High GPAs and pre-meds. Lame parties, or a lack of them altogether. And long distances from most classes and friends by the river.

Welcome to the traditional--but currently questioned--reputation that has maligned Cabot House in recent years.

"The general belief is that Cabot is the need dorm with the highest GPA," says Charles S. Woo '95, who lives in the house.

But that stereotype is slowly disappearing, according to many Cabot residents who say negative image ignores the house's improved diversity.

With the graduation of Cabot's class of '92--the last group of students who ended up in Cabot with the ordered choice system--and the influx of students randomized into Cabot through non-ordered choice, many say the student population is providing the house with an improved atmosphere.

"Not everyone here is super-academic," Woo says. "My rooming group alone destroys the high GPA myth."

As a result of the non-ordered choice housing system, the personality of the house is continually shifting, says Ross L. Levine '94.

"Cabot is changing because people here think that it is changing," Levine says. "A lot of us were randomized, so the house is becoming what we want it to be. Because we didn't choose it, we are not hoping things will stay the same when we get here."

Anne B. Guiney '95 says this year's sophomore class has had a lot to do with the changes. "I think the sophomores are kicking up a fuss," she says.

House Committee Chair Lisa Marie Robinson '94 says Cabot's class of 1995 has given the house "second breath."

In the past, students have perceived the house as insular, academic and "nerdy."

"When I found out I was going to live in Cabot, I was pretty devastated," Woo says. "At the time, being 'Quaded' was the worst fate I could imagine...But now that I've experienced it here I would never think of transferring."

Cabot House Senior Tutor Rena Fonseca said the house unfortunately hasn't shaken that anti-social reputation.

"There was a time when Currier was said to be the place where the nerd world meets the third world," she says. "Perhaps this is what people say now about Cabot."

In the eyes of many Cabot House residents, there is some truth to that image.

Many Cabot residents, including Guiney, say they socialize at other houses because there are few parties in their own house.