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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

There are people all over the world who are fine with cold weather, some of it even worse than what's in Michigan. I grew up in Ontario, and didn't mind the cold, because I enjoyed winter activities like hockey and sledding.

This will probably come as a shock to you, but not everyone shares your opinion on things like winter weather.

This. I actually don’t like hot weather and year round sunshine. It is highly overrated. There is nothing stranger to me than celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in 80 degree weather. No thanks! Some of us like more variation in seasons. And by the way, Midwestern summers and falls are gorgeous and perfect and beat the pants out of those same seasons in the South.

PP here. After living in Canada and going to school in Michigan and upstate NY, I don't miss the cold that much. But, tens of millions of Americans are perfectly fine with living in cold-weather areas. And, when you're a college student, you don't really give it much thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"There are people all over the world who are fine with cold weather, some of it even worse than what's in Michigan. I grew up in Ontario, and didn't mind the cold, because I enjoyed winter activities like hockey and sledding.

This will probably come as a shock to you, but not everyone shares your opinion on things like winter weather."

The OP and this thread is about warning students who are NOT from the upper Midwest about the winter conditions. Not sure how your experience as someone who grew up there not having the choice about whether to live there or not is relevant. And while people may have different opinions on how easy it is to schlep a baby in and out of the house in icy conditions while there's cold rain mixed with snow flying sideways thanks to the high winds, that doesn't make it any easier for a 18-yr-old HS senior to determine how they'll be able to adjust. Spending weekends in ski gear on Mammoth Mountain or in Vail doesn't give a West Coast kid raised in sunshine a good sense of whether they'll be happy living in a place like Ann Arbor for four winters, but most teens are naïve enough to think that it does. The OP raises an important warning flag for parents whose kids are making decisions about where to attend college.

Right, I forgot this generation of kids are much softer than previous generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

She mostly left because she got a part in Euphoria.

She literally went on one of the late night show's and said it was because it was so cold and depressing.

Who cares about one nepo-baby’s opinion?

Why spread misinformation in this thread? Maude Apatow could have just never said anything but from her own mouth she left because Chicago was so cold and dreary. She moved back in with her parents in sunny Los Angeles.

[Anonymous]

"OK then, the West can enjoy their earthquakes, deserts, droughts, and lack of water. In fact, maybe we Midwesterners might so generously lend all of the states where stuck up snobs like you live even though you have mocked us for years. Maybe we will even let you move here when it gets too hot in paradise. Maybe, we shall see."

Why do you have nothing better to do than try to convince people that lovely places like Boulder, Santa Fe, Napa, Sedona, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Austin and the Hill Country, Savannah, Asheville, etc... are a miserable as Ann Arbor is right now? We know that you're FOS, so it won't work. There are so many really enjoyable alternatives to spending 5+ months in gray dirty snow and sleet. It's okay that you choose to do so. But it's sad that you need to denigrate those who want a more comfortable way of life. If it's so great there, why do so many of your neighbors leave every winter? Maybe you should move someplace even more harsh, like those people on reality TV shows living in the Canadian hinterlands surviving off the tundra since you like it so much and think it's a sign of your fortitude.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't aware that University of Michigan had a long history of kids from other states fighting over OOS spots there. I thought it was a more recent thing that happened after admissions became so much more competitive at the top schools located in places with less harsh weather.

"Right, I forgot this generation of kids are much softer than previous generations."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

There are people all over the world who are fine with cold weather, some of it even worse than what's in Michigan. I grew up in Ontario, and didn't mind the cold, because I enjoyed winter activities like hockey and sledding.

This will probably come as a shock to you, but not everyone shares your opinion on things like winter weather.

This. I actually don’t like hot weather and year round sunshine. It is highly overrated. There is nothing stranger to me than celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in 80 degree weather. No thanks! Some of us like more variation in seasons. And by the way, Midwestern summers and falls are gorgeous and perfect and beat the pants out of those same seasons in the South.

PP here. After living in Canada and going to school in Michigan and upstate NY, I don't miss the cold that much. But, tens of millions of Americans are perfectly fine with living in cold-weather areas. And, when you're a college student, you don't really give it much thought.

I'm not sure if people were ever "fine" with the cold, they just had little choice before modern air conditioning and refrigeration. And modern car and air travel. Population trends the last 50 years show the cold weather places, notably the Rust Belt, emptying out as families with the means seek the coasts and Sun Belt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

There are people all over the world who are fine with cold weather, some of it even worse than what's in Michigan. I grew up in Ontario, and didn't mind the cold, because I enjoyed winter activities like hockey and sledding.

This will probably come as a shock to you, but not everyone shares your opinion on things like winter weather.

This. I actually don’t like hot weather and year round sunshine. It is highly overrated. There is nothing stranger to me than celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in 80 degree weather. No thanks! Some of us like more variation in seasons. And by the way, Midwestern summers and falls are gorgeous and perfect and beat the pants out of those same seasons in the South.

PP here. After living in Canada and going to school in Michigan and upstate NY, I don't miss the cold that much. But, tens of millions of Americans are perfectly fine with living in cold-weather areas. And, when you're a college student, you don't really give it much thought.

I'm not sure if people were ever "fine" with the cold, they just had little choice before modern air conditioning and refrigeration. And modern car and air travel. Population trends the last 50 years show the cold weather places, notably the Rust Belt, emptying out as families with the means seek the coasts and Sun Belt.

Are you kidding? Parts of the East Coast get more snow than the Midwest, but of course you would never criticize people’s choice to live in Massachusetts now, would you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"OK then, the West can enjoy their earthquakes, deserts, droughts, and lack of water. In fact, maybe we Midwesterners might so generously lend all of the states where stuck up snobs like you live even though you have mocked us for years. Maybe we will even let you move here when it gets too hot in paradise. Maybe, we shall see."

Why do you have nothing better to do than try to convince people that lovely places like Boulder, Santa Fe, Napa, Sedona, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Austin and the Hill Country, Savannah, Asheville, etc... are a miserable as Ann Arbor is right now? We know that you're FOS, so it won't work. There are so many really enjoyable alternatives to spending 5+ months in gray dirty snow and sleet. It's okay that you choose to do so. But it's sad that you need to denigrate those who want a more comfortable way of life. If it's so great there, why do so many of your neighbors leave every winter? Maybe you should move someplace even more harsh, like those people on reality TV shows living in the Canadian hinterlands surviving off the tundra since you like it so much and think it's a sign of your fortitude.

Show us on this stuffed Wolverine where Jim Harbaugh touched you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wasn't aware that University of Michigan had a long history of kids from other states fighting over OOS spots there. I thought it was a more recent thing that happened after admissions became so much more competitive at the top schools located in places with less harsh weather.

"Right, I forgot this generation of kids are much softer than previous generations."

Michigan's been a popular school with OOS students since at least the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Sounds amazing! Don't have to use yucky suntan lotion. Sweet relief!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"OK then, the West can enjoy their earthquakes, deserts, droughts, and lack of water. In fact, maybe we Midwesterners might so generously lend all of the states where stuck up snobs like you live even though you have mocked us for years. Maybe we will even let you move here when it gets too hot in paradise. Maybe, we shall see."

Why do you have nothing better to do than try to convince people that lovely places like Boulder, Santa Fe, Napa, Sedona, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Austin and the Hill Country, Savannah, Asheville, etc... are a miserable as Ann Arbor is right now? We know that you're FOS, so it won't work. There are so many really enjoyable alternatives to spending 5+ months in gray dirty snow and sleet. It's okay that you choose to do so. But it's sad that you need to denigrate those who want a more comfortable way of life. If it's so great there, why do so many of your neighbors leave every winter? Maybe you should move someplace even more harsh, like those people on reality TV shows living in the Canadian hinterlands surviving off the tundra since you like it so much and think it's a sign of your fortitude.

Show us on this stuffed Wolverine where Jim Harbaugh touched you.

Yeah, someone’s panties are in a bind today about Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds amazing! Don't have to use yucky suntan lotion. Sweet relief!

Or worry about skin cancer and wrinkled, leathery skin!

[Anonymous]

OP is the same person who started the ridiculous "why are northern kids flocking to southern schools" thread.

They clearly have some stake in schools in the South. It's bizarre and transparent as all get out.

[Anonymous]

Who is Jim Harbaugh??? WTF are you even talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"OK then, the West can enjoy their earthquakes, deserts, droughts, and lack of water. In fact, maybe we Midwesterners might so generously lend all of the states where stuck up snobs like you live even though you have mocked us for years. Maybe we will even let you move here when it gets too hot in paradise. Maybe, we shall see."

Why do you have nothing better to do than try to convince people that lovely places like Boulder, Santa Fe, Napa, Sedona, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Austin and the Hill Country, Savannah, Asheville, etc... are a miserable as Ann Arbor is right now? We know that you're FOS, so it won't work. There are so many really enjoyable alternatives to spending 5+ months in gray dirty snow and sleet. It's okay that you choose to do so. But it's sad that you need to denigrate those who want a more comfortable way of life. If it's so great there, why do so many of your neighbors leave every winter? Maybe you should move someplace even more harsh, like those people on reality TV shows living in the Canadian hinterlands surviving off the tundra since you like it so much and think it's a sign of your fortitude.

Show us on this stuffed Wolverine where Jim Harbaugh touched you.

Yeah, someone’s panties are in a bind today about Michigan.

It's the same poster over and over again with the odd grudge against Michigan. She's obsessed with scaring people away from that "overcrowded state school in a fading flyover state". It's really odd.

Full disclosure- my family lived in Michigan from 1992-1997. I went to U of M and generally enjoyed it. I haven't been back since a business trip in the early 2000's. Yes, winters are harsh, but a healthy college student will be fine with the cold.