Julia Cox ’23
Webmaster
March 5, 2020
Co–Star: the app used by many to predict their day. Using your birth time and date to predict your sun, moon, and ascendant horoscope signs, Co–Star is either a great way to predict your day or a fun thing to look at every once in a while, depending on the extent of your belief in horoscopes. But how accurate is it, really? If you check it when you get a notification with your daily advice, usually around noon, to what extent does it influence how you perceive your day? For this article, over a 12-day period I compared my daily advice and predictions in self, sex & love, thinking & creativity, social life, and work to how my day actually went. By using a point system, I calculated a general accuracy rate of every day. An applicable piece of advice gets one point, while a spot-on prediction gets a point and an inaccurate prediction gets none. Will Co–Star turn out to be as predictive as it claims? Continue reading to see!
February 9: 50% accurate
– Advice: Start at the beginning.
– Power in: Work, love
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Self
– How did this line up? Today seems to be fairly accurate. Though no exciting power in love, I felt particularly productive today. As it was my friend’s birthday, I definitely felt pressure to help her celebrate, and I had to be creative while writing an Italian assignment. However, I felt no trouble with self today, as I called my parents just to catch up and not to cry.
February 10: 67% accurate
– Advice: Be ready to lose an argument.
– Power in: Work
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Love, self
– How did this line up? Almost spot-on! I got close to starting an argument while calling someone out for saying things in poor taste and I also got ahead on my homework. Though I felt no particular pressure in creativity, a dramatic situation erupted at my high school which required a lot of talking to friends. I felt fine with myself, though indeed a little disappointed with love.
February 11: 33% accurate
– Advice: The response to someone sharing something with you can be as simple as: “Thank you.”
– Power in: Work, self
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Love
How did this line up? This is not accurate at all! “Thank you” would not have been an appropriate response to anything people shared with me today, and I felt very distracted while trying to do my homework. Pressure in self would be the most accurate description, and I would even say trouble with love was inaccurate as well.
February 12: 33% accurate
– Advice: Be easy on people, even the smartest ones will have trouble turning the wild orbit of their thoughts into words.
– Power in: Work
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Love, self
– How did this line up? Slightly accurate. I think it’s always good to be easy on people, and I definitely had power in work today. I felt some creative pressure to prepare a solo for jazz band tomorrow, but no pressure with social life and no particular trouble with love or self.
February 13: 50% accurate
– Advice: You don’t have to be sugar and spice and everything nice.
– Power in: Work
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Love, self
– How did this line up? Slightly accurate… the advice was a little dangerous, as I was a bit grumpy today (hence the trouble with self). I didn’t really have power in work, though I definitely had pressure in creativity with a solo opportunity in jazz band. I felt pressure to spend time with friends today, though I ended up being too busy. However, it was a good day for love!
February 14: 50% accurate
– Advice: Let down your guard.
– Power in: Work, self
– Pressure in: Creativity
– Trouble with: Social life, love
– How did this line up? Fairly accurate. Don’t know where the advice came from, but I definitely had power in work and self as I had a nice afternoon lounging on the lawn sunbathing and doing homework, feeling both content and productive. I had a nice Valentine’s Day lunch with friends which I don’t think constitutes trouble with social life, though trouble with love does seem spot-on.
February 15: 50% accurate
– Advice: You’re the one who has to answer the questions that the universe sends you.
– Power in: Work, love, self
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Nothing!
– How did this line up? If the universe is my parents on this wonderful first day of Family Weekend, then yes, this is completely accurate. No power in work as I was with family all day, and only mild power in love and self. I didn’t feel much pressure in creativity, though definitely some in social life while trying to have a successful night out.
February 16: 33% accurate
– Advice: Write them a note.
– Power in: Work, love
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Self
– How did this line up? Decently accurately. I actually was considering sending a text to an old high school friend before receiving my advice notification, though I didn’t end up sending anything. I wasn’t productive today, as it was family weekend, and there was also no power in love. I felt some pressure in creativity, as I had to make decisions for my family on where to go and what to do, but unfortunately I didn’t see my friends today so there wasn’t much social life to have pressure in. No trouble with self, though I did get a bit emo saying goodbye to my dad.
February 17: 67% accurate
– Advice: Your secrets can block other people’s ability to really see you.
– Power in: Work
– Pressure in: Creativity, social life
– Trouble with: Self, love
– How did this line up? Pretty accurately! The advice didn’t make sense, though I did feel pressure in social life today as I was really busy and didn’t get to see friends as much as I normally would have. I didn’t get much done today and was stressed as a result, therefore nixing the predicted power in work but confirming the trouble with self.
February 18: 67% accurate
– Advice: Trees keep the old stumps of cut-down friends alive for hundreds of years by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots.
– Power in: Love, work
– Pressure in: Social life, creativity
– Trouble with: Self
– How did this line up? Besides the completely random advice, pretty accurately. I did more work than I expected and felt pressure in my social life as I had been busy lately. However, I was also stressed today.
February 19: 17% accurate
– Advice: Your relationships don’t define you.
– Power in: Love
– Pressure in: Creativity
– Trouble with: Work, social life, self
– How did this line up? Not very accurate. I think the advice is good in general but not especially applicable today, and I felt no power in love. There was some pressure in creativity, as I had to write an essay, but definitely no trouble with work as I got a lot done. Social life felt pretty normal, and I’d say I had power in self as I treated myself to some In-N-Out as a reward for finishing my essay early.
February 20: 50% accurate
– Advice: Oxytocin is a powerful drug.
– Power in: Love
– Pressure in: Social life
– Trouble with: Work, creativity, self
– How did this line up? This day would be perfect if it in fact followed the prediction for a powerful day in love, but alas, that was not the case. There was a bit of pressure in social life trying to figure out plans for the weekend, and definite trouble with work and creativity as I didn’t get much homework done and chickened out during my solo in jazz band. However, I had power in self, as I treated myself to watching a movie I’ve been excited to see (which contributed to the trouble with work).
Over these twelve days, while weighing the advice and five consistent specific predictions equally, Co–Star was about 47.25 percent accurate. This is pretty good, considering the random algorithm the app most likely works under (not to discredit the predictive abilities of the stars).
However, despite the relatively decent success rate, many students aren’t so sure the app is able to predict anything.
“Co–Star’s interesting to look at but not something that can be taken too seriously,” said Kate Whipple ’23. “It’s very hit or miss and can be interpreted in a lot of different ways,” A relatively positive outlook and good advice, it could be suggested that Co–Star should not be used as an immovable expectation for your day. After all, life is unpredictable. In addition, it can never be known how Co–Star’s predictions influence your perspective on your day, no matter how hard you try to stay impartial.
“I think there’s a retroactive bias when you read the quote at the end of the day,” Ian Shors, HMC ’23 said. However, this could also be reversed.
Is Co–Star more likely to influence your perception of your day if you look at it in the morning when you have your whole day ahead to look for things that align with your prediction, or if you look at it at night when your day has passed and your views cannot be changed?
“Co–Star may not always be perfectly accurate for me, but its insights allow me to think deeply about my life for a few minutes every day,” said Becca Schuyler ’23. Though we may never be sure about the predictive powers of the stars, one thing’s for certain: Co–Star is a fun and lighthearted way to learn about the potential path of your day.
Image Credit: 34th Street Magazine
