www.02138mag.com

Harvard + Internet = <3

Sam Yagan and three Harvard friends built OKCupid.com around a simple equation: self-awareness plus top-secret dating algorithm equals true love. While other dating sites shoehorn potential lovebirds into one-size-fits-all personality tests, according to Yagan, OKCupid uses math—and an ever-changing set of user-generated questions—to match its members. The applied math major–turned-CEO says the know-what-you-want mentality behind the site (which gets 100 million hits per month) was “probably bred at Harvard.” 02138 caught up with Yagan to chat about Crimson coupling.

One of the adjectives for describing potential mates on OKCupid is “Radcliffy.” On the site, you define Radcliffy as “consisting of the broad range of personality traits associated with Harvard girls.” Can you elaborate? We get that question a lot. More than anything, it’s a bit of a shout-out to our friends who went to Harvard with us and all the girls we dated when we were in school. Ninety-nine percent of the world doesn’t even care about what it means, but the one percent that knows doesn’t really need a definition. It’s just understood.

Can only women be Radcliffy? Yes. It’s part of the mystique. The women that we know and love from college all have that little bit of Radcliffiness.

Is there a male equivalent? No. I think there’s a special breed of woman at Harvard, and that’s what we’re trying to capture. Are there types of relationships that you think are particularly common among Harvard grads? Dual-career couples. I would expect that if you looked at data, you’d find that Harvard-Harvard couples are much more likely to face career trade-offs with each other [than couples from other schools].

Is there a difference between the way two people who went to Harvard view each other as potential dates and the way a non-Harvard person views a Harvardian? A lot of it has to do with perceptions that people who didn’t go to Harvard have of Harvardians (or however you pronounce that word). I think it’s well known that women who went to Harvard often find themselves hiding that fact when they first meet guys. Whereas for men, often the “H-bomb” is something they like to drop very early. If that’s one of the few things a girl knows about you, then she’s likely to assume you’re smart and financially secure and that you have a good job and that you’re going to be a good partner.

And with other Harvardians? You end up with a huge comfort level once you know that that person’s not going to make some kind of assumption about you, like, “Oh, you went to Harvard, you’re a jerk,” or, “Oh, you went to Harvard, you’re a genius.” Because you’re probably neither.

Do you think that a lot of Harvard grads end up finding each other after Harvard? I definitely think a disproportionate number of alums get together after college. It’s the comfort of being around each other once you know you’ve been through the same experience. And I’m sure Harvard likes their alums to get married because they end up with more donations.