Anonymous wrote:These comments are ridiculous. They are very cold. Plan on 50s in October, then 30s in November, 20s in Dec. and Jan., 30s in Feb and honestly, even a lot of March. There are a handful of days with temps around 0.

No one goes to Cornell or Dartmouth for the weather!

I went to Dartmouth for the weather (and because it’s a great school, obvi). I love New England weather and skiing. I only applied to colleges in cold weather places.

Mine was accepted to Dartmouth and also has Raynauds. I thought about this too, but I think her thinking was that she wouldn't be outside for long and inside would be warm. She chose another school but not because of cold/Raynauds.

Anonymous wrote:As an alumni of both those institutions (undergrad and grad school), I can say that for most of us, the weather was just . . . the weather. You put on a jacket and boots and gloves (rarely a hat, because hat hair), and you carried on with life without giving it a second thought. Except for big snows or a couple days here and there where it was unusually cold, it just wasn't something that most of us really thought about or talked about in the context of our daily lives. None of my school memories involve me suffering because of the weather, except maybe a few nights I ventured out to a frat party without a coat because I didn't want to bother with dealing with it once I got to the party.

So I guess if your kid is super sensitive to weather, it is a consideration but otherwise what is there to say. Both places are colder and generally get more snow than DC.

I will say I preferred Dartmouth winters.

Who can forget her sharp and misty mornings,
The clanging bells, the crunch of feet on snow,
Her sparkling noons, the crowding into Commons,
The long white afternoons, the twilight glow?
See! By the light of many thousand sunsets,
Dartmouth Undying, like a vision starts.
Dartmouth, the gleaming, dreaming walls of Dartmouth,
Miraculously builded in our hearts.

Beautiful poem!

Dartmouth is cold but not super windy. You can usually avoid one winter with a leave term or study abroad. I took skiing for PE and there is ice skating on the pond. A lot to keep things fun and active.

It’s not super cold cold.

But it’s a wet cold that chills you to the bone.

The mud/slush/grey was the worst part of the bad weather. Not the actual temperature.

At Cornell I remember many terrible terrible mornings wearing knee-high socks, insulated underwear, thick pants, an undershirt, a sweatshirt, a thick jacket, a thick scarf, and a thick hat. And still feeling like I was wearing almost nothing as I waited for the shuttle in downtown Ithaca. Never again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is colder and snowier but to my kid that just means you need a decent coat and gloves. It will get in the teens more frequently then here and more snow but it is not below zero with feet of snow.

My kid wanted a northern school with snow.

There in the mid-90's. Sweatshirt weather in September, such a change after living here. Definitely feet of snow, on occasion, what seemed like inches nearly every day, and the plowed mounds were still around in late April in spring(?) of 1994. And yes, it was below at and zero with and without wind chill many days during Jan. and Feb. that year. I recall a really cold January, and looked it up. Jan. 21 (-24) degrees. https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ny/ithaca/KITH/date/1994-1 Loved it regardless!

I have family living near Ithaca and the weather has gotten a lot warmer (relatively speaking) and less snowy. In fact they are often disappointed at not being able to ride their snowmobiles very much these days.

My child just finished her second year and the weather has not been crazy cold or snowy. She does report it is gray often. She would like more sun but no feet of snow or below zero temps.

Very cold. Definitely not for any one whose mood/general well being depends on the weather.

For that matter, Boston gets very cold too. More tolerable than Chicago/Cornell but pretty cold between mid-November and end-April

As an alumni of both those institutions (undergrad and grad school), I can say that for most of us, the weather was just . . . the weather. You put on a jacket and boots and gloves (rarely a hat, because hat hair), and you carried on with life without giving it a second thought. Except for big snows or a couple days here and there where it was unusually cold, it just wasn't something that most of us really thought about or talked about in the context of our daily lives. None of my school memories involve me suffering because of the weather, except maybe a few nights I ventured out to a frat party without a coat because I didn't want to bother with dealing with it once I got to the party.

So I guess if your kid is super sensitive to weather, it is a consideration but otherwise what is there to say. Both places are colder and generally get more snow than DC.

I will say I preferred Dartmouth winters.

Who can forget her sharp and misty mornings,
The clanging bells, the crunch of feet on snow,
Her sparkling noons, the crowding into Commons,
The long white afternoons, the twilight glow?
See! By the light of many thousand sunsets,
Dartmouth Undying, like a vision starts.
Dartmouth, the gleaming, dreaming walls of Dartmouth,
Miraculously builded in our hearts.

I went to school in upstate NY and for me the issue was the length of the winter and the lack of sun, not the cold or snow. Mental health challenges, for sure.

Anonymous wrote:These comments are ridiculous. They are very cold. Plan on 50s in October, then 30s in November, 20s in Dec. and Jan., 30s in Feb and honestly, even a lot of March. There are a handful of days with temps around 0.

No one goes to Cornell or Dartmouth for the weather!

Some choose NOT to go there for the weather. The comments are not ridiculous - they just don't apply to your choice set.

And - as others have noted - there are some that do love that weather. I have two "outdoors" kids - but one would love Dartmouth weather year round and the other would hate it. The one that hates it would also not like upper Midwest. Luckily, they each know themselves and have sought out options that take this into account.

I grew up around there and have Raynauds. You just need to have the right clothes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is colder and snowier but to my kid that just means you need a decent coat and gloves. It will get in the teens more frequently then here and more snow but it is not below zero with feet of snow.

My kid wanted a northern school with snow.

There in the mid-90's. Sweatshirt weather in September, such a change after living here. Definitely feet of snow, on occasion, what seemed like inches nearly every day, and the plowed mounds were still around in late April in spring(?) of 1994. And yes, it was below at and zero with and without wind chill many days during Jan. and Feb. that year. I recall a really cold January, and looked it up. Jan. 21 (-24) degrees. https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ny/ithaca/KITH/date/1994-1 Loved it regardless!

I have family living near Ithaca and the weather has gotten a lot warmer (relatively speaking) and less snowy. In fact they are often disappointed at not being able to ride their snowmobiles very much these days.

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is colder and snowier but to my kid that just means you need a decent coat and gloves. It will get in the teens more frequently then here and more snow but it is not below zero with feet of snow.

My kid wanted a northern school with snow.

There in the mid-90's. Sweatshirt weather in September, such a change after living here. Definitely feet of snow, on occasion, what seemed like inches nearly every day, and the plowed mounds were still around in late April in spring(?) of 1994. And yes, it was below at and zero with and without wind chill many days during Jan. and Feb. that year. I recall a really cold January, and looked it up. Jan. 21 (-24) degrees. https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ny/ithaca/KITH/date/1994-1 Loved it regardless!

Anonymous wrote:These comments are ridiculous. They are very cold. Plan on 50s in October, then 30s in November, 20s in Dec. and Jan., 30s in Feb and honestly, even a lot of March. There are a handful of days with temps around 0.

No one goes to Cornell or Dartmouth for the weather!

Wrong -- lots of Dartmouth students and alums love the weather, especially fall and summer (students spend one summer term on campus). And, if you ski, winter's great.