I’m interested in astrology, yet I never know if I should trust it. Do daily horoscope writers make generalized statements that can apply to a large enough number of people to seem somewhat legit? Are they actually tailored to me based on my sign and date of birth?

I read my horoscope every day for a week, comparing two different apps for accuracy. I compared an app called Co-Star that requires you to enter your time and place of birth, to the everyday horoscope featured on VICE’s Snapchat story, which is based solely on your star sign.

Sunday, Feb. 25:

Sunday nights are always the most stressful with the week’s work looming ahead. Between the workload of midterms and the thought of spring break taking over my mind, overwhelmed is the only word I can think of to sum up my feelings today. My horoscope from Co-Star today said that I’ve been “analyzing my social life,” and that I need clarity on this matter. My social life was probably the last thing on my mind today. Besides the fact that my current social life feels pretty stable, I just had bigger things to be worrying about. My horoscope from VICE said something similar: that I should be focused on my relationships. It was interesting that both apps gave similar horoscopes, but neither was quite accurate.

Monday, Feb. 26:

Today being Monday meant it was the day to jump back into things and get working on the week’s agenda. Co-Star told me that my “passions are high right now,” which I guess is true considering I’m really enjoying the projects I’m currently working on. My horoscope from VICE told me to “focus on my work and responsibilities” today. This felt perfectly on par, as I have a slew of important things I should be focusing on rather than over-analyzing my horoscopes like I’m currently doing. Today’s horoscope felt more accurate, and again, it was interesting to see how the two lined up rather similarly.

Tuesday, Feb. 27:

Today was a pretty mundane Tuesday, consisting of nothing more than classes and work. Co-Star told me to “be prepared for unexpected mishaps.” This was slightly concerning considering I have travel plans at the end of the week, and mishaps while traveling are probably the worst kinds. While this didn’t tell me much about my feelings today, it gave me something to be on the lookout for this week. VICE told me that my relationships should be “lighting up” this week, so I should pay attention to my intuition. I’m not sure what kind of relationship it was referring to, but I currently couldn’t be more single if I tried, so maybe this is signaling an upcoming change. Neither of my horoscopes today felt accurate, or relevant to my current situation in any way.

Wednesday, Feb. 28:

Overall, today was a mess. Enough said. Co-Star said that “your current strength will make your action fruitful.” Not sure I felt too much strength today. VICE told me that “through acceptance, you’ll open your third eye and see beyond what you were blind to.” This horoscope just left me feeling confused, and even more skeptical than I was before. It essentially meant nothing to me and had no correlation to the Co-Star horoscope.

Thursday, March 1:

Today was extremely frustrating for a number of reasons. First, my professors gave unexpected work over break, then I was running late for an appointment and finally, I had to pack for vacation. My Co-Star reading today said that I was “in the kind of mood where everything feels possible today.” I felt the complete opposite of that, rather I felt extremely discouraged by my frustration. VICE said that “issues around sex and intimacy will come to the fore.” Once again, I’m single as fuck. Not sure where that could come into play. Today’s horoscopes were so far off. I’m starting to come to the conclusion that these apps are entirely random and general.

Friday, March 2:

Waking up this morning to hear that my flight would likely be canceled due to a nor’easter was stressful as hell. Luckily, my flight was the last one cleared to leave Boston for the day, and I made it to Miami without problems. Co-Star said that I was feeling emotional and nostalgic. Emotional was accurate, but I think it was due to stress and had nothing to do with nostalgia. VICE told me that I should “trust the process.” While this statement is very general, it actually felt on par for today. I felt lucky that my plane made it out of Boston, and I ended my night swimming under palm trees. Today was a hit and a miss.

Saturday, March 3:

I could not have had a better ending to my week. I spent the morning eating a real, non-Dining Hall breakfast and laying out by the pool for hours. Co-Star once again referred to issues within my social life, but considering I’m on spring break and far away from my social life for the week, this definitely wasn’t an issue. Maybe since it has popped up in my horoscope more than once this week it’s signaling that an issue may be arising in the future. VICE said I’m in the mood to break out of my regular routine. Tanning poolside with avocado toast is not my regular routine by any means, so I guess this was accurate. All in all, this wasn’t a confirmative conclusion to the end of my horoscope week.

Conclusion:

I’m still as confused as I was prior to the week. I do think that these apps are relatively random, but then again, how accurate can they be considering they have to tailor to the thousands of people who read them each day? I guess I’ll keep reading my horoscopes out of curiosity, but I’m not sure that I can use them to any avail in figuring out my everyday life.

Art by: Eleanor Hilty