1.

“Have a baby. It’ll save your relationship.”

— Ellen, 23

2.

“’If you love him, change everything about yourself for him.”

— Rose, 26

3.

“The worst advice I’ve gotten is to immediately jump into bed with a person I was interested in developing a long-term relationship with. I think more times than not, it ruins the spark, intrigue, and chase of a new crush, and it creates a distance and lack of intimacy that’s pretty hard to recover from.”

— Leia, 22

4.

“‘You just need to get out there more’ – this is so unhelpful and where is ‘there’? I would love to know.”

— Laura, 23

5.

“‘Your standards are too high’ – thanks, let me just settle for some shitty dude to spend a ton of time with. That sounds enjoyable.”

— Samantha, 23

6.

“Stick it out, it will get better.”

— Sara, 22

7.

“That if you love each other, that is enough. From my experience there’s a lot more that goes into a relationship than love, and most of the time love actually isn’t enough.”

— Rob, 27

8.

“‘If you care about the other person, you have to make sacrifices.’ – It’s one of those things that sounds correct on a surface level, but being in a healthy, caring, relationship involves mutual sacrifice, and I think people fall into the trap of giving too much of themselves without recognizing how lopsided that dynamic really is. It should be a two-way street.”

— Michael, 23

9.

“‘Make her do all the work. Never reach out, and never compliment her.’ – which I didn’t follow because I’m not a sociopath.”

— Mark, 23

10.

“That sex on the first date leads to love.”

— Jess, 23

11.

“‘Never tell him your number; always let him think your number is three.’ – if he is slut shaming me, he is not the one for me.”

— Mabel, 23

12.

“‘Wait till marriage before you have sex or live together.’ – how am I supposed to know if I can spend the rest of my life with someone before I do either of these things?”

— John, 24

13.

“‘Play hard to get.’ – it’s complete bullshit. I shouldn’t have to ‘play’ anything and I don’t want to date anyone who’s only interested in me because they think I’m hard to get.”

— Jordan, 26

14.

“‘Wait until the (insert number here) date to have sex’ – you should have sex whenever you feel comfortable, whether it’s the first date or the seventeenth.”

— Liz, 21

15.

“‘If you aren’t going to marry him you’re wasting your time.’ – I was 19 or 20 at the time… I’d argue your early 20s (also mid & even possibly late 20s) is when you want to date around and figure out what you want.”

— Nathalie, 23

16.

“The worst dating advice I’ve ever received was to use dating apps. I think there are very few things more attractive than a person who is present in the moment, living their best life, carving out time with people they love and for activities they enjoy. We spend so much time glued to our devices that I think we forget to appreciate the beauty in the people around us.”

— Anees, 25