Kathleen Estrada

Features Writer

College is crazy and slightly difficult to manage at times. Between going to class and taking anywhere from three to eighteen credits, working anywhere from ten to forty plus hours and participating in extracurricular activities, how do we also handle having a love life? 

College Explorer posted an article titled, “7 Surprising College Dating Statistics,” in which they give the following facts:

1. Women Make Up 56% of the College Population. 

2. 25% of College Seniors are Virgins. 

3. 32.5% of College Relationships are Long-Distance. 

4. One in Four College Students Has an STD. 

5. 63% of College Women Hope to Meet Their Spouse in College. 

6. By Senior Year, 72% of Students Have Hooked Up. 

7. 1/3 of College Seniors Have Been on Fewer Than Two Dates. 

How do we as students possibly figure out how to manage our dating lives? Is it possible? Within the last decade the world has seen a rise in apps such as Eharmony, Match.com, and then within recent years, Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, and OkCupid.

In 2019, Stanford posted an article titled, “Meeting online has become the most popular way U.S. couples connect”. They “found that [presently] about 39 percent of heterosexual couples reported meeting their partner online, compared to 22 percent in 2009”. 

Rosenfeld also said, “I was surprised at how much online dating has displaced the help of friends in meeting a romantic partner. Our previous thinking was that the role of friends in dating would never be displaced. But it seems like online dating is displacing it. That’s an important development in people’s relationship with technology”. 

As students have we really stopped asking friends to help meet new potential dates? When speaking with student Justin Fogleman, he said, “My brother met his wife on Match.com; she was the first person he matched with”.  This sparked the conversation towards apps like Tinder in which student Joel Rieves responded, “[Tinder] is even more concentrated than other apps”. 

As students are we basing our dating experiences on a superficial level of swiping right and swiping left? Student Caroline Greene said, “I have been in a relationship for six years, I don’t date”. Obviously, looking at the above statistics, not all students are in a similar situation. 

With Valentine’s day quickly approaching, remember to stay safe. Take a moment to date and most importantly have fun.

Categories: Features, human