Written by Saira Afzal
How do LSE students find love? Can a hopeless romantic survive the dating culture at university? LSESU’s Raising and Giving (RAG), the charity branch of the Student Union, collaborated with Imperial College’s RAG for a ‘Take Me Out’ contest, based on the axed British dating game show. LSE and Imperial contestants were brought on stage to impress a line-up of students and earn a date with one of them, making for a lively night with an electric audience. But what does an event like this tell us about dating culture at LSE, or at university in general? And what do couples on campus say about their experience finding love?
‘Take Me Out’ was particularly fun to attend as an audience member, screaming when couples would say ‘yes’ to each other, or collectively gasping when the panellists on stage popped their red balloons before the contestants had a chance to defend themselves. Many of the questions were light-hearted and funny (think hot takes, red flags, green flags) and some eccentric characters brought out big laughs from the crowd.
One LSE student opened his time with a drawn-out card trick, not seeming to impress many female panellists. Most of the girls popped their balloons early on, seemingly over trivial things (“I prefer tea over coffee”), throwing plenty of single fish back into the sea. In the end, there were a few successful couples who got a roar of applause from the crowd after pairing together, like one couple who bonded over their mutual love for McDonalds.
Later, a contestant from Imperial strode onto the stage, blasting ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ by Bring Me The Horizon; yet, he was quickly humbled by the panellists who all popped their balloons. He didn’t leave the stage without dropping to the floor and doing some push-ups, making for an eventful end to the Take Me Out. Overall, the event was “way better than expected” according to LSESU RAG coordinator Marion. She said the “audience and hosts were amazing” and hoped to do the event again next year.
While most of the questions aimed at contestants were silly and playful, some common trends at the event revealed important things about the dating culture at LSE. For example, some students were concerned about their potential partner’s future. One contestant asked all the panellists about their plans for the next 5 years. Another contestant said he liked women with “ambition” and future goals after university. Secondly, age gaps can be questionable for some. One Imperial panellist popped her balloon after hearing the LSE contestant was in their first year, herself being in third year. While 18 and 21 could be a small age gap for some, others find it to be a dealbreaker in a potential relationship.
An event like ‘Take Me Out’ only tells us so much about student dating culture. What is it really like to date while at university? Jake* and Lilly*, both LSE students who met in freshers’ week, eventually became a couple through meeting in person and staying in the same student accommodation. Considering dating life has gradually moved into the digital space over the last decade, Lilly highlighted some important differences between meeting a partner in person versus via an app.
“Meeting someone in person is a friends-to-lovers situation, gradually getting to know them more based on a conversation. Whereas, on a dating app, you kind of arbitrarily bond with someone based off of their interests – which might be performative, since they want to [show] the traits that will get them attention,” she said.
Jake disagreed: “I don’t think there’s anything inherently bad with dating apps. The problem comes from them trying to monetise. Dating apps are a great way for people to meet in this day and age. So long as both people take it genuinely, I don’t see why [dating apps] could be bad. The app is just a replacement for meeting them [in-person].”
Natalie, who met her boyfriend through Hinge, described her dating app experience as similar to TikTok, due to its algorithmic nature: “Hinge gets your physical type down very quickly. It’s a good way to meet people but it is messed up.”
Another interviewee, Julie*, met her boyfriend during boarding school. She also agreed that finding relationships through an app is “less organic” than meeting someone in person. Julie described dating culture at LSE as “non-existent” and “long-distance”. She believes that generally, there is a lack of romantic expression and dating at LSE. Movies and books present an idyllic image of the ‘university dating life’, finding your ‘university sweetheart’ and transforming them into your life partner. For Julie, there are more “happily and unhappily single people” at LSE who want to focus on their career and future, or “happily in-love people who did not meet their partner at university”.
Does this mean the dating culture at LSE is uniquely lacking? According to Julie, “corporate culture and career-focused environment at LSE makes it less conducive to a ‘college sweetheart’ life”, but many university relationships are long-distance. “I think, maybe, people at LSE see each other as colleagues rather than life-partner potential; it’s just like, we’re students focused on our studies and career – it’s slightly more formal.”
*Names have been changed to preserve anonymity
