The campus dating scene is simultaneously amusing as it is confusing. In between all of the demanding classes and other commitments we have to worry about as busy collegiettes, our dating lives shouldn’t have to be complicated.
You might be used to hearing about dating apps exclusively, but there are still dating websites out there you might not be familiar with. To save you the hassle, we’ve explored a few options you might want to consider checking out, and a couple you should definitely avoid.
1. Date My School
Best For: Collegiettes looking to meet other students to go on casual dates.
If you want to connect with campus cuties without any awkward small talk, Date My School comes in clutch as a top pick. The site requires you to register with a university email address, which helps to automatically ward off any creeps pretending to be in college. In addition, alumni are welcome to register with the site as well, rather than just current students.
With Date My School, you’re able to filter your results by colleges, departments and even individuals to get the best results. You might be totally done with all of the guys on your own campus, so this is an easy way to interact with guys at other campuses that are geographically close to yours.
Another common issue you might have is that there are very few or even zero guys in your academic department, so if you want to still stick to your own campus, you can check out other potential matches in other departments. With all of this in mind, the site allows you to customize your privacy settings accordingly to make sure you feel totally safe while you have fun.
2. Zoosk
Best For: Collegiettes looking for partners to be with exclusively.
Although it’s nice to have the same Chipotle order (brown rice bowl, anyone?) in common with your crush, sometimes you really want to be able to connect with someone on a deeper level. This way, you two can talk about all of those topics while you’re splitting an order of chips and guacamole.
Zoosk is a dating site that uses a specialty behavioral matchmaking technology, which is a program designed by the site to make sure your matches are catered to your specific needs and desires. In return, you won’t have to worry about scrolling through a bunch of matches that might live near you, but don’t share the same behavior traits and preferences as you do.
This makes for more productive dating, because ain’t nobody got time to sift through a bunch of matches that you know won’t be right for you.
3. OkCupid
Best For: Collegiettes on a tight budget looking to meet a worthwhile match.
Since OkCupid markets itself as “the best free dating site on Earth,” it certainly has a reputation to live up to. Thankfully, with over one million users installing their app every week and the number of users currently on the site constantly growing, it definitely seems to walk the walk.
The site uses a love of math to form their own algorithms and formulas designed to help users connect with worthwhile matches faster and easier. You’ll be able to sort through matches through questionnaires, as well as quizzes that won’t require flashcards or an ounce of studying.
It’s totally easy to take OkCupid on-the-go with you via their app, plus it’s free to download and use. Your wallet and your heart will thank you.
Avoid these:
1. University Love Connection
With a sketchy background photo and no legitimate claims and guidelines for online safety, University Love Connection is a website you should stay far away from. It claims to have “no gimmicks” and that your information is “safe” since they “don’t sell email addresses,” but based on their actual website, we’re a bit suspicious.
Another red flag is the lack of testimonials from student users, and the disturbing tags of results that are visible once you search your college state on the home page.
To top it all off, the grammar and spelling mistakes are plentiful, so this easily lets us know how ridiculous the website is. The next time you’re really bored, we bet you could search through the website and pick out handfuls of punctuation mistakes.
2. Match
Even though Match is a reputable site with adorable testimonies from happy couples, we wouldn’t recommend using the site as a collegiette. A large portion of Match.com users are over 30, meaning the odds of finding a cutie that knows the ups and downs of campus life are slim.
Although you may be looking to permanently settle down with someone, many collegiettes are just looking to date or have a casual boyfriend without any immediate expectations of marriage. Since many of the Match.com users are over 30, starting a family may be a very real expectation, and you won’t want to lead anyone on if you’re just looking for someone to watch OITNB with on a Saturday night.
With this in mind, we recommend enjoying your college years to the fullest, rather than concentrating on whether or not you have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Go on a few dates, have fun and love will find you when it’s time. Once you’re really ready to settle down with someone, Match will still be around for your convenience!
Since we love being able to make college life easier for you, we hope these dating website suggestions will give you the boost you need to conquer online dating with confidence!