Forty-thousand students means opportunity.

As of fall 2007, there were 36,815 undergraduate students at University Park, which means hundreds of opportunities for undergraduate love.

"Every time I go somewhere, I see attractive females," Robvoun Fulson (junior-business) said.

Fulson, who transferred from Penn State Hazleton to University Park this semester, said this "whole new world" here doesn't allow time for romance; there's just not enough time.

But while some students say dating can be tough in a college atmosphere, there's always the other option -- something that seemingly defines the college experience: the random hook up. But when it's all said and done, students may not necessarily be proud of adding another notch to their belt, a recent survey found.

Exploring the "sexually explicit hook-up culture" on college campuses, Boston University professor Donna Freitas took a national college survey of 2,500 students. Of those who reported "hooking up" -- a range of sexually intimate acts, from kissing to intercourse, that occur outside a committed relationship -- 41 percent of students at Catholic and non-religious private and public colleges and universities are profoundly upset about their behavior, the survey found. The results are presented in her new book, Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance & Religion on America's College Campuses, which is out this month.

The enjoyment of the hook up culture is a myth created by students, Freitas said. When she taught the class "Spirituality & Sexuality in American Youth Culture" last semester, she was surprised by her students' opinions on hook-up culture.

"Once one student expressed dissent, suddenly the entire class was, like, chattering expressing their dissent," Freitas said. "The class started attacking hook-up culture after they'd been discussing it all semester."

The experience made her realize the "power of numbers," Freitas said.

"A lot of students talked about how they felt like it can ruin your whole campus experience," Freitas said. "This is both men and women who expressed this, and I found just as many men saying the same thing."

The dating scene at Penn State is "not like NYC dating," Alli Elosua (senior-crime, law and justice) said.

"I thought there'd be a lot more opportunities to date when I got here, [but] it was like guys thought they could hook up with one girl one day and another the next," she said.

Bad sexual experiences are the ones students tend to discuss, Freitas said.The lure of hooking up can be difficult to avoid, Omar Marshall (senior-supply chain and information systems) said.

"There definitely is a lot of temptation -- especially when the weather gets nicer," Marshall said.

When visiting potential colleges for their kids, parents shouldn't hesitate to ask questions about the social scene, Freitas said.

"Colleges are reluctant to address some of the dark side of hook up culture," she said.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) sees many students for romantic or relationship issues, Mary Anne Knapp, CAPS clinical social worker, wrote in an e-mail.

"When students enter a 'hook up' with different expectations, it can be a source of emotional pain," Knapp wrote. "There is no such thing as instant intimacy, and at some point, people need to figure out who the other person really is in a relationship."

Freitas believes that hook-up culture can change.

"Part of it is just simply making students aware that they think all these things about each other that aren't true -- bridging that gap," she said. "What everybody feels inside is very different."