<p>What exactly is the Honor Code? I have read about what it is, but I still don't get it. </p>
<p>Can anyone PLEASE give me more information, and if you are actual Caltech student, does Honor Code really make difference to the Caltech's community?</p>
<p>Here's a link to the Caltech website that explains it
<a href="http://admissions.caltech.edu/education/honorsystem%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.caltech.edu/education/honorsystem</a></p>
<p>"No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community"</p>
<p>As a Caltech student, yes, it makes a huge difference. This next week is finals week- you pick up your final, take it following its instructions (open notes or not, time limits, etc) and you turn it in. I currently have 3 finals sitting on my desk, which I will do sometime later this week. Almost all tests are this way- you pick up the test/quiz, do it on your own, and turn it in. I'm sure other students will add more about the honor code and how it applies to other areas of life at Caltech.</p>
<p>It basically means, in the words of a friend of mine: "You're at Caltech. Don't be a jackass. Determine how to do this via common sense."</p>
<p>Usually, all you need to do is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Follow the directions on how much time and what resources you are allowed to use on tests. Do problems marked "no collaboration" on problem sets by yourself. ;) On problems where you are allowed to collaborate, make sure you're not just copying off of someone else's homework and not understanding the material. A good test for this is to make sure that if someone gave you the problem again, you'd be able to do it again completely on your own. It's okay to need a lot of help on a problem to the point where you initially can't do any of it on your own, as long as you learn how to do the problem from the help.</p></li>
<li><p>Leave things in the same or better condition as when you found them.</p></li>
<li><p>Use good judgment on pranks. </p></li>
<li><p>Be nice to your fellow Techers. :)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And for that low, low price you get all of this:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Almost all exams, quizzes, midterms, and finals are take-home. Take them when and where you want!</p></li>
<li><p>You can leave things out in places only students have access to and not worry about them getting stolen or damaged. Campus in general is very safe. Of course, this doesn't mean you should routinely not lock up your bike when you leave it outside for hours at a time, but some people do. A certain person I can think of regularly leaves large sums of money for long amounts of time in public student areas and it usually is not touched (yet again, I really really don't recommend this. ;))</p></li>
<li><p>There is a general sense of respect and trust within the student body. In the admittedly short time I've been here, I've never had a fellow Techer, even one I did not know, not treat me kindly. </p></li>
<li><p>It's a lot easier to keep your integrity, motivation for learning, and goodness intact with people who are willing to do the same. You may never have been in a situation like this, but for me, in high school, there were classes where around 90% of the class would cheat on tests (often as one giant ring.) It was frustrating to see people who did very little work get higher grades on tests than me just for turning in their integrity. Situations like this where people who don't cheat are punished only motivate people to join in the cheating and not learn the material. And thus it spreads until grades have very little legitimacy at all. It's depressing and frustrating. My experience at Tech has the been the exact opposite. The vast majority of the people here take the Honor Code very seriously. What cheating occurs here on exams is usually in the form of isolated cases where the student cheats out of desperation. </p></li>
<li><p>There is no sense of competition. I don't know if this is from the Honor Code specifically, or just that Tech is a small school with hard classes, but it certainly is one of my favorite things about the academic atmosphere here. From what I've seen, when people have a friend who is doing poorly in a class they take the time to help them out, even if it's at some expense of their own grade (though, in my experience, tutoring someone helps you understand the material better yourself.) No one thinks "Oh man, this class is graded on a curve, if I help this guy get a better grade then my grade might go down slightly ROBOT ASSASSINATION SPREE COMMENCE MUST DESTROY ALL PEOPLE DOING WELL IN THIS CLASS NEED A+ FOR SACRED PAGAN RITUALS TO REVIVE RICHARD FEYNMAN FROM THE DEAD TO DO MY PHYSICS PROBLEM SETS FOR ME." So far, I have not met anyone who was unwilling to help me out on a problem I couldn't figure out myself.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Most people don't follow the Honor Code because they could get in trouble for not following it but because it creates a win-win situation for everyone on campus. You're not going to get BoCed (put on trial by the Board of Control) for not helping someone out on a tough math problem, but everyone still does it anyways. </p>
<p>If you think this post was long and boring, just you wait! If you do decide to go to Caltech, you'll get a huge pamphlet with even more everything you'd ever want to know about the Honor Code. And just for good measure you'll probably have to sit through a seminar on it during Frosh camp as well. It is important. ;)</p>
<p>I see from my window that someone has hung a Christmas tree from a steel cable across the courtyard. There is a basketball net attached to the tree. I can see where this is going, and it can only end in awesome.</p>
<p>Thanks to all three!! Now, I understand what the Honor Code is all about.
By the way, UndulylLamarific, I really enjoyed reading your post.</p>
<p>once again, thank you</p>
<p>That was an awesome post. Rofl @ robot assassination spree.</p>