The Best Online Dating Apps for College Students

Casual dating is a fad that has taken our generation by storm! But what's the big deal? Why are we so obsessed with it? Here's the reasons.

In today’s century, meeting people has become very complicated. Everyone spends more time connecting with technology than with other people. There is a very simple way to describe our world dynamic: We have gone digital.

Believe me, I understand if you have some concerns when considering online dating because with its popularity comes a lot of potential for bad experiences. However, just like with all other dating, you need to have some faith. Just in case you are still unsure, I tried it for you! I have had a great experience talking to new people, and I hope after you hear about all your different options, you are open to trying it out too.

Tinder

This app is fantastic for college students because it is free, easy to use and very popular. Many dating apps are free, but include purchasable upgrades that can help boost your profile. Tinder is one of those apps, but it is completely usable without these upgrades. Its simple design makes it easy to create a great profile and find other great profiles. Tinder offers easy ways to connect your other social accounts such as Instagram to show off more of your life and Spotify to share your music tastes. One of my favorite features is the ability to set an anthem and show off one of your all time favorite songs. Tinder is great because of how many college students use it. Everyone will be able to find the type of person they want in their life. There is also an additional part of Tinder that allows you to connect to your university. This will allow you to see more college students and what school they attend. I highly suggest using TinderU if you would like to find a date who is currently a college student as well.

Bumble

Although very similar to Tinder, Bumble is much better for girls who are nervous about getting hurt while online dating. This app gives the power to the women. It has the same simple swiping design as Tinder, but when you get a match, the woman has to make the first move. This gives her the power to go back and really evaluate whether or not she feels safe talking to her match. The one catch is that the woman can only take 24 hours to make a move, so she has to make a choice quickly. One of my favorite differences in Bumble as compared to Tinder is the filter settings. Bumble allows more ways to filter out the people you wouldn’t want to match with. For instance, if you want a match who doesn’t smoke, you can filter out all of the profiles that say they do smoke. Or even more helpful, if you are looking for a serious relationship, you can filter out all the people looking for something casual or vice versa.

Hinge

Now, this app took a slightly different approach when it comes to finding a match, and I must say I really like its big difference. A user can like or comment on specific sections of a person’s profile right away without having to wait until a match is struck and a conversation has started. This feature allows the user to specify what they like about the person if he or she wishes to do so. Hinge is still an easy to use app and also still allows you to filter your potential matches as specifically as you like. I have met fewer college students on Hinge, but I have still met some nice people and you could too.

Clover

I will admit that I didn’t spend much time exploring Clover because I experienced a few conversations that made me quite uncomfortable. I’m not sure I would recommend this app to college students looking to date others in college or of a similar age because I struggled to find anyone of a good age for me. However, there were a couple things about this app that I found quite intriguing. You didn’t have to just like or dislike profiles. Clover offers another way to meet people through group chats based on specific interests, so you can go into a chat and immediately find a whole group of people with a similar interest.

Zoosk

This app was quite confusing for me to use. I found the interface a little less user friendly as compared to other apps. However, the computer interface is much easier to understand. Also, the only matches I was getting were middle-aged men which is not what I wanted as a college student. This could be a good dating app to use later on in life, but it may not be the app for college students looking for someone their own age.

Match

I had a similar experience with Match as I did with Zoosk, but the biggest difference is that I did find a few people I was open to meeting. However, I still wouldn’t recommend Match to college students for one big reason: To get the best experience, you have to pay for it. There is a fee once a month if you want to truly get the best use out of Match. It is a great app and easy to use, but I don’t have the money for a monthly fee just like many other “broke college students.” If you do have the money to cover the fee, Match is great for trying to find a long-term relationship. Every person I spoke to was really looking for that special person to share a life with.

Bonus: Bumble BFF

Who says this all has to be about finding a romantic relationship? Bumble is one of those apps that you can adjust to what kind of relationship you want to find. I didn’t try the networking side of Bumble, but I did try the friends side. Instead of looking for your perfect mate, you can find your future best friends. Bumble BFF is a great new way to find friends in a digital world.