This semester, Aggies have a new option other than dating apps and pick-up lines — a more scientific method known as the Marriage Pact.

The matchmaking survey is designed to pair students based on their compatibility. Applying economic theory to research on the “romantic market,” two students at Stanford University developed the Marriage Pact algorithm in 2017 — and what started as a class assignment quickly resulted in over 4,000 participants looking for their mathematically perfect partner.

The phenomenon didn’t stop at Stanford, and it made its way across college campuses in the United States — eventually making its way to Texas A&M. So far, 88 schools have taken part in the initiative, with over 400,000 students participating in the survey. The experiment is meant to be fleeting — only lasting one week a year — a unique approach aiming to represent the fast-acting atmosphere love brings.

With over 50 questions to answer, the online survey touches on a multitude of topics, ranging from morality to questions about taboo subjects. After an open period, it closes and matches two statistically similar students, providing each with the other’s email. 

The team responsible for bringing the Marriage Pact to Aggieland includes hospitality, hotel management and tourism sophomore Katelynn Healy. 

“A&M is such a big school,” Healy said. “It can be hard to meet other people. The Marriage Pact is a great way to meet people that you could get along with … that you otherwise would have never been able to meet.”

The survey isn’t only a dating algorithm. It can link friends together who might have never crossed paths on campus. 

“People don’t understand how easy it is to make friends,” Healy said. “I feel like bringing it to a college campus is really helpful to kind of break the stereotypes around unfamiliarity and shying away from it.”

With such a large student population in mind, the Marriage Pact team ran into some roadblocks when it came to student participation. They soon realized that word-of-mouth marketing would only bring them a limited number of participants. Biomedical sciences sophomore Aman Anoop advertised it in a myriad of ways, even dressing up as Cupid to convince students to participate.

“The word ‘marriage’ kind of scares people,” Anoop said. “Even though there’s nothing marriage-related that we’re doing. It’s more of like trying to find your person in a sea of 60,000 people.”

Anoop is responsible for originally bringing the Marriage Pact to A&M. He first heard of the Marriage Pact through his cousin, a student at Rice University, before submitting a request to bring the survey to A&M through the Marriage Pact website last year.

Despite the name’s implications, there is no commitment to marriage required to participate and find a match. 

“It’s not like a real pact,” Healy said. “It’s not a contract you have to sign or anything, but that’s how it started. One of its big marketing slogans is that it’s the optimal backup plan.” 

The idea of the Marriage Pact is that if someone can’t find love anywhere else, they will always have their scientifically-compatible partner to fall back on.

“Marriage is not something that’s on my mind currently as a college student, but I think, secretly, a lot of people do want to get locked down,” Anoop said. “So, you know, I personally thought [Marriage Pact] was a cool idea, even if nothing comes from it.”

Not everybody thought the word marriage was daunting. Biomedical sciences freshman Nicola Chukwuemeka said she didn’t feel intimidated by the proposal. 

“I think a lot of people are going to be excited about the test,” Chukwuemeka said. “Because I have never heard of something like this, and I think it’s a new way to get people more connected with each other, even if it’s not something that forms romantic bonds.”

Still, the social experiment doesn’t end right after taking the survey. The mystery of the perfect match continued to unravel until the Marriage Pact closed on Oct. 21.

“I’m kind of nervous,” Healy said. “If you take the quiz early, it gives you hints throughout the week on your matches.” 

Despite the nerves, others find that the element of surprise adds to the excitement.

“The mystery of it is kind of weird because there’s some tension on you,” Anoop said. “ … But then that’s what makes it more fun, right?”

Mystery aside, what started as a fleeting survey has become a recurring event at campuses across the country. 

“It is like a big tradition at the colleges that it works at,” Healy said. “And I think that it could be really exciting here because A&M is rooted in tradition.”

With the idea of tradition in mind, Anoop looks forward to the future of the Marriage Pact.

“We’d love to do this every year,” Anoop said. “We want it to be something that other students are excited for.” 

By the time the Marriage Pact closed on Oct. 21, it had over 1,500 people fill it out — and the team is only expecting to grow in the number of participants in the following years. More than just a way to meet romantic partners, Anoop said Marriage Pact is aiding Aggies to connect and form lasting friendships with each other.

“It’s really not that deep,” Anoop said. “Fill out the forms, do your part, go out and meet those new people. You can always make friends out of them.”