AcademiaMatch
* Special Harvard University Edition *

Frequently Asked Questions

    List of Questions (answers are below):
  1. How does this site work?
  2. How is this site different from other dating sites?
  3. Does this site have any official affiliation with Harvard University?
  4. Is this site really free to use, or do you make it free only for an introductory period?
  5. There are already so many online dating sites -- what motivated you to start another one?
  6. I prefer to browse through all available profiles rather than have my matches selected for me. Is there a way to view other profiles on this site besides my matches?
  7. I prefer a website that lets me browse through all available profiles rather than have my matches selected for me. Can you suggest a dating website which gives me that ability?
  8. I have filled out both the "About Me" questionnaire and the "About My Match" questionnaire, but I am still not receiving any matches. Why not?
  9. I am really uncomfortable about answering a particular question in your "About Me" questionnaire. How can I skip answering it, and what are the consequences of not answering it?
  10. In my "Visible Profile" selections, can I choose to reveal certain information to some matches but not to others?
  11. Do you have any advice on how to make my visible profile more appealing so that I get more Double Matches?
  12. Do you have any sage advice about how best to get to know my matches?
  13. I found the profile (or picture) of one of my matches to be very offensive. What should I do?
  14. One of my matches sent me a really nasty (special) message after I decided that I didn't want to meet him (or her). What should I do?
  15. I have some specific suggestions to make your site better. Are you interested in hearing them?
    Answers:
  1. How does this site work?
    Quite simply, actually. You tell us about yourself in our "About Me" questionnaire. You tell us about who you want to meet in our "About My Match" questionnaire. You prepare a "Visible Profile" for your matches to see. Then we search our database for compatible matches and make the visible profiles of those matches available to you. If you and a match both answer "Yes" to being interested in meeting, then we open a channel of message communication. The rest is up to you. For details, see our more complete description of how our site works.
  2. How is this site different from other dating sites?
    In several ways. The most obvious way is that all registered members on our site are part of the Harvard University community. (You still maintain the option to include people outside of that community in your match searches via a database link to another dating website that we operate.) The most important way that our site is different is this: we created this site to help people find relationship partners and thereby bring greater happiness and fulfillment into their lives. We did NOT create this site to make money. We designed our site in the way that we thought would offer the best possible experience for our users and provide the best possible service. And we provide this service all completely free of charge.
    If you want to read more about why we think we are the best dating site on the web, we would be very happy for you to look at our more complete explanation.
  3. Does this site have any official affiliation with Harvard University?
    No. We are a completely separate, privately supported enterprise.
  4. Is this site really free to use, or is it free only for an introductory period?
    Our site is completely free to use, and we intend to keep it that way. We will reconsider this policy only if we can no longer afford to maintain this site. If you happen to be a wealthy philanthropist or can afford to make a voluntary contribution to help keep our site running, we hope you will visit our main sponsors page or our member sponsor page. In fact, even if you don't wish to make a contribution or can't afford it, we hope you will visit our member sponsor page anyway. It's actually one of our favorite pages on the site. In fact that page inspired a whole new website (unrelated to dating). So check it out.
  5. There are already so many online dating sites -- what motivated you to start another one?
    Honestly? Once upon a time, we tried out a few of the big, commercial dating websites ourselves. We were quite unhappy with the experiences. We thought subscribers deserved better. A lot better. We didn't appreciate the ploys and practices these other sites used to get people to pay for subscriptions. We didn't like the policies that clearly placed website profits over the best interests of paying subscribers. In fact, we found some of these policies deplorable. The basic idea that a website should attempt to profit from people's loneliness or desire for companionship did not sit well with us. In short the policies and practices of the large, commercial dating websites were SO bad and so upset our values that we committed ourselves to providing an alternative. This site, and its sister site for the non-Academia community, are what we came up with. Our sites are not perfect, we know, but they are the best dating websites that we are capable of offering. We hope they keep getting better.
  6. I prefer to browse through all available profiles rather than have my matches selected for me. Is there a way to view other profiles on this site besides my matches?
    No. By design our website does not let you view any profiles of people with whom you haven't been matched by our system. However, if you select "Any" to all of the questions in the "About My Match" questionnaire, then the matches we find for you will be limited only by the specifications made by your matches. If other users of the appropriate gender have the same philosophy as you do and also answer "Any" to all of the questions in our "About My Match" questionnaire, then our system will (in time, if you remain active) match you with all of those users.
  7. I prefer a website that lets me browse through all available profiles rather than have my matches selected for me. Can you suggest a dating website which gives me that ability?
    In general we are disgusted by the profit-driven policies and practices of most of the big, commercial dating websites and thus are loathe to recommend any. However, we know of a few completely free dating websites that offer you what you're after: okcupid.com, mingle2.com, and plentyoffish.com. We hope that one or more of these sites suits your needs. (Please note that we have no affiliation with okcupid.com, plentyoffish.com, or mingle2.com. We provide this information simply as a public service.)
  8. I have filled out both the "About Me" questionnaire and the "About My Match" questionnaire, but I am still not receiving any matches. Why not?
    In addition to filling out the questionnaires, you must also prepare your "Visible Profile" before match searches can be activated. Your "Review Matches" page should explicitly state whether your search for matches is active. If your search for matches is "active" or "turned on" and you are still not receiving matches, then we suggest we review your "About Me" questionnaire and look for unanswered questions. A single unanswered "About Me" question can potentially block our system from matching you with many otherwise potentially compatible matches – see Question 9 below. If you have answered all of the "About Me" questions, then we suggest that you revise your "About My Match" criteria and try to be a little more open minded about whom you might be interested in meeting. Remember that you can then still answer "No" to being interested in meeting any matches that we find for you. If your "Review Matches" page shows that match searches are turned off, then the reason should be provided. If you manually turned off match searches at some point, then there should be a link for you to reactivate match searches. Finally, please keep in mind that our user base could take a while to build up. We might well not have any suitable new matches for you in our system at this time.
  9. I am really uncomfortable about answering a particular question in your "About Me" questionnaire. How can I skip answering it, and what are the consequences of not answering it?
    You must always hit one of the "Save" buttons at the bottom of the questionnaire for your answers to be saved or updated. If you leave a question unanswered when you hit "Save," you will get a warning message, but you can still move to a different page by using a "jump to" page link at the bottom of the questionnaire page. However, none of the answers you provide are shared with your matches without your explicit authorization on the "My Visible Profile" page, and we strongly encourage you to answer ALL questions in our "About Me" questionnaire. If you skip a question, we will not match you with anyone who specifies any requirement for that characteristic for a match to be acceptable. For example, if you choose to skip the question that asks about your annual income, we will match you only with people who specify "Any" for the acceptable income level of their matches.
  10. In my "Visible Profile" selections, can I choose to reveal certain information to some matches but not to others?
    No. All information in your visible profile is visible to ALL of your matches. You can, however, change at any time what your visible profile displays.
  11. Do you have any advice on how to make my visible profile more appealing so that I get more Double Matches out of my "Yes" Matches?
    Yes. Piece of advice #1: POST PHOTOS OF YOURSELF!! Posting photos is probably the single most important thing you can do. Piece of advice #2: Put some thought into your personal statements in your visible profile. Prepare statements that convey who you are and what makes you unique. As for what basic information about yourself (age, height, etc.) to show or hide, we suggest that you show all that we give you the option to show.
  12. Do you have any sage advice about how best to get to know my matches?
    Actually, we do. Before we offer it though, please note that different people have VERY different opinions, preferences, and comfort levels in this regard. That said, from our personal experience, we favor the approach of meeting your matches in person as soon as possible after you've developed a reasonable comfort level and have a sense of potential real-world compatibility through online exchanges. We favor relatively quick face-to-face encounters in particular for matches who are local to you. You should ALWAYS first meet in a safe public place, of course.
    Why do we favor this approach enough to voice it? Because our experience is that the rapport between two people via email or telephone, however fabulous, does not necessarily carry over to the real world. We believe that true real-world relationship compatibility can only be determined through real-world time together. We think it makes sense to determine that level of real-world compatibility before too much time or emotional investment has been expended. In the same vein, we also suggest that a first encounter be brief and casual, such as a get-together at a local coffee shop. Again we prefer such brief, informal first encounters to spare both parties time and emotional investment, not to mention expense. If things go well in the first brief encounter, you can always plan something more elaborate for a second get-together.
    Others' views on the matter may well be different, but that's our view.
  13. I found the profile (or picture) of one of my matches to be very offensive. What should I do?
    If you think a profile or picture lies outside the bounds of decency, write to us and let us know.
  14. One of my matches sent me a really nasty (special) message after I decided that I didn't want to meet him (or her). What should I do?
    It's amazing how nasty or mean people can be when they feel hurt. We are sorry that some people cannot be respectful of other's preferences. If you write to us, we can permanently block that user from contacting you. Please note, however, that you use this site at your own risk. We are not responsible for any consequences that result from the use of this site.
  15. I have some specific suggestions to make your site better. Are you interested in hearing them?
    Absolutely! Please contact us and tell us your ideas. We want to make this site as useful and effective as it can possibly be.