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<p>This is false, in my view.</p>
<p>As for discussion of the houses, including inaccurate stereotypes, it’s perfectly okay. I will quote (with slight edits to add more information) from a message I posted some time ago where I violated this non-rule to show my disdain for this ridiculous caution which is so widespread at Caltech.</p>
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There are some stereotypical things that houses have tended to be/do. Obviously some of these things are value judgments, you’re smart enough to figure out what is what. Fleming (of which I was a not very typical member) is kind of the “jock” house – lots of sports, activities, fairly boisterous dinners, not so intellectual, lots of poker. Page is similar, perhaps even a little closer to a traditional frat, but a friend tells me that the upperclassmen are actually very supportive of people studying and doing well in school.</p>
<p>Blacker does very typical “supernerd” things, like playing elaborate roleplaying board games (Dungeons and Dragons, etc.). They also like to build things like impressive parties and blow things up. Their dinners are my favorite at Caltech – very close-knit and friendly. Ruddock is somewhat similar in the sense of building, though its personality seems a little more mild to me.</p>
<p>Dabney is the “hippie” house – tie-dye, barefoot, long hair, laid back. They hug people and many people in the house seem to dislike shoes.</p>
<p>Ricketts comes off as scary to most people – shouting, weird symbols, generally less friendly from the outside. But inside it’s close-knit and many of the people in it seem to really like it.</p>
<p>Lloyd is a little hard to characterize – they’re probably the most “normal” house in some sense and do not do very many “supernerd” things. I thought it was a pretty inward-looking house, but in general I don’t know much about Lloyd and so you have to ask someone else.</p>
<p>Avery is the newest house and for that reason has a less established personality. They put a big emphasis on not having any loud or unpleasant rituals and generally letting people be themselves a little more. People seem quite friendly to each other, but maybe it’s not so coherent as other houses just by virtue of not having been around very long. Defenders of Avery call it peaceful and accepting, whereas its detractors call it plain and unexciting.
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<p>This intentionally provocative thing provoked some informative and intelligent discussion. See the thread here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/314867-caltech-house-system.html[/url] ”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/314867-caltech-house-system.html</a></p> ;