<p>It's definitely not higher moral standards, and it's certainly not lacking time to have sex(I mean, come on...).</p>
<p>It just seems there's a higher proportion of socially challenged individuals at a place like Caltech. That and the ratio.</p>
<p>kids at elite colleges probably more sheltered throughout their lives too</p>
<p>Two comments: </p>
<p>1) Survey data like the statements being discussed in this thread are very likely to be wrong, prompting some statisticians to make the blanket statement, "Voluntary response data are worthless." The true percentage at Caltech might be ANY other number that fits the student population's known characteristics. </p>
<p>2) I knew the facts of life from age eight, because I was an avid reader and put together certain facts I had read about, and then asked my mother (a registered nurse) a confirming question. A lot of young people who are NOT "sheltered," in the sense that they have all the factual knowledge about human sexual behavior one might care to have, may nonetheless have personal moral standards such that they wait for marriage or for very deep "steady" relationships before beginning sexual activity with other persons. And it may be that students at elite colleges have not previously had close friends (on an intellectual and emotional level) with whom to form bonds that might lead to such close relationships. So I can well believe, having watched my generation grow up, that some of the smartest, most aware young people who knew about sex at the youngest ages may have been some of the last to add experiential knowledge to their book learning. But a decades-long deep acquaintance with a best friend in all aspects of life is a relationship worth waiting for.</p>
<p>***?</p>
<p>Only 48% haven't had sex?!!?!
To be honest, I would've guessed ~70% are virgins.</p>
<p>I wonder now if there's a correlation between sexual activity and GPA. The obvious thing to control is how much time is spent on sex/dating so that both groups spend the same amount of time studying.</p>
<p>Also, it seems to me that our lifestyle doesn't make it easy to engage in such activities. My impression is that at a normal college, a large portion of sexual activity occurs in some type of party (eg a frat party with lots of booze and private rooms). OTOH, we're quite busy and most ppl live in doubles.</p>
<p>i've got four things to add to this discussion</p>
<p>first: average age to have sex in US I believe is something like 17 yrs</p>
<p>second: when you have sex and your IQ have been correlated with smarter kids waiting longer (perhaps they are more picky with their partners or perhaps they actually studied for their sex ed class in middle/high school while everyone else played spitball)</p>
<p>third: at any given point in time half of people between 20-30 are single and probably ain't getting any</p>
<p>forth: i've had some friends who did not find a b/f or g/f through high school or college plus some cultures consider it mandatory to wait until you finish your education (for example average age to have sex for white kids is 2 years sooner than for asian kids)</p>
<p>It should be noted that "sexually active" is fairly broad, so it's not precisely clear what activities the survey responses capture and don't capture. Note also that it asks "are you", not "are you now or have you ever been". A celibate non-virgin would be in the "no" part of this survey.</p>
<p><a href="perhaps%20they%20are%20more%20picky%20with%20their%20partners%20or%20perhaps%20they%20actually%20studied%20for%20their%20sex%20ed%20class%20in%20middle/high%20school%20while%20everyone%20else%20played%20spitball">QUOTE</a>
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>I hope this was a joke.</p>
<p>my sex ed class got cut due to budget problems at my high school, it became independent study, or rather, independent not study</p>
<p>no I was dead serious :)
would not you think though that if you are very bright it would be harder to find yourself a match who will be interesting for you to talk to and such? ... i think girls have more problems here than guys because emotional/mental connection is more important for girls while guys can work with having less of it</p>
<p>Yes. All my male nerd friends just turn off their higher thinking functions when supermodels pounce on them (which happens often); girls would have more trouble doing a similar thing. ;-)</p>
<p>Wait... are you suggesting you're any different, Ben?</p>
<p>Even for guys, though, having a girl that's somewhat smart is important. I've noticed, especially since I started my undergrad years at Caltech, that I find myself thinking "what a dope!" when talking to certain girls (from the "normal" population) quite often.</p>
<p>Haven't been on this site for a while, mainly because I thought I'd ruled out Caltech quite a few months ago. I visited over the summer, thought the place lacked energy, and the guys I spoke with definitely seemed to validate the odds-may-be-good-but-the-goods-are... -cliche. So, then I began to orient myself toward MIT. But then I read a ton of Ben Golub's entries on the MIT site, AND saw a photo of this hottie. Hey, not at all bad.
Only goes to prove that there are "lies, damn lies, and statistics." So, let's not worry about the sex stats.
Oh, and beam me up Caltech.</p>