From those who have traversed the college dating scene, we present these do's and don'ts.

DON’T BELIEVE THAT AN UPPERCLASSMAN is going to call you for a date, like he says he’s going to. Don’t wait by the phone. He gets drunk at frat parties and hooks up with the first thing he sees; that’s how guys “date” in college.
—K.E.R.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

ROLLER SKATING, BOWLING and getting ice cream cones are still great dates in college. In fact, you get major points for being bold enough to do them with gusto.
—BRIAN TURNER
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO GET GIRLS? Respect them. Be nice to them; it’s that simple. Forget pickup lines or getting them drunk. In fact, warn them about guys like that. It sounds silly, but be their hero by being nice and thinking of them. Also, never, ever, ever try a pickup line, unless you’re just kidding around. They never work. The only pickup line that works is, “Hi. How are you?” It’s a legitimate start to a conversation.
—R.B.
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

I’VE SEEN THE MISTAKE OF PEOPLE staying with their high-school boyfriend or girlfriend, then breaking up with them senior year. That’s a terrible experience. You lose the entire novelty of being in college. I would recommend meeting new people and going out with different types of people, whether they’re from other states or countries, or whatever.
—MIKE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

MAKE SURE TO PRACTICE SAFE SEX. And if you have a roommate, devise a code early on. We used to have a magnet on the door and if one of us had our girlfriend over, we would flip the magnet upside down. I don’t remember if this ever stopped us from “accidentally” walking in.
—ANONYMOUS
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

IF YOU KEEP YOUR BOYFRIEND BACK HOME, you must learn to trust each other. My boyfriend lives in Maryland and I’m at school in North Carolina. My freshman year, we talked on the phone every night, and he would always tell me how much he missed me and how hard it was to be that far away. We visited each other, but he would complain that it wasn’t enough. It was also hard to see the other girls go to parties and dance and kiss other boys. But I didn’t want to break up; I love my boyfriend. Over the past year, he has learned to trust me. I have told him a million times that I would never do anything to hurt him; he finally believes me.
—ALLISON
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO

DON’T DATE SOMEONE IN YOUR HALLWAY; I did. Not only are you living together, but you also have shared counselors and shared activities; you can’t escape them. Anytime I went anywhere, or anytime he went anywhere, we would know about it. We’d have fights over IM, and sometimes we’d have to run down the hallway to go yell at each other. And even if we were to break up, there was no chance of having our own lives without the other person knowing about it. So I basically continued to date him for the whole year, regardless of how happy I was, in order to not deal with the issues involved with having him around.
—CATE
BROWN UNIVERSITY