<p>I hear a lot of people say that if you have a significant other, you wont be able to get the true college experience. Maybe it was significant in another state or something but still, what does having a s/o wherever stop you from doing?</p>
<p>The only things i can see are being able to hook up/ bang other people. is that what the experience is??</p>
<p>going to clubs and dancing with random people, and that leading to hook-ups or more.</p>
<p>not having to worry if you make plans they might not like them. like deicing to take a road trip(in our case from ucf to uf) at 3 in the morning.</p>
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lets be honest, you're not going to marry however you're high school boyfriend or girlfriend is...
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<p>Not necessarily true. I know several people who married their high school boyfriend/girlfriend.</p>
<p>Anyway, the way I see it is that if I have to give up someone I love to "fully experience" college then I don't want to experience it anyway. Not worth it.</p>
<p>Plus even if I wasn't in a relationship I wouldn't be clubbing or hooking up or anything like that because I am too much the loner type for that, so it's kind of a moot point.</p>
<p>yes, some people will get married to their high school sweetheart, but it's a very small number; i'd also like to see divorce rates of those marriages.</p>
<p>It might limit you if you go there every weekend or your significant other comes to visit all the time. Having someone else to hang out with doesn't force you to make friends with the people around you so you might miss out on some of the social aspects (not hooking up, just making friends). It really depends on how much they are a part of your college life.</p>
<p>I'm a little glad that my bf is deployed to Iraq for the first 6 months of the school year for this very reason. It lets you focus on making the connections and taking advantage of the college life.</p>
<p>Have you not been in a relationship? I know when I was, I hung out with him most of the time. Friends got put on the back burner and I hate to say it, but I'm not friends with them anymore (even though I'm single). If you go into college in a relationship, you find that you might not meet that many people because you are with them all the time. You also don't really get to do as much crazy/random stuff.</p>
<p>it depends on whether or not you two are going to the same college... i think that if it's a long distance relationship, it will allow you to have the "complete college experience" while being in a committed relationship, or whatever degree of commitment you should choose to have.</p>
<p>also, each individual's college experience, or what they expect out of the college experience, is different. therefore, it's difficult to say that being in a relationship will not allow someone to fully experience college, because perhaps the "hooking up" lifestyle isn't the one you're that interested in. that's my case; i'm in a happy committed relationship right now, and we're both going to be freshmen at different schools next year but are staying together.</p>
<p>The only thing I can say about the whole situation is that you should consider whether or not you'd regret your decision if you stayed together for a large part (or all 4 years) of college, and then broke up...obviously if you get married to the person it's well worth the sacrifices you'd make during college. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>I think having a boyfriend or girlfriend at another university may actually be a good thing. It'll allow you to concentrate and you won't always be thinking about finding a new lover.</p>
<p>im going to college with my boyfriend. he's going to the same one. i think this whole thing depends on how clingy you are to one another. if youre always together obviously youre not goin to make as many friends but if you allow some personal space and let each other meet other people it could actually help you gain friendships. like, you meet his new friends and he meets yours. idk. i think it will be fun having a bf on campus. that way theres no pressure to hook up with strangers and i can keep my reputation clean</p>
<p>One thing I have always hated about relationships is that people think they have to spend every minute together. It's actually very counterproductive. People need to give each other room to breathe and make friends. </p>
<p>One thing I've always considered is this: You're only in college once. Making new relationships occurs all throughout life. If you choose to ditch the more "crazier" aspects of your college experience for a relationship, it can be a huge blow to the gut if that relationship doesn't work out in the end. However, you always gain something from a relationship, whether it be experience, knowledge, etc.</p>
<p>It's really a function of one's priorities and lifestyle choices. If you feel you'd get more out of a more independent college experience where you call all the shots, then hold off on the relationship stuff until later. If you would rather have a closer emotional connection with someone and don't mind the give-and-take aspects of it, then relationships may not be a bad idea.</p>
<p>There's really no one right answer to this. It all comes down to what you want out of college, and whether or not dating/having a relationship fits into those desires.</p>
<p>On a more anecdotal side to things, I know PLENTY of seniors who suddenly experience the whole "cold feet" side to their senior year. They've been with one significant other ever since freshman/sophomore year, and suddenly they wonder if they've been missing out. One person I know broke up with his girlfriend his senior year out of fear, and this ****ed off his girlfriend immensely. He tried dating around and "experiencing college," but soon realized that he had made a mistake. He's now trying to get back together with his girlfriend, but she's very hurt/reluctant to do so.</p>
<p>The moral of that story is that sometimes you really aren't "missing out" on college if you are capable of having a good relationship with someone. Sometimes a good college experience can be defined as such. There are always going to be opportunities and times in our lives when we wonder what would have happened had we chosen another option, but in the end, all that matters is if what you choose fits in with your priorities.</p>
<p>My boyfriend and I got together the second semester of our freshman year. I guess it was a tradeoff. At the beginning of the year, I spent more time with friends; once I had a boyfriend, I only had much time for one of my closest friends, and my other friendships suffered. On the other hand, the string of crushes I had during the first semester caused plenty of worry (and something not far short of agony, from time to time). I'm more confident and less worried about appearances when I know there's someone who loves me regardless.</p>
<p>I agree with the original poster. Yeah, you're missing out on getting totally trashed and hooking up with lots of random people. Maybe some would consider that part of the college experience, but if you've chosen to be in a committed long distance relaitonship it's obviously not something you've going to miss. </p>
<p>Some people might miss out because they spend so much time with their s/o. I know one girl in a LDR that spends every weekend with her bf and doesn't spend much time with her friends in school anymore. For most, though, you spend less time with a long distance bf than with one at school, and if you you have a healthy relationship with space and trust this doesn't have to be a problem, in my opinion, and you can still have the college experience.</p>