<p>My comment about dating was acknowledging the fact that, while I think everyone would agree that you can be just as social as you want, many people would argue with the statement that you can date just as much as you want.</p>
<p>I really hate it when guys say that any girl who wants can get a date. (And no offense to Joe – almost every guy I know here has said it at one point at another.) First off, it’s not true, and secondly, it makes those of us who are single sound like either prudes or hags. Get ready – this rant about the Caltech dating scene has been a long time coming (and yes, I am currently single, hence the bitterness, though I have dated here).</p>
<p>Joe is right that most relationships here tend to be very committed. There is very little casual dating, simply because it is such a small school to begin with, and the house system makes it even smaller. This is probably my only major complaint about the housing system. It encourages a small number of people (<100) to live, work, and socialize with mostly just each other for 4 years. By two years or so in, you’ve already got triangles, hidden jealousies, and people who no longer speak to each other. The Caltech social scene has basically evolved and eliminated casual dating to limit how much this occurs.</p>
<p>So, that leaves people with the choice of being in a serious relationship, dating off-campus casually, or not dating at all. The first is time consuming because when you live so close to the person you tend to spend almost every day with them and dangerous because if things don’t work out, the relationship can follow you for the rest of your time at Caltech. The second requires lots of time to find someone in the first place, and a certain amount of social balls to put yourself out there away from Caltech. The point is that time is at a premium here, and just because someone doesn’t want to invest the time in a serious or off-campus relationship, doesn’t mean that they don’t want to date. </p>
<p>Quick review: the dating scene sucks if you’re not looking for something serious.</p>