AOB, really? never knew that. ok, maybe I did, I just forgot.
anyway, its not that bad, usually the boy/ boys mother sees a picture (grad) of the girl before they go out. And the boy meets her parents when they go out. References will tell you if shes basically pretty, intelligent, etc, and people will probably set you up with someone who has something in common. If you were valedictorian of your class, they probably wont set you up with a guy who was in a special ed class.