Yes, I’ve heard the summers are really hot in St. Louis but that isn’t during the school year unless you plan on staying for the summer. 
Everyone should stay in Ithaca for at least one summer. It is magnificent there.
Nobody should stay in the vicinity of St. Louis for the summer. It’s horrible.
Ithaca is absolutely beautiful in the fall, and just fine in the spring. It is cold though in the winter, which runs long too. True enough.
St. Louis is warmer than Ithaca in the winter, but it is not exactly disneyland either.
Some of the winters I spent, not too far away from there, were pretty darned unpleasant themselves, actually. Was what i was trying to point out.
On balance I’d rather spend time in Ithaca in the fall or summer than in St. Louis in any season. In the winter i’d pick: c) none of the above.
My D was told to visit her colleges in February so she could see how the winters were. That was smart advice. I would assume Ithaca has harsh winters. I just looked 4-26 degrees was the high! Below freezing the whole month. Wow… That’s rough especially with a HUGE campus like Cornell. http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/ithaca-ny/14850/february-weather/334655
Yes, I bet the summers are nice though.
This past winter was indeed lousy in the Northeast. It only got above freezing 6 days in February where I live, near NYC. That’s what that Accuweather says,at least. Frankly I don’t remember any of those days.
If you click on that thing to 2014 that’s probably more typical.
But its still cold .
Long term, St Louis is about 11 degrees warmer than Ithaca in February.