<p>My S2 (age 20) has a lot of allergies. He has a lot of sneezing and stuffiness and occasionally when exposed to something he is allergic to he will get hives on his face near his eyes and his eyes have been known to swell shut. He was tested and is allergic to olive trees, dust mites and cats. When we toured UC Davis they talked about all the olive trees so we decided that wasn’t a good choice for him. </p>
<p>What is interesting is that we live in Orange County and he is miserable whenever he comes home. He goes to UCLA (40 miles away) and has no issues what-so-ever up there. He does take a daily Allegra (but the Costco generic). We do have a dog, which might be the culprit, but when he was tested it didn’t say he was allergic to dogs.</p>
<p>Thanks to the OP for this question! My DS has developed really bad seasonal allergies during HS. Has been getting allergy shots weekly (or so) for about two years now. In the fall, he will be going to school (almost definitely) in another part of the country. I will have to ask the allergist about that next time he goes. He does have prescription meds as back-up and has needed them at times that I didn’t expect! (for example, on a hike in the desert in Israel!)</p>
<p>I see South Florida mentioned here as a good place to go if you have seasonal allergies. Really? That’s a definite option for DS and I would be happy if he didn’t have to deal with allergy issues (so would he).</p>
<p>As a side note, DD had terrible sinus infections during her freshman year of college (not allergy related at all). The neti pot became her friend. She didn’t care how it looked. It gave her some temporary relief.</p>
<p>I say this as a proud Aggie alumnus, but UC Davis can indeed be a problem - primarily due to the nearby olive groves. Olive trees are the ragweed of trees - they produce a ton of pollen and it is highly allergenic. If you are prone to hay fever I recommend you try avoid schools that are downwind from olive growing areas.</p>
<p>My son almost went int anaphylactic shock when he stepped onto some beautiful campuses that looked like Botancal Gardens in full bloom. I am glad he picked the peak of allergy season to check them out, because he would have had to take heavy duty meds during that season to go to those schools Crossed them off his list. Plenty of other schools out there without that issue for him. If the allergy truly limits someone to the point where the choices are sparse, some sort of meds may be needed and getting a good allergy doctor near campus would be a high priority.</p>
<p>As an alum of both UCDavis and UOr, both campuses are allergy magnets and bring out allergies even in folks who never knew they had any!</p>
<p>Also, U of HI is tough on people with allergies, as there is no frost to kill off allergens, which thrive year-round.</p>
<p>That being said, to our surprise, both of our kids have done well in an urban environment in terms of allergies–USoCal! We had expected that they would have problems with the poor air quality and other allergy triggers but both had fewer allergies there than in HI!</p>
<p>Agree that having a good allergy doc on or near campus is a great idea. We did hook our kids up with family practice docs at USoCal, but neither saw any of them & were able to get most of their needs met at the campus health center. I have a lot of allergies but the first 1-2 years in any new environment was pretty good for me until my body got used to the allergens in the area, and then I needed to take daily allergy meds.</p>
<p>Good luck in your choice–if your kiddo hasn’t had a thorough allergy evaluation, it would be a good idea to have that and consider allergy shots. I had allergy shots for 7 years, as well as nasal corticosteroids. It worked very well and was wonderful not waking with a stuffy nose and headache.</p>