<p>Or do they try to stay open? Because I'm a commuter, and I'm thinking about the winter here...... I won't be driving in the snow regardless for safety reasons, but I'm just wondering if the universities tend to cancel classes in bad weather. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Since universities are running a business, the answer is that they don't tend to close in inclimate weather. If it's a campus in an area that gets heavy winter weather, they're likely to be prepared for same. If it's a blizzard, classes could be canceled.</p>
<p>It could depend on who's the top administrator. I went to the UW and Seattle is not known for its prowess in snow removal. There was an unusually high dump of snow and I was thinking it would close. It didn't and some joked it was because the president of UW grew up in the midwest and had no idea how Seattle can become paralyzed in the snow. Makes me wonder if the UW closed during the snows they had last month although I think the worst was after finals period.</p>
<p>Around here (Central Pennsylvania), colleges try to stay open as long as possible in bad weather. However, if they feel that students and staff will be in jeopardy trying to get to campus, they either cancel morning or evening classes or, when it gets really bad, close the campus. Closing for a day can cause a lot of negative ripples through the system, so they try to avoid that if possible.</p>
<p>No they stay open</p>
<p>Do schools/professors expect that the commuting students may not be able to make it in some days?</p>
<p>In 2.5 years at school in central Iowa (get 5-6 heavy blizzards per year), classes have been cancelled ONCE, and that was only for the afternoon classes on a Thursday. Friday classes/offices were not cancelled or closed. Talking w/ professors, the university has closed only one or two times in the last 20 years for a full day due to the weather. We have a solid bus system so the general rule of thumb is Bus Service not running = No Class. If the busses can run, classes are on. Most students either live on campus or in the area surrounding campus, so they can walk. Profs that live farther out may cancel on their own and most are pretty lenient w/ commuters.</p>
<p>I live in western oregon, and work at a community college, and the answer for this area is yes, mainly because the area does not have equipment to deal with heavy snows or ice storms.</p>
<p>The best place to live if you want lots of cancellations is a place that gets snow, but not a huge amount. Other places, you won't, but it'd be fine to commute. I used to live in upstate new york, and we could get multiple feet of snow over night, and the roads look like it never snowed by 4 am. Traveling just wasn't an issue.</p>
<p>Basically, it depends on where you live, I'd say. Snow in New Jersey won't be giving anyone even nearly the same reaction as snow in Boston. But if you're going to a college with a 40k per year price tag, then maybe you better be extremely thankful when they stay open, lol.</p>
<p>If it snows in Alabama, our school will definitely close, no matter how much (or rather, how little) snow it is. My high school (also in Alabama) closed when we had like 3 inches of snow, because it's really rural area and the school buses couldn't run because we don't have snow plows and the ability to clear a bunch of tiny roads in the middle of nowhere. The last time it snowed here was MLK weekend last year though, so we didn't have school anyway. </p>
<p>The most often thing classes get cancelled for here is tornado warnings, of which we get several every fall and late spring. If there's a tornado warning, they will lock up the buildings and usually cancel class for the rest of the day if it looks to continue. They're not supposed to let people outside if you happen to be in class at the time, you're supposed to stay until the warning is over, but not everyone adheres to that.</p>
<p>Ive lived in places where they get tons of snow and the school never closed.</p>
<p>Well, at Boston College, the university rarely shuts down completely. Individual professors may cancel classes though because of transportation issues because the roads are a hazard. Most likely, the administration will close the university down at 4PM, but never for an entire day.</p>
<p>I am in Eastern Pennsylvania and my classes have been canceled once last year. Not due to snow, but because the ground was so icy that it was literally impossibly to walk up the smallest incline.</p>
<p>I have taken classes at other campuses and was unable to make the commute a few time due to snow. For lecture classes, most days it doesn't matter if you can't make it. I once had to miss a class in which an assignment was due. I e-mailed the professor explaining my situation, and I was allowed to hand the assignment in late without a penalty.</p>
<p>I know that U of Miami cancels for hurricanes, but that may not be the type of inclement weather you are asking about...</p>
<p>Nope, colleges stay open in the winter here in the Midwest. It can be snowing 3-5 inches outside, and they will still remain open unless the roads are severely icy, foggy and very windy.</p>
<p>My English teacher went to the University of Buffalo, and she said that as soon as a flake of snow hit the ground, a number of snow plows are already out and about clearing the roads. I don't believe colleges cancel school like high schools do.</p>
<p>I should clarify my previous post about classes being cancelled when the bus system stops running. They only stop if the roads are super icy or if we're in whiteout visibility conditions. We got dumped on with about 10" last year and the roads/sidewalks were pretty well covered, but classes continued. No big deal.</p>
<p>We got an ice storm a few weeks before classes ended, and school was cancelled then. It was also cancelled when we were supposed to get snow one day, but we ended up hardly getting any.</p>
<p>Does the school you attend have a large amount of communter students?</p>
<p>At my school....no, not really to many true commuter students. Many of the students who live in apartments that are 1-3 miles from campus (but are 90% student residents in those buildings) will "commute" to campus and park in the commuter lot when they could take the bus for free. A friend of mine last year complained when she couldn't drive to campus b/c the roads were too bad and another friend missed a crucial quiz b/c his car wouldn't start. Both live about 2 miles from campus, and a bus runs by their building every 8 minutes, which they easily could have taken. Fortunately I live in an apartment directly across the street from campus and don't worry too much about that stuff.</p>