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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

In cold, high wind locations, some schools have tunnels.

[Anonymous]

Not everyone has the same weather preferences. If your kid can't handle Midwest winters, then don't send them to a university in the Midwest. It's just that simple.

[Anonymous]

The winters in the upper Midwest are no worse than in the Northeast, not to mention most parts of Canada and other Northern states. Not sure why Midwest schools always get singularly called out?

[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 )

I also left a warm and sunny place for Chicago as a teenager, but I don't think the weather mattered that much. There's the same amount of light and warmth in the Reg in January as there is in August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

+1 I'm not sure how the PP survives. She seems so fragile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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-is-michigan-grand-rapids-has-had-5-minutes-of-sunshine-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.

Welcome, weakling-spawner!

[Anonymous]

God created Michigan to train the faithful.

[Anonymous]

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

Cold and dreary are two different things. Skiing in Colorado is often a sunny activity. Living in a location where it is overcast most of the winter can be challenging for many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan hater is back.

There are many of us.

[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.

You.... struggled with Atlanta winters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God created Michigan to train the faithful.

There was a popular t-shirt people wore when I lived in Michigan back in the 90's"

"Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten."

Lots of precious little snowflakes on this thread. If you can't figure out how to get to class when it's cold and rainy or snowing, I don't really know what to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same goes for New England. I went to college in the upper Midwest and grad school in northern New England. Long cold winters in both places. But if you like winter outdoor activities like I do it's great - I love to ski, took up cross country skiing briefly, went skating regularly, and overall loved it.

OP, I am sorry that something or someone in Michigan has caused you such harm, but you might find it helpful to just let it go rather than post a daily rant against weather there. Move on and just enjoy wherever you are now.

+ 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone has the same weather preferences. If your kid can't handle Midwest winters, then don't send them to a university in the Midwest. It's just that simple.

This. Let them enjoy the swamps, humidity, gigantic bugs, and hurricanes in the South.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The winters in the upper Midwest are no worse than in the Northeast, not to mention most parts of Canada and other Northern states. Not sure why Midwest schools always get singularly called out?

It is because the DCUMers enjoy sh!tting all over “flyover country” even though they are about as qualified to talk about it as I am to talk about astrophysics. Whatever makes their fragile insecure egos feel better about overpaying for their tiny red brick sh!tshacks!

[Anonymous]

My Michigan grad friend who is blindly super rah rah and fails to see any shortcoming with the school has never been to California or any place in the Southwest USA. Also has never once been south of Virginia. Literally does not know what she is missing in terms of sunshine and comfortable weather. Yes, many places have seasons even if their winter doesn't involve blizzards and last for almost half the year, despite what some Michiganders think. In contrast, my MI grad friends who come from warmer climates will quickly acknowledge the huge downside to living in those weather conditions, and they got the heck out of the state as soon as they graduated. For these people, the benefits of the school outweigh its downsides and these people offer a balanced view on what it's like to be a student there when asked. But others, especially those born and raised in Michigan, tend to be in some sort of cult mindset about the place and that is what I think people react to in these threads. If you can't even realize and acknowledge that the weather sucks, your opinion about what it's like to be a student there isn't really worth much.