Every Fall Quarter, hopeful Northwestern students fill out a survey created by two Stanford undergraduates in 2017. The goal is to find their optimal romantic match on campus. Since its arrival on campus in 2020, thousands of NU students have participated in The Marriage Pact. Some have found friends, situationships and even partners.
To find the most compatible person on campus for them, students fill out a questionnaire backed by relationship science and answer a range of personality-based questions. When matches are released, students receive a name and a compatibility percentage.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, The Daily checked in with students to find out if their matches became their Valentines.
“I just thought it was funny,” McCormick freshman Ryan Schubeck said when asked about why he participated in The Marriage Pact. “It’s just kind of the culture to fill it out.”
For many students, including Schubeck, The Marriage Pact is more of a fun tradition than a serious search for love. It’s something fun to fill out and laugh about with your friends if you get matched with an ex-girlfriend or a lab partner.
Schubeck and his match were 99.98% compatible. He followed her on Instagram, and she followed him back. Neither of them reached out to each other.
“I didn’t really think too much of it,” Schubeck said.
Weinberg freshman Aekam Kaur had a similar experience. She said when she was filling out the form, she didn’t care about the outcome. All of her friends were doing it, and she thought it would be fun.
Kaur said she was excited to get her match, but neither she nor her match followed each other on Instagram or reached out.
“It was just fun for the suspense, and then we just kind of left it at that,” Kaur said. “I just wanted to try something.”
Weinberg freshman Aarushi Verma only participated in The Marriage Pact because her friends were doing it, which encouraged her to do it, too.
In the days leading up to the final reveal of matches, students received emails hinting at their marriage pact. Verma said she only received her match’s initials and their major, and her anticipation for the reveal grew.
Finally, she received an email with her match’s name.
“I was excited,” Verma said. “He texted me first. We didn’t meet up, but we talked over text for a little bit.”
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Related Stories:
— Students reflect on Marriage Pact experiences
— For some NU Marriage Pact participants, matches are close to home
