<p>Now, Caltech's ratio of males to females is 2:1. And of course, many of the females won't want to have sex. And I don't think there are many homosexuals at Caltech either. Then what? Multiple sex partners?</p>
<p>And is sex at Caltech really this common? Is it more common elsewhere? But it's rather shocking to think that more than half of people this age have sex or something. It's a rather shocking statistic</p>
<p>Uh, ever considered girlfriends and boyfriends from other schools?</p>
<p>And if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?</p>
<p>"48% of Caltech students reported not being sexually active."<br>
It doesn't say how many reported being sexually active. At best, we have a survey response rate of 75%, so we probably have 33% or fewer sexually active students. </p>
<p>Or maybe I messed up somewhere. Anyway, check your assumptions in the future.</p>
<p>Actually, I'm surprised so many students are NOT sexually active. Practically everyone must be at least 18, right? Geez. Does Caltech have a disproportionately high number of Abrahamic fundamentalists, or something?</p>
<p>"It doesn't say how many reported being sexually active. At best, we have a survey response rate of 75%, so we probably have 33% or fewer sexually active students."</p>
<p>Gah! That's even worse. Scary.</p>
<p>Although... why are you assuming the ones who didn't participate in the survey are not sexually active? One usually assumes the sample is representative of the population.</p>
<p>I laughed out loud at your question, Mr. Shao. And if you are shocked by this statistic, then you should consider seriously revising your image of college life.</p>
<p>As a response to ninja's point, I think most surveys assume an independance between choosing to take the test and what is actually measured (in this case sexual activity). In my opinion, the 48% sounds like a bit of a high figure, but not by that much.</p>
<p>Edward, a lot of the students at Tech come from over-sheltered backgrounds and never really came out of their shell. I was shocked to find a considerable number of undergrads here who had never dated before coming to Tech, and quite a few of those go through Caltech staying that way.</p>
<p>It may seem low, but the 33% estimate is easily explainable.</p>
<p>Every woman on campus, and Ben Golub.</p>
<p>ha ha ha.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, I've never dated before.</p>
<p>Yuan Shao -- overall in America, at least half of people have sex by the end of college. If this statistic shocks you, be prepared to be shocked by lots of other things.</p>
<p>detrius -- my (MIT <em>gasp</em>) girlfriend would object. ;-)</p>
<p>I was pretty sure about half of Americans have had sex by 16 or at least by the end of high school. It would be interesting to see this same poll taken at most other colleges (a lot I guess would have 90%+ sexually active.)</p>
<p>Oooops, sorry, I meant elite colleges. Going on a Princeton survey that revealed fewer than half had had sex by the end of freshman year (contrary to everyone's self-reported perception that the real incidence was much higher.)</p>
<p>Okay, that makes sense.</p>
<p>Hmm. Ok. And yes, I am extremely isolated. I stay in my home all day. I never knew how people had sex until I came across Wikipedia. I got my sex education from Wikipedia. If not for Wikipedia, then I would never have learned anything.</p>
<p>There's mandatory sex education in the US from elementary to high school Shao, so there's no way you could have avoided it, even if you went to a private institution. </p>
<p>That, and the Wikipedia quip is too much for me to take seriously. I mean, even hypothetically assuming one learns about sex from Wikipedia (?!), would they really couch it in such terms?? </p>
<p>("I wouldn't know anything about sex if it wasn't for Wikipedia?")</p>
<p>Edit: Okay, I suppose home-schooling is a possible explanation.</p>
<p>Many public schools permit parents to opt out of sex ed for their children. Although many private schools follow state standards, they are not required to do so, so private schools don't necessarily teach sex ed. Homeschool requirements vary from one state to another. In my state, homeschoolers are required to offer "health," which is the euphemism public schools employ for sex ed, although homeschoolers may interpret "health" any way they like. Some states have no standards at all for homeschoolers. Bottom line? Sex ed is not universal in the US, but most college freshman probably have a basic understanding of the subject from one source or another. </p>
<p>Which reminds me - I recently watched a travelogue about Bhutan...</p>
<p>I have a friend, from India, who learned what connection her father had with the fact of her existence during spring break of her freshman year at college. No joke.</p>
<p>dating and sexual activity really aren't connected at all. Ever heard of haivng sex with a good friend but never actually dating anyone? So the whole "i've never had a bf/gf" has no bearing.</p>
<p>And no, I've never dated.</p>
<p>It seems to me that all these Creation Theories (i'll call them this way) that kids are told about how people come to this world, are in a certain way like a scientific theory:
1. At first, it gives you a good explanation of many things (one, in our case)
2. Initially, you might be satisfied with it.
3. Eventually, you start noticind incosisentcies:
a) Cabbage doesn't grow everywhere, especially in winter :D
b) Storks don't fly in winter
c) ... (any theory has this bugs)
4. In the end, it becomes plain clear to you that either all the theory is wrong, or, part of it is wrong.</p>
<p>I can only wonder how did Ben's friend from India not notice these inconsistencies.</p>
<p>I investigated the matter deeply -- apparently she never was really very curious about it. (A slightly pathological disposition, I would agree.)</p>
<p>" Now, Caltech's ratio of males to females is 2:1. And of course, many of the females won't want to have sex. And I don't think there are many homosexuals at Caltech either. Then what? Multiple sex partners?"</p>
<p>You are assuming Caltech students only sleep with other Caltech students, which most probably is not the case.</p>
<p>Wow, I can't believe people are actually that sheltered. I knew the facts of life by age 8.</p>
<p>And I've had several serious boyfriends.... and several not-so-serious... I figured most everyone had by the time they hit 16 or 17-ish.... </p>
<p>Do smart kids at elite colleges really have higher moral standards, or just a lot less social skills, or time or something to have sex...?</p>