The initial Boston Couples Study recruited both members of 231 dating couples and 100 singles from colleges in the Boston Area in 1972. About half of the couples broke up within 2 years. After 15 years, only about one-fifth of the couples were married to that partner, while three-fifths were married to someone else. Women in couples who considered themselves less attractive in college were more likely to stay together with their partner after 2 years and be married to that partner after 15 years. They may have considered themselves less likely to attract an alternative partner. But single women and men in college who considered themselves less desirable as a marriage partner were less likely to be married in their mid-30s.