I like warm weather better than cold weather, so naturally I’ve been looking at colleges in the southern part of the country. My mom says that weather should not be considered when applying to colleges, since it’s only for four years. However, I don’t want to be miserable for four+ years in some place like Chicago (no offense, but I honestly don’t know how you do it 
). My question, basically, is am I worrying too much about location? How much did weather affect your college decisions? Thanks in advance.
know yourself. Some people can roll with it, others weather can make miserable. You need to live your life, not your mom’s…
“Only four years”
Four years is a long time especially when you are young. It’s fine for it to be one of your preferences and it is just as valid as urban/rural, small/large college, etc.
On the other hand, it’s good to push your boundaries a bit. Judging by your nic, spending some time in Chicago could prove to be a very instructive and unique experience. Plus, keep in mind, some of America’s best schools are located in areas with some of America’s worst weather. Somehow you don’t hear people complaining about them.
@katliamom That’s very true, I was looking into Washington University in St. Louis. Fantastic school, but with hot, humid summers and cold, gray winters.
Funny you mention Washington University in St. Louis. I have two Southern-California born & raised relatives attending, one as an undergrad, the other in med school. They went to St. Louis for the school, not the climate. And they both feel they very much made the right decision.
My own daughter grew up in sunny and dry Denver - and went to college in muggy and overcast Boston. After her first year, she didn’t even notice the weather. One adapts… especially if one loves the university.
PS… you don’t have to stay in St. Louis for the summer.
@katliamom I grew up in the East Coast, but I never had something to compare the weather to - I thought it was normal. Now I live in the Southwest, with virtually none of the mugginess you described in Boston, but I can’t remember what the weather was like when I lived in the East! Grrr. As a kid, weather wasn’t really one of my priorities.
Since you mentioned Southern California, I have three schools there that I am considering applying to. The climate there, to me, is perfection - warm but cooler than the desert, dry, and sunny. My dad says that it is almost boringly pleasant, and that I need to brave some less-appealing weather to toughen me up! Lol.
So if you can’t even remember, it can’t have been that bad. You spend an awful lot of college time indoors anyway. I personally think it shouldn’t be at the top of your list.
“boringly pleasant” Yup, but it’s fire season now.
Arizona, we are from California and we thought weather should be a minor factor…until we spent a week touring colleges in New England during a February break. We trudged through snowdrifts for a week, stood in falling snow as tour guides talked, and my oldest decided that she would be unhappy and miserable in a place with weather so much worse than she was used to.
I would encourage you to tour colleges that you are considering and decide for yourself.
“Boringly pleasant…” I just got back a short time ago from walking the dogs, it’s 90F out at 6PM today in Los Angeles, and now I need a shower before I offend the dogs with how bad I smell!
I think if there are colleges you like just as much in locales where you prefer the weather, then it can be the deciding factor. If you are choosing a poor fit college just based on weather, that’s a bad decision.
Whether should be a factor. Everything you care about should be a factor. It’s your life and you are the one who has to live.
I wouldn’t let weather override academic quality or affordability, but all other things being equal, I think weather is a perfectly legitimate concern. I personally couldn’t live in Arizona because I wilt in the heat.
@mom2twogirls “If you are choosing a poor fit college just based on weather, that’s a bad decision.” – I disagree. Neither of my kids ski, but if they were big skiers, it would make sense for them to look at school in Colorado, Vermont, etc. One of my daughters’ favorite hobby is surfing; if she still loves it when she’s applying to colleges in a few years, it will make sense for her to look at coastal schools. There are 3000 colleges out there, why not narrow it down by preferred weather?
I’m not are how you can disagree, lol. I said if someone chooses a poor fit just based on weather… You are disagreeing and saying a student should go for a poor fit college so they can ski?! That doesn’t make any sense.
If you are saying a student should be able to find a good fit in any preferred weather climate, maybe. Of course, that depends on what else is required to make it a good fit. $, major, etc.
@JenJenJenJen 90 degrees seems nice and cool to me this time of year. As the name suggests, I live in Arizona and it has been 110+ this past week. It just rained today for maybe 60 seconds tops for the first time in months, so maybe that’ll cool things down a bit.
@ThankYouforHelp The winters here justify enduring the summers
OP, only you can decide how much of a factor the weather should be. I grew up back east and my sister went to AZ State-she loved AZ so much she never moved back to New England and won’t even visit in the winters now. Another sister has visited her in the summers and can’t wait to get out and back to the “normal” New England muggies. We live in Seattle. I CANNOT handle the constant dreariness and rain of our winters and wonder anew every year why the heck I moved here 20 years ago. My D isn’t quite as bothered, but deliberately looked at schools in warmer, drier areas, choosing one in the upper south where there are 4 seasons and the sun comes out often between October and May.
While weather was not her primary reason for choosing her college, it did eliminate all of those in the PNW. I was fine with that. You have to LOOK outside even if you don’t GO outside, and frankly, I’d be concerned about a college student who never went outside. We did insist D visit the area during the warmest part of the year so she’d know what she was getting into. We did, and she loved it.
There are so many schools out there that using weather as one more factor in the winnowing down phase to me is perfectly reasonable. It’s all so subjective anyway- DD spent almost her whole life in NE and laughs when her DC school shuts down for what she considers a snow flurry- yet her roommate from Panama finds it miserably cold… I am also mildly amused at the talk of muggy NE summers. Never felt that way to me- DC and Florida where my mom lives- now THEY have muggy summers…
It’s great to use college as a chance to temporarily experience something new- so maybe OP can include DC or PNW for example in her/his list but not NE or Midwest schools- where weather will be more extreme… Just a thought…