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

[Anonymous]

Michigan has lost population two years in a row. That is bleak. Nobody wants to be in Michigan. Kudos to UMich for still luring so many wealthy students there to spend four years of their prime in a cold, grey and declining place.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/22/census-michigan-population-drops/69744139007/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And Dartmouth goes into June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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]

Warm weather living is easier on a budget, more so if you can leave in summer.

[Anonymous]

One factor which kids and parents need to consider is size of the town. They are better off in big cities, you can learn how to navigate urban life, get exposed to culture and industries, have lots of options for internships, may even find future jobs if its a job hub.

[Anonymous]

Some schools have distinct advantages like NYU for finance due to proximity to a financial hub, UC Berkeley and Stanford for Silicon Valley, Rice university for world's largest medical district etc.

[Anonymous]

I went to a cold weather University and didn’t mind it back then when I was young. The cold just didn’t bother me.

Now as a middle aged person, it does. Kids can handle it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan has lost population two years in a row. That is bleak. Nobody wants to be in Michigan. Kudos to UMich for still luring so many wealthy students there to spend four years of their prime in a cold, grey and declining place.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/22/census-michigan-population-drops/69744139007/

Have you ever been to the university? Kids aren’t focusing on the weather. They are focusing on the fun, sports, vast array of classes available, friendships, school spirit, opportunities, alumni network, etc. There is so much positive energy there. My DD loves it, her cousin loved it, and my uncle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan has lost population two years in a row. That is bleak. Nobody wants to be in Michigan. Kudos to UMich for still luring so many wealthy students there to spend four years of their prime in a cold, grey and declining place.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/22/census-michigan-population-drops/69744139007/

Have you ever been to the university? Kids aren’t focusing on the weather. They are focusing on the fun, sports, vast array of classes available, friendships, school spirit, opportunities, alumni network, etc. There is so much positive energy there. My DD loves it, her cousin loved it, and my uncle.

I graduated from the University of Michigan and hated the cold weather. DS attended University of Michigan for one year and he also hated the cold and gloomy weather, transferred to University of Miami after his freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And Dartmouth goes into June.

Dartmouth is an Ivy. Michigan is a gigantic impersonal public flagship little different than more favorable weather flagships including UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB, Arizona, ASU, Clemson, USC, UNC, UVA, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, UT Austin, LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee. Many of which will offer significant merit awards for high-achieving applicants and also, they’re in or nearer regions with booming economies and growth. Rust Belt is stagnant at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan has lost population two years in a row. That is bleak. Nobody wants to be in Michigan. Kudos to UMich for still luring so many wealthy students there to spend four years of their prime in a cold, grey and declining place.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/22/census-michigan-population-drops/69744139007/

Have you ever been to the university? Kids aren’t focusing on the weather. They are focusing on the fun, sports, vast array of classes available, friendships, school spirit, opportunities, alumni network, etc. There is so much positive energy there. My DD loves it, her cousin loved it, and my uncle.

Those things are available at every college. The weather is soul crushing. Students admit that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan has lost population two years in a row. That is bleak. Nobody wants to be in Michigan. Kudos to UMich for still luring so many wealthy students there to spend four years of their prime in a cold, grey and declining place.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/12/22/census-michigan-population-drops/69744139007/

A school's attractiveness to potential students has little or nothing to do with the economic prospects of the state the school is located in. Nobody who is considering U of M is giving any thought to the fact that Flint is a post-industrial wasteland. OOS students will have very little interaction with the state outside of Ann Arbor, other than the Detroit airport.

I don't know if you're the same poster, but there's someone on here who keeps posting about people moving out of Michigan, its economic problems etc., like that is somehow relevant to someone from McLean applying to U of M. It's a bizarre take.

There is some demographic of students who will be turned off by really cold weather, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, I don't think weather has anything more than a marginal effect on what schools people pick. Financial questions and academics are much, much more important. The number of people picking Alabama over U of M because of the weather is probably in the single digits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One factor which kids and parents need to consider is size of the town. They are better off in big cities, you can learn how to navigate urban life, get exposed to culture and industries, have lots of options for internships, may even find future jobs if its a job hub.

Colleges in dense urban areas are like small towns LAC's- they're of interest to a minority of college students. A traditional college town experience in a large-ish school seems like what the majority of potential college students are looking for.

[Anonymous]

This op. I started this because I went to a very cold school and loved it. (I am NOT outdoorsy.) My DD swore up and down during her college search that she would really like a cold school. Fast forward to the middle of her freshman year and she recently told me she was so glad she didn’t end up at a cold school because she now thinks she’d have hated it.

(Maybe this changed because she had not appreciated how much walking she would have to do as a freshman.)

[Anonymous]

Different strokes for different folks.