Social Scene @ CalTech

littlemikey4 · 10-13-2009, 11:21 AM

I'm considering CalTech and actually visiting this weekend but I was wondering what the social scene is like. I'm looking for a place where there isn't a lot of party and almost no use of drugs/alcohol so I was wondering if anyone (especially current/former students) could give me any insight on this?

Hriundeli · 10-13-2009, 03:35 PM

My friend,

Let me tell you a secret about colleges - no matter how small or large; no matter how techy or liberal, college will have parties, alcohol drinking, and drug use. Caltech is not an exception.

The good news, however, is that nobody will force you to do things you feel uncomfortable doing.
No one will forcefully expose you to things you don't like, such as alcohol or drugs. So, theoretically, you can spend all four years here without ever interacting with a drunk person.

When you visit the campus, be sure to ask people how they feel/deal with this kind of stuff.

Most importantly, don't let something that can be easily avoided deter you from getting a superb education

jdhutchin · 10-14-2009, 03:39 AM

As with any school, it depends who your friends are.

brownman777 · 10-17-2009, 10:39 PM

true that lolz

compucomp · 10-18-2009, 03:38 AM

Since no one can actually do productive work every waking hour of the day, even though sometimes Caltech makes you try, yes there are parties, alcohol, and drugs at Caltech. But there's much less of it in Avery House, or you can move into "off campus housing" after the first year (that is, Caltech owned housing not in the Housing system), where the housing is a dorm and you can do whatever you want, sometimes even with the comfort of a single.

Houses to avoid if you don't like drugs, alcohol and parties are Page, Fleming, Ricketts, and Dabney.

Kamikazewave · 10-18-2009, 08:44 AM

Quick, someone call the rotation police! To the IHCmobile.

lizzardfire · 10-18-2009, 04:02 PM

Yeah... I am not even sure how to respond to this. What compucomp posted is in flagrant violation of our rotation rules. Of course, I'm sure that he knows this and is doing it intentionally, so it's not like pointing this out will cause him to reconsider.

Hriundeli · 10-18-2009, 04:13 PM

The only thing to do is to keep an open mind when arriving at Caltech. Sometimes you will hear before Rotation is over that House X is like this, while House Y is like that. Realize that this is like saying all Asians are smart or that all Russians look like bears on unicycles - it is simply not true. Just try to push all of the stereotypes out of your head and give each house a fair chance.

lizzardfire · 10-18-2009, 04:15 PM

hahaha bears on unicycles

compucomp · 10-18-2009, 08:03 PM

@lizzardfire

I know the IHC and the BoC have long arms but they don't reach as far as Chicago, nor do they reach post-docs or professors should I decide to come back.

Perhaps the cloak-and-dagger operation known as Rotation and the accompanying Rotation rules should be dismantled in favor of more transparency? If you're so certain that what you're doing in the Houses is right, why don't you want to let people know more about it, and instead keep them in the dark with trite sayings like "They're all fine Houses" which for most people is definitely NOT true?

Also, keep note of the fact that what I wrote is true, and you're not denying the validity of it.

IMSAgeek · 10-18-2009, 11:33 PM

@compucomp
Nice of you to try to interfere with a system that will no longer affect you at all. Maybe the rotation rules/system do need an overhaul, but biasing prefrosh against the houses and the system as a whole isn't the way to convince anyone of that.

Of course no one's denying it. We, unlike you, still fall under rotation rules, and aren't about to get involved in a conversation about which houses have the most X, especially to students who are interested in the school as a whole and not any specific house.

IMSAgeek · 10-18-2009, 11:35 PM

@littlemikey4
Every college (except possibly very religious ones) is going to have some degree of partying/alcohol etc. Caltech is no exception, though due to the large amount of work most people have, I believe we generally have less of it than, say, your average state school. If you want to avoid alcohol and parties, you will be able to.

webhappy · 10-19-2009, 01:40 AM

Just a comment to the OP: I was like you before Caltech and during most of my time in Pasadena. Sometimes I wonder if the decisions I made were actually necessary. You'll find that even among the students at a top grad school, the "partying at Caltech is pretty tame.

To compucomp: like you, I'm not all that in favor of the current house system. When I was told that they might be overhauling the current rotation system, I could immediately see the benefits. In case they don't change the current system, your post only aggravates the situation. People who don't want to be in a "party house" will be ****ed if they end up in one of the houses you listed (one of the recurring problems which they want to solve by changing the rotation process), while houses that don't want to be labeled as the party house might attract people into that scene just because they stumbled onto a post at collegeconfidential.com

That said, I will try to state some facts: when Avery first opened to the house system w/ rotations, it had a noticeably quieter atmosphere because most of the existing residents had purposefully chosen to live in Avery to leave the houses. I don't know if Avery is still considered quieter because the culture can easily change in 3-4 years. All houses will have people that drink alcohol. All houses are known for their style of parties. The drug users are such a small population that it's hard to generalize.

webhappy · 10-19-2009, 01:43 AM

As another note to OP or others, in case you do end up in a house that has a stereotype counter to what you wanted: just realize that most of the student body is pretty nerdy and has interests similar to yourself.

compucomp · 10-19-2009, 02:17 AM

@IMSAgeek

Just because I'm done putting up with annoying crap after 4 years doesn't mean that I now have no right to talk about it. Also, I find it hilarious how the Rotation rules make it sound like "biasing" is such a bad thing; news flash, reality has a bias, and everything I wrote down is true.

@webhappy

I understand what you're saying, but prefrosh knowing something about what's really going on in the houses should be a good thing. They can make a more informed choice on their housing rating sheets (which isn't much in the grand scheme, but that's another topic).