How to Date in College

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If you’re looking to date in college, we suggest following these three tips. They may seem harsh, but try to remember that you are in college for YOU, and not someone else. Take care of yourself first, then focus on relationships. This sample essay, provided through the diverse custom writing services of Ultius, explains how college dating is completely different than dating in high school or earlier levels of education. 

Tips for dating in college

In college, it’s actually possible to be alone in your room with a person you might be interested in without your parents yelling “keep the door open!” and such nonsense. For the first time in your life, you can get away with pretty much anything and get involved with people with no oversight. With no parents or anyone watching you like a hawk, the world is your oyster! If you’re trying to date in college, remember to have a ton of fun, but try to avoid doing anything in the realm of complete idiocy if you can avoid it!

New levels of free time

One important thing to know about how to date in college is that you will, without a doubt, have a ton of free time. Anyone looking at college is usually told that they will be incredibly busy and have a packed schedule, but the truth is that classes only take up a few hours a day maximum. This means that between classes (which, if you are a freshman, will not be the hardest classes in the world), study hours, and perhaps some extracurricular activities like sports or working out, you will not have difficulty with time management and still have an inordinate amount of free time. The number of people that have jam-packed schedules in college is pretty low, despite what your parents and instructors may have told you! 

The differences between high school and college

Love can be cruel. Shakespeare wrote of it in Romeo and Juliet:

Is love a tender thing? it is too rough, / Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn (I. iv. 25-6).

Dating in college means that you need to also understand the differences between high school and college dating. In high school, dating is something people do on the side and oftentimes comes with the assumption that the relationship will end when one or more of the people go to college. Even if they try long distance, it sadly usually fails. For a college student, however, they very well may find someone with which they want to spend the rest of their life. Colleges are full of inspired, active people with dreams and passion, and you will be spending time with people directly interested in the same things you are. Not only does this mean that the people will be more likely to share your same life goals, but you will be spending many hours studying, working, and interacting with them. 

Okay, with these basic ideas down, we can talk about some helpful tips with regards to how to date in college! 

Tip #1. You’re still young. Don’t sacrifice your life goals for puppy love

Yes, she may be beautiful and great to spend time with, or maybe he’s strong, handsome, and going to be a doctor. If you’ve been dating for a month or even a year, remember that life is a very long journey and that this guy or girl may not actually be your soul mate. Falling head over heels in love with the first person you meet in college is not necessarily a bad thing, and it may work out in the end, but the most important thing about dating in college is that you simply cannot afford to sacrifice life goals, academics, or financial concerns for the sake of the first person you get in a relationship with. 

Tip #2. Date someone in your year while in college

Dating someone in a different year invites major problems for any relationship. Graduating at different times means that things like graduate school, post-collegiate careers, and other “adult” activities occur at different times. Students need study time, have weird schedules with classes and the like, and the graduate probably has to sleep early in order to get to work on time. These may seem like little things, but dating someone outside of your year simply complicates what is an already complicated process!

Tip #3. Don’t get married

Don’t get married. Just don’t. Unless you’ve been living together for a while, have good, reliable job prospects, and have mutual life goals and financial dreams, don’t get married. Jumping straight from college life into full-time, 9-5 jobs plus a marriage is asking for disaster to strike often leading to the perils of divorce. Take your time, establish yourselves in your new life, and go from there. There’s no rush to get married in today’s world, so work on building yourselves first before making a family!