<p>DD moved from west to east. She’s a sophomore now, and both years she said that by far the most homesick people were the ones who lived close! She knew she was traveling far, so she got herself mentally ready to enjoy herself without “weekend breaks.” No problem!!!</p>
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<p>let’s not get carried away…lol</p>
<p>It’s really true that there is an enormous difference between far upstate NY and coastal NY, in terms of weather. For one thing, spring comes a month earlier, and winter is later and not nearly as severe. NYC has many, many more sunny days than Colgate or Cornell, which are exposed to the lake effect, and while there is slush and rain, there’s not as much snow (the whole depressed-in-winter thing usually comes down to light, not temperature). Tell them you want to go skating at Rockefeller Center, and go to Broadway shows! If you like shows, check out the TKTS app for your phone: it lists the day’s discounted shows, and you can rush over and get tickets for that night. Can’t do that in a small town in CA!</p>
<p>Buy a North Face fleece and a North Face down jacket, some insulated boots, gloves, and knit hat, and you’re ready for the weather. Do expect some “New York” attitude of general superiority, but it should be an enjoyable experience overall. Best wishes.</p>
<p>S and some of his friends are going from east to west for the next academic year- Hopefully they will love the expereince.</p>
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<p>You can start by not assuming that this is an accurate description of 4-season weather.</p>
<p>As for “dead” looking trees, that’s BS. Bare trees in a winter landscape have their own beauty. As do hills with the faintest delicate green mist of unfurling leaves, trees in full leaf and flower, and trees blazing with fall color.</p>
<p>NYC is REALLY urban. That can be too much for some people. But it also has huge cultural opportunities, as described above. It has a vitality that is just about unmatched. Dive in and take advantage of the city, and you won’t regret the experience.</p>
<p>Most of the people telling you this have probably never even been to the east coast.</p>
<p>Let’s break it down, here. When you first arrive, it will be late August or September, so summertme- hot with high humidity. You’ll have many days in the mid-to-high 80’s F, nights around 65. It might lurch over 90 degrees some September days. Some call this “Indian Summer” when the days feel identical to July or August. You will sweat and need no more than shorts and a t-shirt all day.</p>
<p>Sometime late in September, you’ll notice it’s a cooler day, around 50/60 predeicted. You take a hoodie and wear it around your waist (or in backpack) if you plan to be out from morning through night without a stop back at dorm. (It’s called “layering” and keeps you from dressing too warm. On that day, uou might buy a stylish hat, baseball cap or some cotton gloves from a street vendor, costing around $5 for each item. If you keep your head and hands warm, you’ll feel warmer all over and won’t lose the body heat from your torso to help the extremities. </p>
<p>This is as true in autumn as deep winter, so lots of guys do wear some kind of hat in NYC, for style and comfort (adding just enough warmth allover to relax your shoulders), from around mid-Sept to mid-March. </p>
<p>Around the second week of October, it’ll feel different, as Autumn approaches. You’ll be dazzled by the look of the trees changing leaf color (all Californians and Southwesterners will agree), on the city streets and more dramatically in the urban parks named above.
You’ll start to wear an autumn jacket, which will get you right through Hallowe’en.</p>
<p>THe first time I predict you’ll feel cold-with-a-difference, unfamiliar and upsetting to your California bones, will be around early November. You’ll be thinking already about Thanksgiving Break. The wind will feel cold. You won’t be sure whether to use that autumn jacket or load up with the real winter jacket. You can’t win on that, so some days you’ll call it wrong. </p>
<p>I’ll bet you don’t see any snow until early or mid December. </p>
<p>So we are really talking from December to March that you’ll be in “winter” as yuu imagine it. That’s three months. </p>
<p>You’ll notice a let-up mid-March through the end of April, that feels about like mid-November once again.</p>
<p>By late April, early May the early flowering shrubs (yellow forsythia, lilacs, daffodils) will start in. Spring will be so appealing it will be hard to stay inside to study for final exams, which come around the middle to third week of May. Then you pack up and go elsewhere for the summer, or stay put in the city, your call. </p>
<p>The worst of what you fear will not be in place except for 3 months of hardcore winter. The rest you may find slightly pleasant, but certanly bearable, in terms of weather – I predict. </p>
<p>When people return from some years on the East Coast, they might likely remember their “battle scars” of the blizzard days or that they had to buy and wear a major winter jacket, to use for 3 months not 9 months, remember.</p>
<p>NOISE: I was in NYC from my quiet BUffalo suburb last week. I did notice a big change in noise stimulation as I travelled around by subways a lot. Some people, especially in groups, talk loud, although most don’t. Restaurants are crowded and loud. It got on my nerves as a bit of overstimulation, after a full day out in the city. Next time, I might copy what a lot of young people do: they wear earbuds and listen to music on long subway rides.</p>
<p>To help orient me and for navigation around the city, I use a phone app called Hopstop.com, which combines subway, bus and walking directions. NYC street adresses are on a numbered grid, in most of Manhattan, which makes finding new places very easy once you learn that system. I bet you’ve googled that already, but if not, please do.</p>
<p>Keep in mind: you’re only moving from one part of the USA to another. When you notice NYC’s newcomers from around the globe, you’ll realize you are more familiar than you realized, especially with your native English language to figure out a new city. </p>
<p>Some of this small-suburb nay-saying is not just coast-to-coast. When my D was accepted to college in Ohio from a small town in upstate NY, everyone at her school said, “Ohio, that’s Far!!!” just because it was the next state over, and they knew nothing about it.</p>
<p>The biggest hassle with Northeast weather is having to drive in snow.</p>
<p>But if you’re going to be in New York City – or living on campus at any college – you don’t have to deal with that. Let it snow – or sleet or rain. Barring a major storm like Hurricane Sandy, it won’t affect your daily life much.</p>
<p>Buy a good coat, several umbrellas, maybe some winter boots (or just bring several pair of old sneakers you don’t care about), and multiple sets of identical winter hats and gloves (because you will surely lose some of them). You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Don’t bother to buy umbrellas. The NYC thing to do is buy a cheap one from one of the street vendors who magically pop up as soon as it starts to rain. When the wind on the upper west side blows it inside out and wrecks it, you just shove it in a trash can on the street and buy another one. :)</p>
<p>Since most people above are focusing on weather issues, I’ll bring up a different reason that I see kids returning West after their freshman year on the EC. The people and the vibe is different than in the West especially in small towns. People on the east coast can be brusquer, shorter (temper-wise), and generally less concerned about others’ feelings. The pace of life is also a lot faster. For some kids from more laid back parts of the country that can be very off-putting at first. S2 frequently remarked about these regional differences about the EC, but frankly after two years there, he’s becoming more east coast and less laid back western kid… :rolleyes:. Obviously at Columbia you will be with kids from all over the country so there will be a large cultural melting pot for you to blend in with, but venture out into the city and you will see what I’m talking about. Not worse than Cali, just different.</p>
<p>My S is going from a San Diego beach town to Up, Upstate NY…now there is an adjustment to be made. He did spend a semester of HS in Vermont… so he somewhat knows what he has in store for him:)))</p>
<p>I lived in Vermont and went to Mississippi for college, and didn’t know a soul! It was quite scary but more exciting than anything. The transition and “culture shock” is probably the hardest part. Most college students go through phases of being scared, loving it, wanting to go home/home sickness, and more before feeling a sense of belonging. And cold weather isn’t terrible. You just need warm clothes!</p>
<p>An additional thing to consider is the lack of light during the winter at the more northerly latitude of NYC. Someone who has grown up in SoCal (like my DW) won’t know that they have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) until they live somewhere much further north. Just be aware that if you start feeling depressed, want to sleep a lot, eat a bunch of carbs starting in late November it might have more to do with your exposure to daylight than anything else. If you do have SAD, the solution is to get outside during daylight hours as much as possible, and perhaps get a special daylight lamp, which has been a lifesaver for DW.</p>
<p>Counting my 2 older brothers, myself and my 3 kids we’ve gone an average of 3,500 miles from home. You learn a lot, both about yourself and another part of the country. As they say, if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for posting since my son is also moving from a small town in CA to attend Columbia. Feedback, we are getting the EXACT same negative comments so you are not alone. </p>
<p>I love the detailed weather descriptions! Such good info to pass on to son and also to remind him that people are more rushed BUT that has some benefits as well. I moved to CA from the East Coast and was shocked how SLOW people moved here at first. Just checking out at a store took SO long. It took me a while to adapt to the slow talk too. It seemed to take people a lot longer to answer a question. You’ll adjust, don’t worry!</p>
<p>Many, many students will be coming from long distances and won’t know anyone so they will all be looking to make new friends asap. Are you going to apply for CO-OP? I’ve read that is a great way to make fast friends. </p>
<p>Also, try to go to the regional meetings coming up soon so you can also connect with kids in your area that are going to Columbia, too. It will be nice to meet a few kids ahead of time and maybe down the road, you can share transportation with them to go back and forth to home and school to cut down on costs.</p>
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It’s good to know that what appears as ‘dead looking trees’ to me, because, well, they look exactly like dead trees, is perceived as a thing of beauty to someone else. Personally I don’t like the look but that’s just me but I don’t think I’m the only one who looks forward to the trees appearing alive again in spring. It’s definitely something that’s noticed by people not used to it.</p>
<p>Regardless, it’s not a big deal for a student going away to college for 4 years.</p>
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<p>Or perhaps some of us are so generous to let the rest of the world appreciate the rarified air of New York and its culture, refinement, and that “je ne sais quoi” that makes it so special. Our generosity, of course, at a price as we have to suffer in a life under blue skies and gorgeous weather (most of the times,) and have to dress casually with ubiquitous flip-flops and tees. Not to mention to carry that burden of responding with people with a smile. </p>
<p>But the beauty of learning to appreciate an acquired taste is that it might come later in life. Perhaps with maturity. In the meantime, I’ll go with being jealous. Or not! :)</p>
<p>I’ve lived on the East Coast my whole life. Really, the worst thing about winter is driving. In NYC, you won’t be doing that anyway. The second worst thing is the lack of light. There are some bright, sunny winter days and they are spectacular if you have a new coating of snow on the ground (before the cars turn it into brown mush.)</p>
<p>I think winter in Buffalo or Cornell would be WAY tougher and longer than NYC. I don’t like winter – but I do love fall and spring. There’s nothing like the first warm day of spring, when the birds come back and plants/grass start smelling alive again. </p>
<p>I think another big adjustment is the humidity from May - Sept. If you’re not used to it, that may be tougher than the cold.</p>
<p>The way some of you talk, it is remarkable that anyone survives anywhere outside San Diego!</p>
<p>xiggi, as it happens I have lived for meaningful periods of my life in both New York City and the Bay Area, I have close relatives both places and in the Los Angeles area, and ultimately (though perhaps not finally, strictly speaking) I chose not to live either place. My personal experience is that, while there is certainly more “friendliness” in California, in the sense that people are more likely to “respond [to] people with a smile,” people in California do not actually treat one another better than people in New York do, and are somewhat less likely to put themselves out for others.</p>