NORTH CAMPUS—Each February, thousands of Cornellians participate in the Perfect Match survey in an effort to find true love based on shared interests, similarities, and preferences. This year, students have the opportunity to receive a match that is, like, close enough.
Close Enough Match is a student-led project team that utilizes machine learning to pair Cornell students with suitable romantic partners in their immediate physical vicinity. Alongside a brief personality questionnaire, CEM asks students to answer questions like “Where do you live?” “What floor are you on?” and “How fast can you walk?”
Two-time Dickson Resident Eleanor Rice ’28 participated in Perfect Match last year, but upon discovering that her match lived on West Campus, she immediately ghosted them.
“I don’t care if you’re my soulmate,” Rice remarked, “I am not walking up and down the slope.” In response to Rice’s concerns and those of students across campus, Close Enough Match guarantees a match based not on personality or preferences, but rather direct proximity.
Engineering team lead Jay Thomason ’26 noted that survey data is used to produce personality matches sufficient to sustain conversation between the elevator and an interior dorm room. However, the algorithm also incorporates major long-term incompatibilities to ensure that each relationship fizzles out within 3 to 6 months.
As the data show, Close Enough Match is dominated by freshmen looking for dorm hookups and seniors who have given up hope for literally any other option.
