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(CNN) — it was only when Andy Lalinde was scrolling through images of cute girls online that the one with brunette hair standing in some South American country caught his eye though they had perhaps crossed paths several times on campus.

He started her profile and saw her title had been Michelle Przybyski. She had been 26 and studying to be a nurse. Even better, she lived merely a blocks that are few. With nil to lose, Lalinde published a message that is funny their love for nurses and hit submit.

One walk of four hours with Lalinde’s dog, Domino, around campus and a night out together at the collection (that don’t really incorporate studying) later on, the 2 Columbia University graduate pupils sent applications for a wedding license in ny simply 10 times after conference face-to-face.

“we think whenever you understand, you understand, ” Michelle stated.

It took Datemyschool.com as they might have passed away each other walking to course — an on-line dating site exclusively for students — to carry them together and formally trade vows on April 29.

With countless websites that are dating as match.com, eharmony.com and okcupid.com, the online dating sites market is really a bit crowded. But Date My School has inched its method in and formed a distinct segment for pupils trying to find a boyfriend or gf whom shares the exact same academic goals and understands school comes first from the concern list.

Lara Hirner, a grad pupil at Columbia University’s Teachers College, moved on times towards the opera, Central Park and ice cream stores with dudes she came across on Date our School.

“the people position the priority that is same education while the exact exact same passion due to their jobs when I do, ” Hirner stated. “we are additionally at comparable places inside our everyday lives, being pupils, that makes it more straightforward to connect. “

Columbia University pupils Balazs Alexa and Jean Meyer began the dating site on campus in November. This thirty days, the site launched at 140 more schools nationwide, giving more university students the chance to fulfill their future husbands or spouses.

Alexa and Meyer, both current graduates for the company School, arrived up because of the concept after having a gf reported that there was clearly perhaps not sufficient testosterone in the institution of Social Perform. In the side that is flip guys into the company School frequently wished for lots more women learn buddies.

If possible fans just weren’t fulfilling into the class room, the college required a much better platform both for sexes to have interaction.

The perfect solution is: a dating site solely for university students.

The site continues growing and has doubled its members in the past four months with more than 20,000 registered users. Some have actually contrasted it to Twitter — pointing down that the social networking ended up being additionally ready to accept just university students whenever it started.

But Alexa insists Date My college isn’t the facebook that is next.

“We expanded in a similar way they opened it up for everybody in the world, ” he said that they did initially, but then. “We are going to never ever do this. “

Just pupils or alumni with an university that is active account can register on the website. After that, users can narrow their searches to students going to particular schools. They are able to get one step further and choose to meet up with students that are only majors such as for instance company, art or engineering.

With its very first few months, Date the School had been just wanted to undergraduate and graduate pupils at 20 schools, including Columbia, nyc University, Harvard University and MIT.

Your website shot to popularity at an instant speed, as 1,300 pupils at Columbia signed up within the very first week.

“we think our company is accountable for over fifty percent for the dates and conferences between pupils on campus, ” Alexa stated.

He included that the website is prosperous since it’s safe, and it also works.

“Usually, folks have a romantic date inside the exact same time they enroll, ” Alexa stated. “before you may be certain it really is safe, that (the individual) is certainly not a freak. In the event that you visit any kind of dating website, you need conversations along with other individuals for months”

With Date the class, there is a preliminary trust that is due to selecting times who share typical passions and survive campus or go to a nearby college.

This is the beauty of Date our class, claims Julie Spira, a internet dating specialist and writer of “The Perils of Cyber Dating. “

“students at GW may want to satisfy anyone to date at United states University, ” she stated. “Now, it is both theoretically and geographically easy for them to find love online. “

Your website fills a void for university students within the on the web dating globe. Relating to Spira, about 25% of match.com users are three decades or more youthful, and there isn’t any guarantee they are university grads. Date My college is the sole site that is dating specifies the consumer’s alma mater.

“If someone actually has their heart on conference somebody from Princeton, this can be a terrific way to narrow straight down the search, ” Spira stated.

While Date our class’s creators like to distance by by themselves from Facebook, Spira credits it for raising the stigma surrounding dating that is online. Spira, whom attempted internet dating in 1994 before match.com and eharmony.com existed, explained that individuals now feel at ease conversing with other people and developing relationships online.

“If it had beenn’t for Facebook’s appeal. It couldnot have permitted online dating sites to essentially become the things I feel happens to be social relationship, ” latin dating sites she stated.

The Pew online & American lifetime venture surveyed the true wide range of online daters in 2006. Outcomes suggested any particular one in 10 online users have tried online online dating sites.

The quantity is a lot greater today, based on Alexa, but individuals nevertheless avoid internet dating because they are embarrassed or think internet dating sites certainly are a waste of the time.

” They believe that it is still more easy to get a date, ” he said if they go to a bar.

However for pupils who’re swamped with hours of learning and lab research, fulfilling some body at a club or celebration is simply not that easy when there isn’t any time and energy to socialize.

Karent Zorogastua, a grad that is second-year at Columbia’s class of Public wellness with a frantic schedule, registered with match.com but stopped after dudes she wasn’t thinking about contacted her.

“there is one man whom appeared as if taste Flav, and I also had been like, ‘Oh no, it is not working she said for me. “Nothing against taste Flav, but he is perhaps maybe maybe not my kind. “

Zorogastua said she’d be much more ready to provide Date My class a spin, she doesn’t have to time to commit to a serious relationship since she could narrow the search to a student also in an intense grad program who understands.

“a whole lot of men and women knock it, they simply believes it’s type of cheesy, however you understand what, it is an option, ” Andy Lalinde said.

Before registering on Date our class, the 33-year-old wished to be in a relationship but ended up being just too busy to head out.

“It ended up being constantly simply me, the dog and college, ” Lalinde admitted. He claims he has got Date My School to thank for fulfilling their spouse and from now on assists his friends compose pages because their humorous tone is exactly what attracted Michelle.

Alexa and Meyer, 29-year-old close friends that have made running Date our class a full-time task, want to carry on expanding the website throughout the united states of america and finally France, where Meyer is from. A current $500,000 grant from investors and future business leads are helping them turn their match-making service into a lucrative venture.

Along with the tens and thousands of datable ladies at their fingertips, you would expect the inventors to be during the films every evening. But Alexa stated they will have a policy that is strict forbids dating anybody on the web site.

“Of program, girls are composing to all of us the full time, but we you will need to resist, ” he stated.