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

[Anonymous]

It was really really hard and I didn’t understand seasonal depression until I moved away after college. I do not have good memories of college and absolutely told one of my kids to factor this into the decision. Those saying it doesn’t matter are not affected. It’s not the weather it’s the dark and grey of the NE. That’s what did me in.

[Anonymous]

Fall and Spring in Ann Arbor are amazing though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was really really hard and I didn’t understand seasonal depression until I moved away after college. I do not have good memories of college and absolutely told one of my kids to factor this into the decision. Those saying it doesn’t matter are not affected. It’s not the weather it’s the dark and grey of the NE. That’s what did me in.

This is the key.

[Anonymous]

The school in question is not in the NE. It's Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school in question is not in the NE. It's Michigan.

That's worse!

[Anonymous]

If just for argument’s sake we say it’s Michigan vs. Tulane, the weather informs a totally different cultural experience. Your kid will prefer one or the other. My kid chose Brown over Emory despite not liking cold weather because he didn’t like that the kids at accepted students day at Emory were all talking about their SAT scores as it was a tipoff to a vibe that wasn’t a fit for him. He’s very happy at Brown in his North Face jacket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school in question is not in the NE. It's Michigan.

That's worse!

How so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school in question is not in the NE. It's Michigan.

My son went from prep school in MA to MI. He said temp wise MI was a bit colder but it was sunnier than MA. It gets darker earlier in MA largely because of how much farther west and closer to Central time MI is. Might get light a bit later but most college students don't notice that since they're asleep. (As a reference, sunset in MA today is 5:00pm and MI it's 5:55pm. Sunrise is skewed the same way, but like I said, a lot of kids sleep through that time)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For everyone saying you just put on a coat and hat and deal with the cold, that is true BUT what is missing is that warmer weather campuses are a lot more bustling the majority if the school year - kids are outside throwing frisbees and sitting in lawn chairs and clustering in groups talking and sitting outside to read and do HW and so on. Cold weather campuses, especially those that start to get dark at 4:30pm (looking at all those Maine and Mass colleges!) just don’t have the same vibe.

- Went to undergrad in NC and law school in Boston

No, that's a law school experience. Kids are outside on cold weather campuses doing other things. And they're sitting indoors in groups and clusters for all the other things, so that doesn't really make any difference.

-undergrad in CT and law school in Nashville

[Anonymous]

I remember seeing hammocks at UVM, so I don't think cold weather students don't go outside. :p

[Anonymous]

CU Boulder. Tho it snows the sun is out within a few hours.

Boulder actually has more sunny days than Miami.

Weather is manageable and it's likely due to the elevation which is closer to the sun.

[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.

This^^^ if the costs are similar, and the academics really are better at the "cold weather", then let your kid decide. While warmer would be nice, my kids both made choices based on the actual school/academics. They smartly determined it's only 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter goes to UVM. She got used to it, and now thinks nothing of going skiing when it's 4 degrees with a -10 wind chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am from the south. I was miserable my four years in Ithaca. Made lifelong friends, but that kind of cold weather is just not for me. Every chance I had, I got the hell out of that place to thaw….I’m going to say I regret since it has opened a lot of doors for me over the years, but I could have stayed South at Rice, but decided to go up north…..tough one.

Well Ithaca is a "special type of dreary and cold" It is so isolated, we visited in warmer weather and my kid did NOT like the area (or Cornell). So IMO, that one is likely more to do with small town/isolated town versus just cold and dreary.
oh, and my kid selected a school 2hours away that is also "grey and dreary and cold" but it's in a town of 250K+ so there is much more to do. So it's not 100% the cold weather but the other factors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone saying you just put on a coat and hat and deal with the cold, that is true BUT what is missing is that warmer weather campuses are a lot more bustling the majority if the school year - kids are outside throwing frisbees and sitting in lawn chairs and clustering in groups talking and sitting outside to read and do HW and so on. Cold weather campuses, especially those that start to get dark at 4:30pm (looking at all those Maine and Mass colleges!) just don’t have the same vibe.

- Went to undergrad in NC and law school in Boston

No, that's a law school experience. Kids are outside on cold weather campuses doing other things. And they're sitting indoors in groups and clusters for all the other things, so that doesn't really make any difference.

-undergrad in CT and law school in Nashville

+1. Law school in Chicago. We used to take taxis to Thursday night Bar Review, back before uber existed, and swear at the cold, but that was the cold's only impact.