<p>Oh yeah, gossip. Some Techers take it very seriously. Other Techers like to screw with them. The latter are more fun to hang out with.</p>
<p>Gossip is some pretty serious business at Tech because the undergrad body is so small and because the houses are so tight. I mean this in a slightly negative way, as in, say if something happens between a girl and a guy, then the whole house might be talking about it for a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>haha I live in the south .. I'm almost immune to gossip now =]</p>
<p>is there a sense of community though? I go to a small private school .. and despite all of the gossip and drama .. there is a sense of community between all of the grades juts because there aren't a lot of us ..</p>
<p>or is it more of a cutthroat environment?</p>
<p>There are plenty of posts that discuss that question, but the straightforward answer is that there is no cutthroat environment by any stretch of the imagination. People almost never discuss grades, and they often cooperate as much as is allowed. This is for the simple reason that Tech is hard enough as is. I think most Techers have enough sense to realize that competition would only make their lives miserable. It's far more common to hear people say, "Wow, I'm really dumb" or "I'm an admissions office mistake" (on Facebook, at least... :-P ) than to hear them brag or compete. Those who enter frosh year proud will often come out beaten and humbled, but those who enter it humble will often come out okay (if not better) in the end.</p>
<p>The community is definitely there, too, and there are also many posts on that. People who like the house system will usually find a very tight community in their houses. Those who don't like the house system often find their own group of friends, or if not, they become trolls or something like that. But that's something they have control over.</p>
<p>G2,
thanks for your post! My son has been saying "I'm going to be the dumbest freshman at Caltech in Sept." I'll stop worrying now & just hope he'll be one of those who enter humble and come out okay in the end.</p>
<p>The ratio is there, but it's often not terribly noticeable.</p>
<p>At first as an incoming student, you'll probably notice that your study groups are predominantly male, and then a few months after coming to Tech, you'll stop being bothered by the ratio.</p>
<p>Gossip definitely travels quickly. That's just the nature of such a small school. That said, the school's size brings about an intense feeling of camaraderie. There's no competitive atmosphere that I've noticed in my two years at the school at all.</p>