I am a Freshman in the Arts and Sciences school but I am very unclear as to what I would like to major in. I started off as chem but gave it up after about a month (It’s a long story). Basically, I don’t know where to begin to look for a new one. Currently it feels as if I’m choosing my major based on process of elimination and this is far from reassuring. Sometimes I feel like I would like to study business or economics because it’s what my dad did but is this a wrong reason? How can I be sure? Where can I look for help? I tried the Career Center but all I did was sit behind a computer for hours lying about my interests (I don’t know what I’m interested in). I am constantly asked by my friends and relatives what I’m studying and I hate not knowing but feeling like I should! Oh well.

-Undecided

Dear Undecided,

Choosing a major can be quite difficult, especially if you have no interests, as you yourself have said. Luckily, there are many students in your situation, countless freshman who think they are interested in something only to come to college and realize that for one reason or another they are completely lost.

Fortunately, there are many services offered by Cornell to give you more information and to help you choose a major and career. The Career Center (which you have already tried) has counselors devoted to helping students choose a course of study, and if that doesn’t seem to help you decide anything, I would recommend thinking long and hard about your interests.

A good place to start is to think about everything that you have done in your life and evaluate each and every class, activity, or job with which you have ever been involved. Then the next step is to think back to how it made you feel- Was it rewarding? Was it enjoyable? Could you picture yourself waking up every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 5 A.M., ready to start a grueling day devoted to this one topic, a day that will often last until 7 in the evening (sometimes later), not to mention taking this work home at night and over the weekends, causing a tremendous strain on your relationship with your significant other (that is, if you have any time to meet him or her)?

But don’t worry. You don’t have to commit to a major for another year and a half (although you really should decide early because major requirements can often be quite difficult to complete in time and you certainly don’t want to end up with a Bachelor’s degree in something completely not suited to you and therefore not useful at all in the real world). Good luck!

-Aunt Edna

I have been here in Cornell for nearly three years now, and I know that my reason for coming here is to get a degree in Econ.  I feel that nothing is of higher priority than my studies, and I do very well academically.  Socially, on the other hand, I seem to be lagging behind.  I’m a junior and I have never been on a date!  Although this didn’t really bother me my freshman and sophomore years, since I was caught up in college and working hard, by this point I really would like to get out a little more and learn to relax and enjoy myself.  For some reason, I have a great deal of difficulty meeting women (I even have difficulty getting them to notice me!).  I’m a really shy guy, and I have a fear of rejection, but by no means is it crippling.  On a campus which probably has about 9,000 females, there must be at least one out there who would be interested in me, right? What advice can you offer on how to improve my situation (and with that, my self esteem)?

–Looking to Date

Dear LTD,

I know it can be difficult to put yourself out there, especially in a school ranked as “The Hottest Ivy.” Nevertheless, I have faith that your situation can improve, although it entirely depends on what sorts of things you like doing. I would say pursue your interests and join organizations relating to things you are passionate about, but given that you study Economics, it might be difficult to find girls who are socially adept as well as attracted to you. Given that you are not 21, you clearly cannot peruse the local bar scene, but there are tons of parties out there where you can more or less interact with a more or less attractive, intelligent, funny, capable female, although these types of females are almost always in relationships or severely damaged and bad at dating. Don’t despair. You have a 1 in 9,000 chance of meeting that special someone. The odds just might be in your favor! Thanks for contacting me!

Take Care,

Aunt Edna