Tinder is a great way to blow off steam—whatever kind of steam that may be. Maybe you’re just looking for a new best friend, maybe you want someone for a hot one-night stand, or maybe you’re hoping to find the love of your life. Maybe you just like killing time while you wait for your friends to show up at your apartment for girls’ night.
As mid-October hits and schoolwork heats up, so does Tinder as people look for a way to relax. If you are one of those people, you’re going to start to realize there’s a big difference between using Tinder at home and using it up at UConn.
Location:
At Home:
I come from a relatively spread-out suburb. There’s a lot less men and women to choose from when you have to drive twenty minutes for a hook-up and your Tinder is set to a thirty mile radius. That’s assuming you have easy access to a car, too.
UConn:
At school, you almost never have to drive. Who wants to spend fifteen minutes getting to their Tinder match’s house, anyway? We’re all more tired than horny by then. Besides, we all know that we’re mostly swiping through matches once we’re already drunk and our friends have gone home for the night.
Dating Pool:
At Home:
And if you’re looking for other ladies, like I am, there’s an even thinner dating pool. That is, unless you want to have an awkward high school reunion with other newly out-of-the-closet girls in your hometown. Even looking for men means mostly swiping past all those guys you already told no when they asked you to junior prom.
UConn:
When you’re at school, there are 20,000 other undergrads right nearby, not to mention the grad students. There’s a slim chance you’re going to run out of a potential partners. You’re more likely to run out of swipes first.
Level of Awkwardness:
At Home:
There are a few good things about using Tinder at home, though: You’ll probably never see their face around campus or realize that they’re actually in your 8 a.m. bio lab the next day. Plus, if it works out, you have a steady girl or guy to see when you’re back on those lonely semester breaks.
UConn:
When you’re at college, you get to leave once it’s all over! Forget sleeping over and awkwardly sticking around for breakfast in the morning or trying to sneak out while they’re sleeping. You don’t have to be sober to make that 3 a.m. journey home, and you almost never have to walk more than 15 minutes. If you do—well, there are always plenty of Ubers.
So weigh the pros and cons, choose wisely, and swipe away.