Rom-com dream vs university reality: Is it too late for hopeless romantics? 

Whether you’re serially single or fresh out of a long-term relationship, going to university is a shake-up for the dating scene. Perhaps comparing rom-coms to the real university love-life could reveal the harsh reality of student dating.

Now, if you’re a hopeless romantic, I’m sure you’re aware of the cliché tropes in every romcom. Are they setting unrealistic expectations? If so, why do we keep coming back to them? We’ve all heard the urgent cries of “bring back yearning!” across social media, but is it actually realistic to have such a romanticised outlook at university? ‘

So not everything is romantic, but there will be plenty of opportunities to develop a campus crush

Well, imagine you meet a guy in the club. He tells you he’s here at Warwick to visit a friend, and that he has to go back home the next day… to a foreign country. So, you part ways, thinking you’ll never see him again. Then, a week later, you see him again. In the same club. Then three weeks later you see him outside the Co-Op, and you wonder how many times he’s used that line. (True story – watch out everyone…) 

So not everything is romantic, but there will be plenty of opportunities to develop a campus crush. 

Unfortunately, Freshers, you’ll be missing out on the brilliance and ridiculousness of The Warwick Tea. Anonymous love confessions sent through this beloved Instagram account were something to aspire to, but in reality, they were unrealistic and insane.  

Something you can depend on though, is circling with societies. This fabled weekly event is a brilliant opportunity to meet new people. Different themes and costumes mean every Wednesday night feels like Halloween, with added courage from a few pints of Purple.  

It is a universally acknowledged truth that locking eyes across the club with someone in Freshers Week does not mean they’ll turn out to be the love of your life

Now back to romcoms. Inevitably there is the classic trope of ‘love at first sight’. However, it is a universally acknowledged truth that locking eyes across the club with someone in Freshers Week does not mean they’ll turn out to be the love of your life. It is also unlikely you’ll turn around at T-Bar or Smack and casually bump into your dream date. We can’t all be Romeo or Juliet. 

As seen in 10 Things I Hate About You, the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope is alluring, but unrealistic. Though we can’t all expect a Heath Ledger singing ‘Can’t take my eyes off you’ level of grand gesture, you could hope for a scowl now and again from a stranger across the lecture theatre.  

As the Summer I Turned Pretty or Twilight series have shown, the ‘love triangle’ is usually more hassle than it’s worth. You might think you’re lucky to have two potential lovers interested in you, but this is sure to cause further problems. 

Your best bet, the ‘friends-to-lovers’ trope best exemplified in When Harry Met Sally, proves to be the most realistic. There are so many people to get to know at university, so surely one of them will end up being more than a friend.  

If you’re constantly searching for someone, it’s likely you won’t find them at all. But a bit of hoping won’t hurt

Long-term lovebirds tend to throw around the “love sneaks up on you when you least expect it” line, and insist that if you’re constantly searching for someone, it’s likely you won’t find them at all. But a bit of hoping won’t hurt.  

Now, we can’t all expect a dramatic love confession in the rain, but we can take advantage of the uniquely vast range of opportunities at university. People from all over the world just happen to have made it to the same campus as you, and with a little bit of luck, you might just have a ‘meet-cute’.