Cold weather schools when you aren't a cold weather person

[Anonymous]

My DC's top two choices could not be more different weather wise. Of course, the cold one is a much better school academically (top 25). The warm one isn't nearly as strong (60s), but my kid loves sunshine and warm weather. Thanks to merit, the cost is not that different between the two and they both are a plane ride away. If the academics of the warm one matched the cold one, it would be a no brainer. If you or your kid went to a cold climate (and weren't a cold climate person), how did that work out? Is weather a big enough issue or does academic reputation matter more?

I did promise we could go to the Caribbean for Christmas if they went north. :p.

[Anonymous]

Have them really think about their daily life. They will not be driving door-to-door they way they do to go between home and school now. They will be walking all over campus -- dorm, dining hall, parties, classroom buildings, labs, shuttle bus stops, friends' places, campus events. If it's cold, it will be cold October through April. A week in the Caribbean won't really offset this if they're determined to be miserable in cold weather.

[Anonymous]

Visit the cold weather one now - actually spend a weekend there. If DC still prefers it, that’s a good sign!

IMo, cold weather is hard but moreso is that the northern locations get less sunlight. I’d prefer to live in CO vs Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who's dumb enough to be a rankings slave deserves to be miserable.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a cold weather person but did fine at a cold weather school. I think the key is to find one with a small campus and a culture where cold weather clothes are accepted. I was much colder living in NyC after graduation because people there (at least at the time) did not wear parkas and knit hats and snow boots because they were too fashionable. I think a lot of NE or MW schools are totally fine with dreasing like a snowman. So look for a school where LL beam and north face is considered cool and where you won’t have to walk 2 miles to class.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Florida, went to college in the north. It was fine. The coming out of class in the dark during winter definitely wasn't easy, but spring and fall are so nice it makes it worth it.

Just make sure your kid has a proper coat and knows how to layer and they'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

What does he want?

My mom talked me out of my first choice school because I don't love cold weather and it was in New England. She was convinced I'd be miserable.

In retrospect, the issue is just that I'm not outdoorsy in cold weather (I don't ski or skate or anything and don't want to) but actually don't really mind winter as long as I have warm clothes and can hole up inside when I want. Which you pretty much always can, especially on a college campus.

My college experience was fine but I do regret not going to my first choice (which was also more prestigious with a better alumni network) just because of this idea my mom had that I couldn't handle the weather. I now live in a place with cold winters and I handle it fine, I'll event take my kids sledding or to play in the snow and not hate it.

Weather isn't everything. Don't push him to go to the higher ranked school if he doesn't want to, but don't discourage it just for weather reasons. It's four years, not the rest of his life. If you can afford trips to the Caribbean, you can also afford some really high quality warm weather clothes.

Don't make a college decision based on weather alone.

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. Have a warm coat and layers, and they will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Cities are the best for cold weather. Remote locations with no sunlight--more depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a cold weather person but did fine at a cold weather school. I think the key is to find one with a small campus and a culture where cold weather clothes are accepted. I was much colder living in NyC after graduation because people there (at least at the time) did not wear parkas and knit hats and snow boots because they were too fashionable. I think a lot of NE or MW schools are totally fine with dreasing like a snowman. So look for a school where LL beam and north face is considered cool and where you won’t have to walk 2 miles to class.

+1 to everything here.

Signed, a Los Angeles native who went to Dartmouth and loved it once I stocked up at the LL.Bean flagship store in Maine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a cold weather person but did fine at a cold weather school. I think the key is to find one with a small campus and a culture where cold weather clothes are accepted. I was much colder living in NyC after graduation because people there (at least at the time) did not wear parkas and knit hats and snow boots because they were too fashionable. I think a lot of NE or MW schools are totally fine with dreasing like a snowman. So look for a school where LL beam and north face is considered cool and where you won’t have to walk 2 miles to class.

+1 to everything here.

Signed, a Los Angeles native who went to Dartmouth and loved it once I stocked up at the LL.Bean flagship store in Maine.

yeah but Dartmouth you only have to spend freshman and senior years on campus during the worst part of winter. Sophomore year you don't spend winter there and you can skip junior year winter as well if you arrange it well

[Anonymous]

We have a saying here... there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.

[Anonymous]

I left a beach town in NC to go to college up North as a kid. It's fine. It's cold. You put on a coat and walk from a warm dorm to a warm classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cities are the best for cold weather. Remote locations with no sunlight--more depressing.

Remote locations with sunlight and outdoor opportunities are the best of all, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. Have a warm coat and layers, and they will be fine.

That is not true at all.

I went to cold weather schools and was miserable for a lot of the year. I now live in the south and am much happier. Weather really matters for some people - great for you if that's not the case.

Don't forget that however good a school is - however national their reach - most of the kid's network is going to be close to where they are studying. If they want to end up somewhere warmer and sunnier, it makes sense to start building that network in college.