I moved from the south to the north and the biggest problem for me was the lack of sunshine. I did not mind the cold but the lack of sunshine was a shock to my body. At the time I did not know that was a thing but I had problems maintaining my vitamin D. Thankfully my physician found it out and I got supplements and monitored it for a while. They now have lamps to help as well. One of my kids studies at a university even more north and the first thing they noticed was also the lack of sunshine. I think for some people that is harder than the temperature drop and it can really mess up with your mood. Another thing hard for me was the weather during March-April as in my brain that was associated with real “spring” so the first few years I felt a “disconnect” during those two months. Something like seasonal depression but I got used a few years later.
ps. I moved for grad school so the move was year long and ended up being permanent. This might not be a problem if they go back home every break.
Don’t forget, most places that have cold winters also have beautiful spring and fall seasons and moderate summers. And yes, the temperatures get cold and there is quite a bit of snow, but people in those areas adjust fine. It’s just another season to be lived. Seasons give people something to enjoy, something to complain about, something to miss and something to look forward to.
Plus, depending on where you live, winter is a time to break out the skis/snowboards, ice skates and snow shoes.
Lastly, college (and graduate/professional school) is a wonderful time to go live somewhere new and experience a different part of the country. It’s a time to explore new cities, new outdoor experiences, and most importantly, new people. The experience of long distance travel is also a good one to have at that time of life - it builds maturity. If the place and climate of their youth is where they ultimately return, they have the rest of their lives to enjoy it. But they may just find (as I did), that their is place and climate much better suited to them.
Many of the posters seems to think the only issue regarding weather is having appropriate clothing. If you have never experienced cold grey winters, you do not know how this may affect you. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a real issue. If you are used to sunshine and warm weather, you may not know how this kind of prolonged winter will affect you. So, if you are going to send your kid off to a completely new climate, make sure you have at least exposed them to that kind of climate.
Another factor to consider is that air travel may be affected. Getting my son back to DC was a serious challenge this year because we had a major winter storm that swept through the country. Our original airline told us they could not get our son out until 2 days later than originally scheduled. Fortunately, because my DH travels so much we could use points for another airline to get him out the next day. One of his friends couldn’t get back for 3 days and missed the start of the semester.
Oh - many of us in the north are dosing on vitamin D and have desktop lights in the winter, etc. But I also find, if we get out and just get used to the weather, we just tend to do better than if we hibernate and hide. Some days when it is really cold or the roads are impassable, it’s nice to huddle in with your fleece, your books, and your Netflix. We love a good snow day.
Travel can be dicey. My kid has 5 college music auditions coming up in February and I’m on high alert for making quick travel changes.
I don’t think anyone should change climate if they don’t want to. I just don’t really like the picture painted that winters for most of us are just wrought with suffering. Know thyself.
@am9799 I think your post posted while I was writing mine. Thanks for sharing. I wish vitamin D and a sun lamp would work for me, but it does not. I have to take medication and still there are days when it is literally a struggle to get out of bed. Not everyone loves seasons. I’m counting down the days until we move south after DD’s graduation.
“There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.”
Said by people who are only thinking about cold and/or rainy weather. Always makes me want to perk up and cheerfully reply “Fantastic! Can’t wait to hear what good clothing will make people comfortable when it’s in the upper 90s with humidity in the 90s as well. Please share this secret.”
Mostly I just worry about my kid making bad choices about driving on bad roads. We’ve lived in a very warm climate for the last nearly 7 years and my S is just not prepared. Worse… there’s no way to prepare him before he goes other than just telling him to stay off bad roads.
It helps a little that my brother lives about an hour away in one direction & my grown nephew is an hour away in the other direction.
Ha ha @MusakParent
I was a grad student at the time with no car, walking everywhere. And not to show my age but it was nothing like Netflix at the time .I was not unhappy with the move or begrudging the weather. It just happened that the move was harder for my body than expected.
(Bates College Puddle Jump-in early February the Outing Club chainsaws a hole in the ice on Lake Andrews, aka “The Puddle” and half the college jumps into the frigid water.)
Weather happens everywhere. CA deals with wildfires and earthquakes, the coastal Southeast with Hurricanes, the cold areas with blizzards, the plains with tornadoes and floods.
It is a little harder to get out in the winter if you live in a cold climate. OTOH, most cold climate schools have cheap ski passes to the local ski hills. It’s an excellent way to get out in the winter.
@am9799 I attended an upper Midwest big 10 and walked a good 5+ miles a day all winter long and this was well before Netlix days for sure! I have been there done that. I will even say needing to just get out and be in the weather for hours a day to get from point a to point b was an adjustment at that time for me as a relative native to the weather. But then I found it difficult to adjust again when I was working and not getting all that fresh air and exercise in the winter. X-c skiing became an outlet!
I do think the layers, readily available winter clothing is WAY better now. No smart wools and uggs, long parkas, etc back in my day!
Haha! Sorry OP, can’t help but notice you are, apparently, from SoCal. I am too, but haven’t lived there for decades. I’ve been in the Northeast for 15 years now.
D goes to school in Maine. Her best friends are from Hawaii, Florida, and Tunisia. Kids just deal. Honestly, at least for kids around here, they don’t take weather into account. My son will end up somewhere cold too. He is unconcerned, despite many trips to So Cal in the winter. If CC is anything to go by, it’s always the parents who are far more worried than the kids.
Northerner here too. Much, much prefer extreme cold to extreme heat. You can always add more layers but at some point, there is nothing left to take off, unless you want to be arrested.
That said DD didn’t apply to any schools in the south. She hates heat and humidity. Wanted to stay somewhere that had the four seasons.
Not a concern at all. It’s not like they hold classes sitting under a tree outside when it’s really cold, or raining, or snowing.
If your STUDENT is concerned about weather, then the student should figure out what kind of weather he or she really likes most of the time, and apply to the many colleges with THAT kind of weather.
Last I heard, all of the colleges in the northeast had PLENTY of applicants…and matriculated students. They weren’t “enduring” anything bad…they were enjoying the experience.
DH and I grew up in Southern California. We moved to the Midwest for his grad school. Honestly, we hated the weather, we never had proper clothing (never owned winter boots). We never considered staying there, and moved to AZ as soon as he finished school, our kids have grown up in AZ. Kid 1 went to Chicago for college (visited campus in 20 degree weather with snow piled up everywhere, picked it anyway) and did just fine. We did make sure she had good warm gear. She stayed and is experiencing her first winter having to drive in the snow. Kid 2 went much further south for college. She hates the weather and complains a fair bit. Too cold, too rainy, too cloudy. No snow—She just really prefers lots of sun. She’s staying in that region after she graduates in May as well, so it must not be too intolerable! Kid 3 has a variety of weather types on his college list-says he’s ok with cold, but we aren’t really sure he knows what he’s in for, at that one upper midwestern school, but he, too, will likely adjust, for four years.
Yes, it can make a difference. My DD is in NW Germany now and everyday is overcast, with either rain and/or snow. The wind is constantly blowing in from the NW. But it isn’t the weather that bothers her, it is the pollution blowing in from the Netherlands and Belgium!
Believe it or not Netherlands and Belgium have horrible air quality, and the wind blows the particulate matter in a southeasterly direction, right into Germany, where it descends (due to precipitation and trapped under cloud cover) to the ground. Every day my daughter receives Bad Air Quality alerts. So she has to wear a white mask.
If you were to look at a live Air Quality Map right now you would see the NL covered in orange and red. Orange=alert for sensitive people. Red=dangerous for everyone. Compare that to the US, where you find only greens and yellows.
When I talk with her on the phone all I hear is sniff, sniff, cough, sneeze, cough.
I’m glad that lack of sunshine has come up as a factor, because it is real! If I was sending a kid from a sunnier climate off to a wintry one, I would make sure that he/she took Vitamin D and the advice to get outside every day (with appropriate clothing as discussed), which should be pretty easy for a college student walking to class. And maybe even read up on some cute books about Hygge and Laggom which are Scandinavian concepts about embracing winter, not just enduring it (well for a girl, a boy probably wouldn’t be interested). Make sure that they know that the super cold is a real thing they have to prepare for and protect against, like take the time to put on gloves and boots. Like @MusakParent says, you have to get used to it and still get outside comfortably, not just hibernate!
My cold weather raised DD attends school in SoCal, and one nice benefit to the weather is being able to study/go outside, especially when you want some alone time or want to have a private conversation or something away from the roomie. But this is just a little surprise bonus.
