WARNING before you send your child to an upper Midwest cold weather college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Cornell--can't get much worse than that.

Cornell's an Ivy. Ithaca airport offers $100 direct flights to JFK and EWR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't Maine dark much of the day for extended periods all winter?

Aren't Oregon and Washington State grey and rainy for most of the winter?

I am not sure why you are linking this "risk" to the Midwest.

Who is looking at colleges in Maine, Oregon and Washington? Very few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This below was just published by a Michigan statewide outlet. The freezing weather and sunless skies cause acute seasonal depression. Students are on campus from September to April. The weather in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio is truly miserable and at its worst when kids are on campus. How bad it is?

How dreary is Michigan? Only 5 minutes of sunshine this month

Welcome to another dreary day in Michigan. The skies are overcast. The snow-covered ground matches the blah, boringly hazy color of the sky.

Is it morning or afternoon? Who can even tell?

Much of Michigan has gotten minimal daily sunshine recently, but we hadn’t realized how far down the sun tally we’d fallen until the National Weather Service reminded us with a dim little factoid they posted on social media late yesterday.

Brace yourself:

“In the first 5 days of January, we have recorded 5 minutes of sunshine in southeast Grand Rapids. Our last half-sunny day was December 28. Our last mostly sunny day? A month ago, December 4.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/01/how-dreary...hine-this-month.html

My DS from the DMV and niece from FL spent 4 years and 5 years (+master's) respectively at UMich. Loved their time there!

I think it's the weaklings that worry about stuff like the weather instead of opportunities. If everyone did it, there'll be no one living in Iceland, Finland, etc. Is your child a weakling? Only you can tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to upstate NY for college and the effect is real. It is tough to quantify, and given that most teenagers are simply happy to be in college, tough to feel it happening. But I do think it is real. If it is sunny, the cold can be OK - Madison and Boulder especially get some decent sunshine in the winter. Dark and cold and gray = bad combo for some people.

The University of Colorado at Boulder has lots of sunny days. It is the opposite of what causes SAD.

Reading comprehension much?

Just confirming what the quoted poster wrote. I should have started my post with a "+1".

But thanks for taking time to respond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Southern California kid goes to UChicago and I got her a SAD light; lots of sizes and types available on amazon. Non-issue but important to know about it.

There is something else, though, that I've never heard of until lately...that is Vitamin D can be (absorbed or created, not sure which) through the skin via sunlight, or in our food. However; if your body is used to the sun and absorbing it that way, it doesn't "know" how to switch to absobring from food, so kids from more sunnier climates can get a severe deficiency and need to take supplements.

(sorry I'm not more precise on this; it's from my friend, who's son who went from SoCal to upstate NY--but you get the gist )

+1. This sounds like why Judd Apatow's LA-raised daughter left Northwestern. Chicago has a lack of sunshine and the cold is on a different level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This below was just published by a Michigan statewide outlet. The freezing weather and sunless skies cause acute seasonal depression. Students are on campus from September to April. The weather in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio is truly miserable and at its worst when kids are on campus. How bad it is?

How dreary is Michigan? Only 5 minutes of sunshine this month

Welcome to another dreary day in Michigan. The skies are overcast. The snow-covered ground matches the blah, boringly hazy color of the sky.

Is it morning or afternoon? Who can even tell?

Much of Michigan has gotten minimal daily sunshine recently, but we hadn’t realized how far down the sun tally we’d fallen until the National Weather Service reminded us with a dim little factoid they posted on social media late yesterday.

Brace yourself:

“In the first 5 days of January, we have recorded 5 minutes of sunshine in southeast Grand Rapids. Our last half-sunny day was December 28. Our last mostly sunny day? A month ago, December 4.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/01/how-dreary...hine-this-month.html

My DS from the DMV and niece from FL spent 4 years and 5 years (+master's) respectively at UMich. Loved their time there!

I think it's the weaklings that worry about stuff like the weather instead of opportunities. If everyone did it, there'll be no one living in Iceland, Finland, etc. Is your child a weakling? Only you can tell.

Nice try, Michigan lifer.

[Anonymous]

Most desirable country in the world to live are the coldest.
Sweden, Norway, Finland
They will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh MY. People LIVE there. Precious college kids will be fine.

If someone has SAD they have SAD.

It’s different if you grow up there versus moving there later in life. And for college, you have a choice in where to go, so why choose somewhere that you might be unhappy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Southern California kid goes to UChicago and I got her a SAD light; lots of sizes and types available on amazon. Non-issue but important to know about it.

There is something else, though, that I've never heard of until lately...that is Vitamin D can be (absorbed or created, not sure which) through the skin via sunlight, or in our food. However; if your body is used to the sun and absorbing it that way, it doesn't "know" how to switch to absobring from food, so kids from more sunnier climates can get a severe deficiency and need to take supplements.

(sorry I'm not more precise on this; it's from my friend, who's son who went from SoCal to upstate NY--but you get the gist )

+1. This sounds like why Judd Apatow's LA-raised daughter left Northwestern. Chicago has a lack of sunshine and the cold is on a different level.

LOL ! You are so obvious.

[Anonymous]

I think if your child enjoys the outdoors regardless of weather even in the DMV area then the Midwest could be very enjoyable. If not, then it may not so much. Having grown up in northern WI and also lived in Madison I can say there are lots of things to do outside regardless of weather including hiking, camping, skiing, ice skating, ice boating, ice fishing, snowmobiling and using other recreational vehicles. It could be an eyeopener for the student to enjoy all four seasons in a different way maybe not yet experienced. If your child is going to stay cooped up indoors from November -March then it would probably not be that enjoyable. Learning to dress properly makes a big difference. Plus, a lot of local students will be there to get them engaged in outdoor activities. Or the student may study indoors like crazy during the winter months and get the best grades ever...however, schools in more moderate climates may be the better choice if going outside in the winter is a challenges bc even a walk across campus will be frigid. Activity in the winter is the key to mitigate some of the other issues discussed.

[Anonymous]

Northwestern University's freshman retention rate is 98% and the retention rate for the University of Chicago is similar.

[Anonymous]

My DS just texted me that he is heading out to go Nordic skiing with his friends. He's having a great time up there in the Midwest. I guess we just come from hearty stock.

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry Indiana University is on top of this. Hence why so many of their Greek life events are in Las Vegas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved from Colorado to Atlanta and sttruggled the first winter due to weeks of rainy weather. In my case it wasn't just the gray skies, but the inability to go outside for weeks. I'm not sure how college students get to classes when it is cold and rainy out.

Um, you put on a coat and boots and bring an umbrella?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if your child enjoys the outdoors regardless of weather even in the DMV area then the Midwest could be very enjoyable. If not, then it may not so much. Having grown up in northern WI and also lived in Madison I can say there are lots of things to do outside regardless of weather including hiking, camping, skiing, ice skating, ice boating, ice fishing, snowmobiling and using other recreational vehicles. It could be an eyeopener for the student to enjoy all four seasons in a different way maybe not yet experienced. If your child is going to stay cooped up indoors from November -March then it would probably not be that enjoyable. Learning to dress properly makes a big difference. Plus, a lot of local students will be there to get them engaged in outdoor activities. Or the student may study indoors like crazy during the winter months and get the best grades ever...however, schools in more moderate climates may be the better choice if going outside in the winter is a challenges bc even a walk across campus will be frigid. Activity in the winter is the key to mitigate some of the other issues discussed.

Burlington, Vermont, Madison, Wisconsin, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Chicago, Ithaca, New York, Minneapolis, and other cold weather schools located in or adjacent to sizable cities offer lots of activities to draw one's attention away from poor weather & drinking in a beer soaked frat basement in a small, cold weather, rural school. Two different worlds.

For those interested in a small rural cold weather school, there are some interesting options such as Middlebury College. Middlebury has lots of outdoor activities close by, is a reasonable 40 to 45 minute drive to Burlington, and is large (about 2,700 students) for an LAC. To some (including me) this might be a near perfect option.