Cross-college “Marriage Pact” assigns love

The Future. A new dating platform called “Marriage Pact” is expanding from its successful start at various colleges to the public. The app, which uses a mix of questionnaires and data to make matches, will launch in beta in the near future — possibly introducing Gen-Z to a dating app that goes beyond just swipes based on attractiveness.

OkCampus
Welcome to the eHarmony for a new generation.

• Back in 2017, Liam McGregor developed a dating algorithm and questionnaire called “Marriage Pact,” specifically catered to college students for an undergrad Stanford assignment.
• It became a bonafide hit, matching up 107,893 couples across 64 universities over the past four years — with 20% still allegedly in a committed relationship.
• Now, McGregor is building out the algorithm into a full app, which it plans to launch in beta soon, and will have a subscription-based revenue model.

Other than the matchmaking algorithm, the app will have new features like an internal reflection questionnaire called “Dialogue.” And eventually, a feature called “Soulmate Radar,” which will alert users when they’ve passed by someone they are compatible with… like a COVID alert system for love.

Date data
You may be thinking, “do we really need another dating app?” According to McGregor, the success rate for the platform is already sky-high, with 30% of matches meeting up in person and 3-4% of those dating for more than a year — a higher success rate than other traditional dating apps. No wonder 75% of Stanford undergraduates gave the platform a spin last year.

Marriage Pact (honestly, not a great name for commitment-phobes) asks new users 50 questions about life, love, and sources of happiness, which users then rate on a scale of “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree). Yes, this may seem reminiscent of the OG apps like eHarmony and OkCupid, but it shows that even old concepts can surge once again when given a new coat of paint and a fresh user base.