<p>I’ve heard of many, many, many people/families moving from cold areas to warmer areas because they just got tired of the snow/cold. I’ve never heard of the reverse. </p>
<p>Oh…wait…one case. My uncle and his family moved to Callif in the 60s for his health. My aunt and cousins complained (b1+ched) how much they missed Chicago, and they said that they would move back as soon as my uncle died. When my uncle died, they moved back within 2 weeks. Guess what…they moved back to Calif about 4 weeks later with their tails between their legs…and there they stayed.</p>
<p>Most of those moving south are old or out of work in Detroit. Who cares? Young people move where the jobs are period. In the last few years California lost population. Jobs. Rainy Seattle gets lots of educated new people–jobs. </p>
<p>This is incorrect. California has not lost population in recent years. In fact, as the article linked above says, it has gained population. What has changed is that in recent years more people moved out of California than moved in. But when births are factored in the migration loss is more than offset - resulting in a net gain in population.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to have to get up to shovel the walk and scrape the ices off of the car windows in your coat and tie every morning. It’s quite another to wake up and find that your walk has already been shoveled and all you need to do is roll out of bed at 9:45 am for a 10 am class. It’s one thing to wait in freezing rain for a transit bus in your dress shoes and pumps. It is quite a another to put on fancy, colorful boots and trudge “five miles” – or is it minutes? – thru freshly fallen snow.</p>
<p>College is time to experience something different, IMO. Obviously, many others disagree. There is a huge cultural contingent in California that won’t even let their kids go away that is farther than a one-hour drive. Pity.</p>
<p>It is silly, if you think living in New England means you spend months cooped up, never going outdoors. I don’t like being cooped up, either. That is why I took up cross-country skiing and winter hiking when I lived in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Get some proper outerwear and you will learn to appreciate cold weather and snow.</p>
<p>Now, cold rain is another story, but that is what coffee shops are for.</p>
<p>If you are too wimpy (sorry, being blunt tonight) to consider going to college in a climate that differs from what you have always known, what happens after you graduate and you need to find a job? What happens when the IDEAL job requires you to relocate to a cold climate? What do you do if there simply are no jobs in Perfect Climate, USA?</p>
<p>Adaptability is a good skill to cultivate. Being unwilling or unable to adapt is a sign of getting old. You don’t want to sound like an old fogey, do you?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, a friend told me his in-laws retired to Madison, WI after their working years in southern CA were over.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in Connecticut all my life and have always hated the winter weather here, so I limited my college search by weather in high school. I really regret doing that now. I missed out on a lot of schools that would have fit me well just because I wasn’t willing to apply anywhere north of DC.</p>
<p>I ended up at Wake Forest, and, well, let me tell you–North Carolina might not get as cold as Connecticut, but it still gets pretty damn cold. I ended up hating Wake Forest (not for the weather, though), so I felt really stupid when I realized the weather was still too cold for me and I was at a place I really didn’t like partially because of my strict weather criteria to boot.</p>
<p>I ended up transferring, and after eliminating the weather criteria, I was able to find colleges that were a much better fit for me. I ended up applying to a college in Montreal, among other colleges. Can’t get much colder than that… go figure :)</p>
<p>…and once you graduate, will you limit your job search to companies in similar locations? What happens if you get a job at a company and then are offered a promotion to some other less sunny location???</p>
<p>A job is different than college though. The point is that for college, people do have a choice (pretty much countless choices) of where they’d like to spend 2 - 4 years, and there are plenty of great choices that will fit all their criteria (including weather). Jobs are harder to come by, so more sacrifices would have to be made. But in general, for college or careers, quality of life is certainly a huge thing to consider. </p>
<p>The main thing that scares me off of northeast weather is the rumors of campus-wide depression and apathy lasting for all of the winter months, as people just desperately wait for spring to come so they can resume their normal lives and activities. I hope this isn’t true, but it’s what I’ve read and heard from a lot of people now…I don’t want to go a college that has that atmosphere for six months. But I suppose in areas like NYC and Boston (where the colleges I want to apply to are), that would be much less of an issue because there is already so much to do? </p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for the responses on this thread. I’ve decided that I will apply to only my very top choices in the east; I have a lot of other options that seem just as good (but are in better climates), but there are certain schools in the east that I would definitely consider attending if offered the opportunity.</p>
<p>Good Lord, where do people come up with this stuff? Believe it or not, winter is part of our “normal lives and activities”. We go to work, to the movies, shopping, sporting events etc. Life doesn’t stop, you just have a list of different things you can do. Sure the occasional co-ed will be taken down by a roving pack of wolves but the best strategy to avoid that is to make sure you’re not the slowest runner in the group.</p>
<p>^Just so we’re clear, I’m not the one “coming up with this stuff”. This is just what actual people going to many eastern schools have said. Honestly, I was shocked when I heard it too. Never before have I assumed that people would change their attitudes and lives due to bad weather, but several people I’ve talked to have said that at their respective schools in the east, many people tend to become depressed and uninspired during the winter months and only wait until spring to become more active and happy again. Now I’m not saying that I would have to follow suit, but let’s face it: the atmosphere and general mood at a college does affect one’s own.</p>
<p>Eiffel … you’ve had lots of people tell you lots of people have issues during the winter? Then you travel in unusual company. Do some people had serious issues with the winter? Sure, a very-very small percentage. I do think there are a fair percentage of people from warmer climates who don’t like being in colder climates in the winrer … and I would think a lot more than the reverse. Not sure how anyone knows ahead of time until they experience a colder climate winter. Personally, I grew up in the northeast and really disliked the weather when I lived in SoCel … I need all four seasons to be happy … and four of my top few memories of my time at Cornell (that I can repeat publically include) … 1) Cornell hockey games … 2) pick-up coed touch football games during big snow storms … 3) tray sliding on lib slope (stealing trays from the dining hall and sliding done a big hill on campus) … 4) going for moonlit runs during snowstorms and being the first one on the snow … (and I didn’t even know how to ski or skate when I started at Cornell).</p>
<p>Yes, that’s what a lot of people have said, and most of them are not even from Cali surprisingly, so…it’s odd, but it has worried me. Like you said, the weather in SoCal actually affected your happiness. So it’s not crazy to assume the opposite weather could have that effect on people with different preferences. It’s good to hear other points of view on this thread though. </p>
<p>And while it’s true that I won’t know my feelings on the heavy winters until I experience it, I’m already a transfer student…so if I did end up experiencing SAD or being surrounded with people who act like my friends at eastern schools have (perhaps unusually, but still pretty frequently) reported, my choices for getting out of it would be pretty limited. </p>
<p>All in all, like I’ve said, I will apply to a couple of my top choices in the east, only the ones who offer something extremely compelling that my western and southern counterparts cannot.</p>
<p>My D definitely used weather as one of her most important criteria when applying and ultimately deciding on schools. She just completed her first year at Pomona and appreciated the weather soooo much. I received many a phone call in January and February telling me how perfect the weather was. I know the sunshine was a large contributing factor to her overall happiness. Although she loves NY, she will enjoy every minute of the next 3 “perfect” winters.</p>
<p>I clicked on this thread because I must admit that i have been thinking about this issue lately. I haven’t read every post, so forgive me if I repeat what others have said. First, Eiffel, SAD is mostly about a lack of light- not the temperature. I live in Seattle now, but originally from NY. This has been one of the worst winters I can remember here. It is June 1 today and we’ve got mid 50s and rain. The last few weeks have consisted of days of gray rain, with maybe one day a week where the sun comes out. Everyone i know (and we’re talking residents of this area for decades) has had it. It IS depressing. When the sun comes out, it’s like everyone is taking mood-elevating drugs. There was a stretch here this past winter where it got very cold for seattle. But guess what? The sun came out. And, if you wear the proper layers, you can be plenty comfortable. I much prefer that.</p>
<p>That said, we are starting to think about my sophomore son’s college search. And, I have to admit it, I am worried about how he will react to a climate where it is really cold and snowy for many months- since he is so used to a temperate climate. But I have to remind myself of the sun factor and also the fact that kids are not as sensitive to this as adults, i think. When I came to seattle, several people said that i would be used to the weather because I had gone to Cornell and Ithaca weather was similar. Honestly, I don’t ever remember even noticing the weather at Cornell. i guess i was too busy studying! And, my son is a redhead who wilts in the sun-especially with humidity. If we discount the cold and hot places, and then cut out the gray places, what is left? A few schools for which he has no interest or chance of acceptance. I guess it is time to start taking him to the slopes to acclimate him for what’s to come :)</p>
<p>Good grief - I had no idea I was surrounded by morose college students.
Seriously - I live outside of Boston and I’ve never heard anything about ‘campus-wide depression’ during the colder months.<br>
Boston has wonderful falls - remember, this is the region to which people flock just to see the trees turning color.
Winter is long, and cold, but there is plenty to do, including lots of serious and silly winter sports. If you live on-campus in the Boston area, you’ll be just fine with a pair of boots, parka, hat and gloves, and you may find you actually like playing in the snow.
Spring is slow to arrive, but we savor it all the more for that.
And, even when there is snow and cold, Boston has theater and music and all sorts of other amusements.</p>
<p>There is also a difference between sunny and cold, and grey and wet and chilly: the snowy northeast presents a different challenge from rainy Seattle. Each person must evaluate his/her own preference, and I don’t think it is at all odd to choose a school with a climate you know you’ll like, but don’t lump all schools above the Mason-Dixon line in the same basket. Colby College is not for the faint-of-winter, but Boston College is two zones warmer (Zone 5b in gardening terms: lowest temperature in winter is 15-20 degrees warmer than Zone 4: but an occasional low temperature is yet again different from temperatures that don’t rise above 0 for weeks on end). If you go to school in Northern Maine, spring won’t come until May, and that is truly different than Pennsylvania, where it comes in late March/early April. If that matters to you–and that doesn’t mean you are a wimp, or morally lacking :)–you should take it into account when you apply.</p>
<p>And the assumption that humidity and heat will be ameliorated by a/c is not necessarily well-founded–at Duke, for example, the majority of dorms are not air-conditioned. For me, this would be significant in terms of productivity, not to speak of temper. For people who are used to it, it might not matter at all. </p>
<p>Leaving your comfort zone–literally–might be the best thing you’ve done. You might learn new sports, new things about yourself, have lots of fun. You might hate it so much you transfer your freshman year. Part of this has to do with your ability to adapt, and that’s something only you can know.</p>
<p>I definitely think weather should affect your college decision. After all you will be spending four years of your life in that particular place with that particular weather. For instance, I was considering university of oregon, but unfortunately I had to remove it from my list as I do suffer from Seasonal Affective and the constant rain would just leave me hopelessly depressed.
However, if you are dead-set on a particular school and the weather is a problem for depression, there is always the option of light therapy. Look into that.
Overall, I’d say that weather should definitely play an important role in your college search. Just like you would consider the town/city your college is in, you have to consider the weather as it is a major part of the school’s atmosphere.</p>
<p>*mom2collegekids, a friend told me his in-laws retired to Madison, WI after their working years in southern CA were over. *</p>
<p>You may have misunderstood my words…</p>
<p>*I’ve heard of many, many, many people/families moving from cold areas to warmer areas because they just got tired of the snow/cold. I’ve never heard of the reverse. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>My point was that I’ve heard of many people moving to warmer climates to escape the cold, but I’ve never heard of people moving to cold climates to escape warm climates. Now, they may move because the grandbabies are in the cold location…or for some other reason…but I’ve never heard of people moving to cold climates to escape warm climates.</p>
<p>I know that there are many, many “snow birds” that “fly” to warm climates in the winter to escape the cold…I don’t know of any name to describe the reverse. Is there one?</p>
<p>*…and once you graduate, will you limit your job search to companies in similar locations? What happens if you get a job at a company and then are offered a promotion to some other less sunny location??? *</p>
<p>If there’s no choice, then you deal with it. When there’s a choice…well, then you go with what you like. We were offered one very cold location, one moderate location, and 1 warmer location…we were relieved not to only have the very cold weather choice</p>
<p>I agree that weather should be a factor in your college decision. You can say we’re spoil living in SoCal, but my kids can’t stand the cold weather or the constant wind, rain, and snow in the other part of the country. There are many fine colleges to choose from here in SoCal. The beaches and mountains are close enough to get to for different activities. That is why so many college bound students from our area high school like to stay in California. Chapman University turns out to be perfect for DS. The ideal location and size. Keep in mind that your student will be living there for four years. We hear a lot from the students who went OOS and decide to come back. They wished they had thought of that before. Thanks for creating this thread. This is a very good point for everyone to remember.</p>
<p>The very fact that they come back during the summer – to escape blistering hot temperatures in their winter-home-location – indicates that they don’t like perpetually hot temperatures either. </p>
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<p>Good grief. What % of the country’s population lives in these areas? Does anyone seriously think that the overall mood of NY, Phila, Boston, Chicago, MPLS, etc. just turns sour for months on end? It’s just winter. Put on a coat. The difference between trying to adapt to colder weather and trying to adapt to hotter weather is that you can always put on another layer of clothing, but there’s a certain point at which you can’t take off clothing!</p>
and appreciated the weather soooo much. I received many a phone call in January and February telling me how perfect the weather was. I know the sunshine was a large contributing factor to her overall happiness. Although she loves NY, she will enjoy every minute of the next 3 “perfect” winters.</p>