is 21 & 18 ok? i turned 18 this year and im currently talking to a 21 year old i met at a bar, she seems pretty interested in me but my friends are saying the age gap is weird. i want to get some external opinions before our date 😭

No its definitely okay if you guys are a good match. Me and my ex were 18 and 21 when we started dating.

Are you still in high school?

Definitely not a weird age gap. Three years is veryyyy normal

Personally I wouldn’t have dated an 18 year old at 21, as I was in my 4th year of university and about to graduate. For me being in the same/similar life stage is important. Have your friends met this person?

Eh if you’re freshly graduated or still in high school that’s definitely weird. When I was 21 I didn’t even hang out with 18 year olds.

I would not consider this to be weird in the slightest!

It depends whether you’re in the same life stage or not

When I was 21 I wouldn't have been interested in an 18 year old.

^ At 23 I realized I didn’t even like dating 21 year olds. No way in hell would I be looking at a 18 year old kid and wanting to pursue something at the age of 21.

i don’t think it is thaaat big if a difference. its only a few years. it can be tricky though if you are at like major different life stages.

This is a situation where you will always get very different opinions and it depends on each person in the couple. Imo, I’m not a fan of equating life stages to age, particularly using age at university as a measurement. At 21, yeah, I was in uni, but I hadn’t lived on my own at that point, only ever worked PT, and couldn’t even drive so I was lacking crucial life experiences that help someone mature. If I met an 18 year old who was living on their own and working FT, but wasn’t going to uni, I would say they would be more mature than me at 21 in some ways. And speaking of uni, there are people of all ages in different classes and clubs. When I was 18, I made friends with men and women who were 3+ years older than me in class and it was never weird and we were even friends outside of class.

I think it depends on life stage. I had moved out & was finishing uni at 21 so I wouldn’t have dated an 18 year old, but maybe if you’re both working full time & have a similar living situation it could work. 18-23 is when you change loads as a person.