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The Pokédex of college stereotypes: guys edition.
Being a freshman in college is exhilarating. It’s living on your own, independence, figuring out how to use a washer and dryer, and discovering all the ways you can make food with a coffee pot or mug.
With this new and exciting world to discover, there are also all the strange inhabitants to meet. Especially of the male variety.
To save you from some of the confusion of identifying these creatures and different personality types, some of which can be very dangerous to your freshman heart, here’s a working field guide to all the guys you’ll meet in college.
1. The foreigner.
Meeting a guy who hails from another country varies from region to region. Depending on the country of origin, “the foreigner” can come in two varieties: he’s either here for a good time, not a long time, or he’s a work hard, play never type of guy.
If his country of origin comes with a stereotypical accent, you can bet that this elevates his attractiveness by at least fifteen percent. These guys know that they’re hot stuff, and are not afraid to use their foreigner status to pull all the girls they can on campus while they’re still here.
Be warned, there’s a good chance that he may be so caught up in the social scene that he flunks out. Or, he might be so invested in his studies that he never even looks up from his books, and therefore be the bane of your existence when vying for that top scoring position in class.
2. The promoter.
This type of man in college is somewhat rare, and this personality type can take on many different forms depending on the college life you’re a part of. Think of the promoter in two varieties: the night-life club promoter and the academic one.
But even with this important differentiations, they follow a lot of the same patterns. These types of guys will constantly be talking about their clubs and all of the fun opportunities they offer. They’ll text you every day about coming out to their events (and if it’s for the night-life club, they’ll guarantee you a spot on their list so you can get past the bouncers).
These guys can be a bit annoying though, but if you’re new on campus it may be worth it to entertain the idea of becoming at least friends with one of them, if you’re interested in getting to know people anyway. In the end, though, they’re just trying to meet a quota.
3. The “f-ckboy”.
This is probably the most common college guy personality type you’ll come across, and with age does not come better intentions. These guys are smooth, they’re funny, and they’re deathly allergic to the “what are we” talk. If you try to introduce him as a significant other, he’ll matrix his way out of it like a ninja.
Don’t be surprised if there are other women on his target list. There are only two ways to change his ways and help him evolve. He needs to either a) graduate and grow out of it, or b) get his heart broken to get a taste of his own medicine.
There’s also a third, worse, wild-card option … he never grows out of it. It’s not super common, but it should still be taken into consideration if you still insist on getting with one of these guys.
4. The all-boys school guy.
The all-boys-schools bring different levels of confidence in the young ‘gentlemen’ they produce. Some of these men are suave, sporty, passionate — and a total ladies men. Others are awkward, shy, and don’t know how to interact around women. Both of these types of men in college are fine, but if you end up crushing hard on either variety, be prepared for some drama and frustration.
What these college guy personality types have that f-ckboy and the foreigner don’t have is that they have a higher chance at being relationship-driven faster. They may do their thing and date a lot of women when they first join college, but you can bet that by the end of sophomore year they’re already going to be looking for serious relationships. So there’s hope! Just be careful to not get your heart broken while you’re waiting on him to settle.
5. The “entrepreneur”.
Yes, I meant to have quotes around this one. The “entrepreneur” is basically the male equivalent to the health and wellness rep girl. He has a lot of ideas and ambitions, some a little too crazy to really be grounded in reality. He’s most likely some type of business major — probably marketing or public relations — and he will never shut up about his great ideas.
More likely than not, in college, he won’t get the funding his idea needs to take off, so there’s a chance that he’ll drop off the face of the earth entirely and try to go for the Steve Jobs route, leaving you in the dust.
6. The gamer dude.
Guys who are obsessed with gaming, computers and video games are kind of awkward. But they’re pretty funny, too.
A guy with this type of personality spends ALL of his free time gaming, and I don’t mean just on the weekend. He has a crew or guild of buddies that play these games with him, too. They’ll find access to a TV, take over one spot in the common area and play for hours on end. Good luck trying to join them — more likely than not he’s of the mindset that gamer are a myth. I’d suggest logging on to your account in whatever game they’re playing and teach them a lesson on how to treat a lady.
7. The frat guy.
In reality, all of these different personality types of college guys can be combined with the frat guy, as most of the above tend to lean on their guy friends for support and advice. What’s different about a classic “frat dude” though? Expect a higher alcohol intake and tolerance, and partying will be on the agenda every weekend. If he’s in a fraternity of some sort, it also increases the likelihood of him being a ‘bro’.
The most common combination of the Frat Guy is when it’s in conjunction with The F-ckboy. Overall, expect more hype, more intoxication, and a higher likelihood of relationship aversion.
Kayla Baptista is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture and relationship topics.
