PSA:Have your kid go outside now to see if they really want a cold, northern college

[Anonymous]

If your kid is interested in a northern climate school. Make sure they know that the temps during the winter season are variable. 50s predicted by end of week.

[Anonymous]

This is such a bizarre thread. Is somebody desperate for students in this area to choose colleges in the south? I think this is the second thread along this theme. So odd.

[Anonymous]

May/June up North is some of the most glorious weather you ever experience too. Florida has nothing to compare to it, having lived both places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The particulars about any specific school matters regarding whether or not severe cold weather would be a determining factor.

Not sure that I could handle 2,000 student Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota even though it offers outstanding academics, yet I would have no difficulty attending college in cold weather locations such as Boston, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Madison, Ithaca, or Burlington, Vermont due to the student body size and the variety of numerous activities available in these non-isolated areas.

The difficulty for me would arise concerning the realities of dream schools like Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, Bowdoin College, Williams College, etc., which offer outstanding academics in a small community of high achievers, yet are located in rural, cold-weather, fairly isolated areas. Since I like to snow ski, the answer if offered an opportunity to attend any of these dream schools would be an easy yes, but I could probably not handle attending Bates, Kenyon, Carleton, unless I was a two-sport college athlete as the down time non-academic aspects are too limited and unattractive for my individual personality.

So long as one is aware of the realities of attending a small, rural, isolated, cold weather school, it is a matter of individual preference. Many are persuaded by generous financial aid or perceived prestige despite known shortcomings--and that is just part of life. Realities and decisions regarding one's options often override individual preferences. In short, specifics matter.

My DC loved their 4 years at Carleton with every fiber of their being. And turned down warmer weather schools AND one of those “dream schools” you listed to go there. To each their own.

Carleton College & St. Olaf College are located in Northfield, Minnesota. The city motto of Northfield is: "Cows, Colleges, and Contentment" (I think that they should have included another "C" word.)

Today's weather forecast for Northfield, Minnesota is: High 8 degrees and Low negative 2 degrees.

Turning down Dartmouth, Middlebury, Bowdoin, or Williams to attend Carleton College is a personal decision--and somewhat understandable due to the great academics.

Turned down Yale for Carleton. Very common.

The "very common" part of the above post is hard to believe as Yale's yield rate is about 70% and the yield rate for Carleton College is about 38%. But, your implied point that Carleton College offers strong academics is accepted. However, neither school is a common application overlap school for the other. My thought is that you wrote "very common" because you know of another who claims to have done the same and that that individual is being honest with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:May/June up North is some of the most glorious weather you ever experience too. Florida has nothing to compare to it, having lived both places.

But most college students leave campus by mid May.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. Is somebody desperate for students in this area to choose colleges in the south? I think this is the second thread along this theme. So odd.

Agree What is the point of this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. Is somebody desperate for students in this area to choose colleges in the south? I think this is the second thread along this theme. So odd.

Agree What is the point of this thread?

No more so than many DCUM college threads.😊

[Anonymous]

My kid would never choose a Southern College. So, you can have them while she is skiing up north and having a great time.

[Anonymous]

My impression regarding the point of this thread is that weather may be a factor for some in the college application process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. Is somebody desperate for students in this area to choose colleges in the south? I think this is the second thread along this theme. So odd.

I think someone had a bad experience and they want others to avoid it by making more informed decision knowing climate plays a role in your 4 year experience. Living in cold at home and in student housing are very different beasts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:May/June up North is some of the most glorious weather you ever experience too. Florida has nothing to compare to it, having lived both places.

But most college students leave campus by mid May.

Not even. UMich semester ends in mid/late April, actually. These Rust Belt lifers are delusional.

[Anonymous]

Colleges are open for winter but closed for summer so it doesn't matter if you are in a harsh summer town but really matters if you are in a harsh winter area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges are open for winter but closed for summer so it doesn't matter if you are in a harsh summer town but really matters if you are in a harsh winter area.

Exactly. And no UMich students in Ann Arbor are driving 5 hours “up north” to ski boring hills in northern Michigan. Rich students will hop on a plane and jet to Colorado or Utah to really ski.

[Anonymous]

This is a strange ‘debate.’ There’s a group of of posters who say ‘you shouldn’t go to school in the north” (just like a lot of other strange ‘Yale and Alabama are basically the same level, so go to college in the South,’ booster threads elsewhere on this site) and a lot of other posters who aren’t responding with reciprocal boosterism (for northern schools) but saying ‘yeah, we’re not going to rule out good schools because of the weather, be it cold or hot.’ The former group comes off as a bunch of stupid or partisan blowhards, but reading between the lines you can sense they’re accustomed to being looked down on by people with three digit IQs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. Is somebody desperate for students in this area to choose colleges in the south? I think this is the second thread along this theme. So odd.

OP likes year-round sun and beach. To each his/her own. I much prefer the four seasons and, yes, even the cold winters.