Since 1976, Great Expectations has been one of the premier destinations for meeting and dating singles. Great Expectations has over 60 locations nationwide to help singles find other members they can build a relationship with. If you want a dating site that offers a different approach to online dating, then Great Expectations is the place for you. Great Expectations is a cross between the traditional dating sites and actual dating experience.

Unlike other online dating sites, Great Expectations actually pre-screens its members. The dating site works hard to provide singles with a safe environment to meet other singles and start a relationship or friendship. In order to be a member of Great Expectations, you must be 18 years old. All your personal information will be validated by the dating site before you are granted access to the site. Every application that is submitted to Great Expectations is thoroughly reviewed by a staff member. Your application will include information about your weaknesses and strengths and the staff member will rank you according to your relationship potential. 

One feature that truly sets Great Expectations apart from the other online dating sites is their online counseling service. If you have relationship questions or any needs to speak with a counselor, you can contact the online counseling center and arrange a meeting to speak to a counselor face to face. Great Expectations has millions of members in over 200 countries, so you have a large dating pool to choose from. Since Great Expectations has been around for so long, they have experience with the old way of finding matches for singles and now they have broadened their experience to include the internet dating world. There are professional evaluators that will help you solve your personal issue and traits that could hurt your relationships. They don't believe in changing an individual, only helping them to overcome their struggles and work at building good relationships. The one-on-one attention you receive with Great Expectations truly sets them apart from all the other online dating sites.

In order to become a member, you need to create your personality profile. Great Expectations has 6 easy steps that each member must follow in order to complete their profile. The initial form will ask for your personal information such as height, weight, and a few personal interests. Once you have completed this process, you will then mention the qualities you are seeking in a mate. You have the ability to upload photographs, but you can only upload 3. To shorten the size of the profiles, Great Expectations allows you to explain yourself in 500 words. You can talk about your hobbies and interests and personality traits.

One of the biggest confusions with Great Expectations is that the company uses 2 different URL's. GreatExpectations.com and GE-Dating.com both link to the same company. The two URL's allow members to quickly search for the web site without clicking on the wrong page on search engines.
Once you become a member, you will have the ability to search for other members. You can perform various searches using keywords, geographical locations, and other things. The search results will depend solely on your compatibility with other members based on your personality profile. The price to become a member of Great Expectations is $24.95 a month. Considering the high screening process and the quality of the members, this is a bargain!

The web site does offer two forms of memberships, basic and premium. The basic membership is free and allows you to access most of the site. With a basic membership, you can create your profile, upload photos and videos, browse through other member's profiles, and search for members in your area. You cannot communicate with other members unless you upgrade to the premium membership for $24.95. With a premium membership, you have the ability to email other members, instant message, participate in chat rooms, or show interest in other members. A premium membership also allows you the ability to do an advanced search and add people to your hotlist.

Great Expectations has several testimonials of actual members that met on the dating site. You can watch videos of their stories and learn how to put Great Expectations to work for you. Like other dating sites, the application to open your profile will take some time to fill out. Plan on spending about an hour filling out the profile when you initially sign up. Be truthful and detailed with your answers, the more information you submit, the better possibility you have at finding a match you are truly compatible with.

One of the downsides to Great Expectations is their gender orientation. Great Expectations only accepts straight members, not gay or lesbian members. Oprah, 48 Hours, and Sally Jesse Raphael have all recommended Great Expectations for singles that want a safe dating environment. Even if you don't find someone to build a relationship with, you at least get one-on-one counseling services that can help you find what may be blocking you from building a successful relationship with another person.

Several members have commented on the flexibility of the online dating site. Since Great Expectations screens their members, they do not see the amount of SPAM mail as other dating sites. Members should expect to spend more time communicating with other members than they normally would spend clicking the mouse doing a search. Great Expectations is not a casual online dating site. If you are a member of Great Expectations, you should be expecting to find a serious, long-term relationship.

Once you log on to the site, you should enter your ZIP code to find a location that is close to you. Some members have commented that Great Expectations is full of loopholes and scams individuals out of money. While the web site boasts the price is $24.95, members claim they have spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on the site.  If you meet with an account representative, you will go through the entire process together. The representative will help you fill out your profile and they will even list it for you. You will have your pictures taken, a video made, and the representative will inform you about your chances for meeting someone you are compatible with.

Great Expectations will email you a listing of recommended members. You have the ability to view their information and reject them if you aren't interested in them. You still have the ability to search for members that you are interested in, if the computer system can't seem to find anyone for you. Here are some reviews of Great Expectations from actual users:

"I have a friend who joined Great Expectations in St. Louis last year. She loves it. I must admit she has more quality dates than I do, but I do know she paid a lot for the service. She loves the fact that they do background checks on all of there people. I would love to sign up but unfortunately just can't afford it." - Female, St. Louis, MO

"It looks great in theory, however there are very few people registered (I guess because of high costs when compared to EHarmony and Chemistry.com). If you were not born in the USA, forget it. Doesn't really matter if you are a permanent resident or a legal Alien living in the United States - people you turn you down. I even got a call once from Great Expectations apparently because someone complained that I put the "wrong color" in profile. Totally racist thing. I am white, but apparently someone (who has no knowledge of geography) thinks I am middle-eastern type, and I have no ancestors from this area. My grand parents were from Italy and Sweden. They are very nice to you before you pay up and they also make a lot of promises to you like "nobody stays here for more than one year; a tall guy like you will find someone quickly" - but forget it. Once they charge your credit card, they are gone. You are own your own, and all they do is to publish your profile and make you take pictures with their own photographer. That's it. Save your money and join either EHarmony or Chemistry." - Male, Houston, TX

"Thanks everyone for your reviews of Great Expectations. I received a call from Great Expectations Sunday night and arranged for a consultation meeting on Tuesday. I spoke to a lady by the name of Patra and she definitely rehearsed her speech to me over the telephone. I asked a lot of questions and her responses were vague, often telling me that my consultation meeting will address all my questions. On Monday morning, I decided to check out the Better Business Bureau to see if there were any complaints filed on Great Expectations. Based on the complaints with the BBB and your reviews, my gut told me to cancel my meeting. I called Great Expectations at their Palo Alto, CA office and Patra answered the telephone. I told her that I wanted to cancel my meeting and would like to take some time to look into other options. She tried to convince me otherwise and I would not give in, so I thanked her for her time and she hung up the telephone on me without saying good-bye. Her response was all I needed to confirm my suspicions." - Female, CA