Like any college town, Madison offers an array of guy types for the single-and-ready-to-mingle college girl. There is a plethora of ways to embark on your dating journey and to transition from single to mingling. So, what are you waiting for? Embark on your romantic journey and begin the transition from single to single and ready to Madison mingle.
1. Coffee Shop Guy
I might be slightly biased, because I spend more time in coffee shops than I do in the real world, but meeting a guy in a coffee shop is as suave as it is romantic. The coffee shop guy will be the one sitting a few tables down from you, wearing a gray wool sweater and donning gelled hair. He is the epitome of classy as he gazes at you while working on his latest creative project, before strolling over to your table by the window.
He asks you out in a delicate cadence as you sip your almond latte, and how can you not say yes to those twinkling, brooding eyes? In sum, dating the coffee shop type will be a cultural and artistic experience. He will broaden your horizons and make you question the world around you. Dates will consist of hand holding in museums, strolls in Olbrich Garden, concerts and, of course, an abundance of coffee.
2. Friend of a Friend
To be brutally honest, the friend of a friend type can go either extremely well or horribly wrong. Option one: Your friend introduces you to her guyfriend who she claims is “prime” and “a total sweetheart.” Sure enough, you meet him (we will call him Jeffrey for the purposes of this scenario) and the two of you hit it off. In my case, my roommate introduced me to her boyfriend’s best friend and it worked out fabulously. Best friends dating best friends is the dream, amiright? Squad goals.
Not so fast. Though a friend of a friend introduction can work out in your favor, it can also end up being a disaster, because there is the fair chance that you and the mutual friend will not hit it off. Then, you will be forced to make small talk laced with resentment for the next three hours on your double date. In that case, do not hesitate to fake an emergency and take your Olive Garden to go.
3. Lecture Hall Lover
The Lecture Hall Lover is one of the stereotypically datable guy types depicted in the media. Assortments of college pamphlets, films, and social media sites portray the classic crush of a college girl as the guy she happens to come across in her lecture hall. There is a lot of truth to this.
For one, the Lecture Hall Lover is accessible. He is in the same class as you at minimum of twice a week; thus, the two of you have ample opportunities to sit next to one another. Inevitably, this leads to sharing and comparing notes. Sharing and comparing notes then leads to the two of you making plans outside of class to “study for midterms. Bam, a brilliant scholarly romance is formed.
Another bonus other than accessibility of dating the guy you meet in your lecture hall is the fact that you two have something in common by default. At bare minimum, the two of you are both ambitious and can click over school. Whether or not the two of you bond over a shared love of creative writing or a mutual suffering through a general education requirement quantitative reasoning requirement is irrelevant. Regardless, a shared class together gives the two of you something to start the conversation with and then ease into a multitude of other commonalities.
4. Online
Not a uniquely Madison-based scene, online-dating apps are a simple and often relatively enjoyable way to embark on the dating scene. For one, if you are on the shyer side, you can partake in some innocent flirting without having to meet face-to-face. Moreover, there are a lot of different online dating sites. Tinder is mostly used for hooking up and OK Cupid is a mix of casual dating and desperate men seeking out serious relationships with receding hairlines in all of their photos, regardless of how old they are.
Meeting someone to go out with online can turn out well, but it can also turn out disastrously. Be very careful. From mine and my friends’ experience, a lot of the time, guys will either exaggerate or omit certain personality traits or neglect to show recent photos. You may end up meeting up with someone who does not resemble his online profile in literally any way. In this case, you are in no way obligated to continue the rendezvous with said guy and can feel free to cut the night short. You do not have to be tinderella if you are in any way uncomfortable.
5. The Partyboy
Meeting a guy at a party is a college staple. Don’t even deny it. Whether or not the two of you end up hooking up, going on a couple of dates, or entering relationship territory, what matters here is that you can now say that you met a guy at a college party and the two of you clicked in some sort of way.
The stories that you can tell about the guy you met at a party are endless. You might even find yourself telling the glorious tale of the two of you dancing on a flimsy table at a house party while “Shots” blares through the speakers, and you try to make it look like you’re not profusely sweating through your crop top. You also might encounter an Italian exchange student on Halloween and blab to him about just how hot and foreign you think he is after he compliments your flapper feather headpiece. Will you regret it? Absolutely not!
There are many ways to leap on the dating scene in Madison and these five types of guys you will encounter in the city only scratch the surface. Allow this guide to be of assistance before the big date, so you can know what to expect!