Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s worse is short winter break in cold areas vs long summer break in hot areas, you can avoid hot summer, not harsh winter.

How does anyone avoid a hot, sticky summer?

California
But personally after many visits to California (in laws in LA) I would take DC, Baltimore, Philly and NYC, any day.

Anonymous wrote:What’s worse is short winter break in cold areas vs long summer break in hot areas, you can avoid hot summer, not harsh winter.

How does anyone avoid a hot, sticky summer?

I don’t understand this obsessing over long winters at least hen it comes to Dartmouth. Since they have a quarter system, anyone who doesn’t like winters can just skip winters and take their classes in the othe 3 quarters. People who love winter sports have the option to do just the opposite. What’s the big deal?

Even at Cornell, students are not on campus for literally one third of the winter during the break between semesters. And with both winter & spring breaks, Cornell runs later into the spring (May 21) than most colleges these days. Classes began this year August 26, beginning the year with a month of summer.

Anonymous wrote:In the winter, the ivy draped walls of Cornell and Dartmouth protect prestigious, academic lottery winners from brutally icy winds, as they chug beers and pop Adderall like overachieving college students everywhere.

I loved it. Lots of fun and hooking up when the weather got cold.

No worse than Michigan. But yes, can get cold particularly in January and February. Though with global warming winters aren’t as cold as they were.

In the winter, the ivy draped walls of Cornell and Dartmouth protect prestigious, academic lottery winners from brutally icy winds, as they chug beers and pop Adderall like overachieving college students everywhere.

I went to Brown and the New England weather is terrible. The winters are long, cold, and so windy (at least in Providence) and the summers are hot and incredibly humid. DC1 is a resident at Stanford and he loves Cali weather, although he gets to enjoy very little of it, at least for now. However, don't pick a college based on the weather.

It’s not THAT cold or snowy in Ithaca, but it does precipitate a lot (Ithacate) which makes it feel colder than it is. Rainy/slushy/wet.

But the actual temps aren’t that low. And it doesn’t get the crazy lake-effect snow that Syracuse, Buffalo get.

It’s grey, chilly, and wet. And there aren’t ropes to get through campus. LOL.

Cold. Very cold.

A better compromise is CU Boulder. Beautiful sunny winters. Snow melts within 48 hours because the town is above sea level so closer to the sun.

It is substantially less snowy and it is less cold than it used to be.

That said, check out what the schools do to fight seasonable depression. It's an issue with a lot of young adults in highly competitive schools and they may not realize it until they get to college. One of my kids attended a different northern lac and they actively kept an eye on students.

College of Charleston!

My cousin went to Cornell and he talked about those ropes. I wasn't sure whether I believed him. Now I do.

I attended Cornell in the 90s. I recall being so into by the beauty of the campus in all seasons - it was cold and sometimes snowy but I had a warm coat and often wore tights under my jeans. I absolutely loved my time there and don’t remember the cold being an issue at all. I grew up in NYC and felt like the winters were more enjoyable in Ithaca because there weren’t those giant puddles of grey icy slush to navigate. And spring and fall are both glorious!

FWIW- They are very different schools, aside from the weather and both being Ivies.
Our DC who liked Dartmouth found Cornell with their multiple colleges too big.
Other DC liked Cornell ok, but preferred Penn, Columbia, Yale and Harvard. This kid knew they wanted engineering and so the idea of applying to a school of engineering was fine.

We have one outdoorsy, snowboarding DC at Dartmouth who loves it- but it has been a rough few years ( as it has for all young college kids), and the school has really prioritized student well being, providing improved mental health resources. It is very cold and dark in the winter and coupled with the fast paced 10 week quarter system, rural and small setting- it can get a bit depressing and overwhelming.
Recent changes have been made to the D- plan so students can only take a limited number of winter terms off.