Food for thought. Dating for non-US born people

Female here. I moved to the US a few years back from the Middle East. Had a pretty westernized life there so it wasn’t much of a culture shock for me. I get along well with coworkers who have different backgrounds but I feel that it is not easy to connect with guys when it comes to dating. Many guys see me as “exotic”. I have great hookups but don’t feel like I connected with anyone enough to be actually dating. Thoughts?

14 Comments
 

Analyst 2 in IB - Ind

I am not religious so not interested into people from same ethnicity. 

You're not interested in people from the same ethnicity because you're not religious? 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

- Due to various factors, people who live in North America are often "grouped" into their own demographics (i.e.: property taxes/schools, parents/family influence, religion, tradition, physical distance in a large country, greek life at college, circle of friends, demographics of the town you grew up in, stereotypes, and a LOT more). When you spend the majority of your life with people who look, act, and pray like you - it is unlikely you'll be meeting diverse people.
- Generally speaking, US Americans are friendly, intelligent, and open minded people. However, that doesn't mean the majority of them would be open enough to date someone outside of their own race, religious group or from a different culture. Sometimes this wouldn't be accepted in their families, or the faith is an issue (many US Americans are Christians), or the likelihood of meeting such a person is very low.
- "Having great hookups" as a female should not be that hard to achieve, many men out there would (most likely) sleep with any girl who isn't super off-putting. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they would consider introducing you to their families or consider dating you in the long run.
- Census forecast/reports recently published that, going forward, the biggest growth will be in the group of mixed-race children/young people (who will double in the next decades). Change is happening in this space.
- Different beauty standards: all humans can be beautiful. But that doesn't mean that certain countries or demographics don't have a preference. Among most of my male friends the "standard" is a cute, blonde White woman with blue eyes. This does not mean that this is the only woman they'll date or marry and it also does not mean that every man out there is like that - but the preference would be this Western type for many men born and raised in the West. Having a preference is not racist, it is just a type they want to date and marry. In fact, one reason for this is because people want children who look like themselves. It is natural to want this.

Let's look at greek life as an example (because this is the first time people are able and free to live outside of their families). Greek life can have significant influence in some college networks. One thing you'll notice is that they almost always have members of the same race and potentially even the same faith. One reason for this is to facilitate mixers with the opposite gender and they tend to like people "of their own group".

Having said all of this - you should, in theory, have no problem finding a date or relationship in the US with any race you prefer to date.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline  1-800-273-8255
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

I think that's solid advice. I don't have many friends or friend groups so most people I have been meeting were through dating apps. Part of it also the fact that work takes up most of my time so my window of meeting people is not very long. Thank you!

 

Exercitationem consequatur vero labore consectetur. Sunt sint quia reprehenderit molestias molestiae dignissimos iste. Inventore ut doloribus quis et consequatur. Officiis dolor nihil beatae atque fugit rerum ut.

Est quia molestias et tempora laboriosam et excepturi. Consequuntur molestias mollitia numquam distinctio. Dolorem qui quae voluptates voluptas in repellat. Et quae in ullam aut pariatur ducimus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”