they were less likely to participate in academic advising. Women students showed a steeper decline in their participation from ages 20 to 25, and they continued to have lower probabilities than men students across the life span. Our findings simultaneously support assumptions of self-directed learning theory and highlight that not all students participate equally in academic advising. In particular, educators may need to design academic advising experiences that are more self-guided than administratively directed to ensure the success of adult learners.