<p>The OP’s question is “Should weather be an important factor?”. I haven’t seen anyone argue that weather should have no impact on the OP’s decision but should weather be as important as academic quality? financial aid considerations? Not in my book. </p>
<p>If you want “weather” as part of your criteria that’s fine. If you have two equally good academic/financial choices and one has dramatically “better” weather then by all means factor that into your decision. But remember that every criteria you add narrows your options. MIT - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology - isn’t moving to Florida. The University of Chicago isn’t pulling up stakes next to Lake Michigan to relocate to Lake Havasu, Arizona. And dear old Harvard, even though they probably have the money, isn’t opening a new campus in Hawaii.</p>
<p>Oh, me either. A big reason that the winter doesn’t bother me much in Boston or Chicago is that I walk almost everywhere I go. With the right boots, snow/ice aren’t much of an issue. If I were digging my car out every morning…no.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want to go anywhere cold enough to snow, or anywhere very rainy. I hate the cold, even though it’s often cold where I live. However, if that school was my dream school, it probably wouldn’t affect my decision.</p>
<p>Does anyone think the opposite could be possible?</p>
<p>I mean, weather was kind of one of my reasons for staying in the area I grew up in, but it was the opposite situation. I’ve grown up in Ohio and had the choice of staying here or going to sunny California, but I didn’t think I could handle NOT having the seasons. At least if you grew up in a year-round sunny place and went to a place with seasons, you could go home in the summer and still experience the weather you’ve grown up in and loved - but in the opposite situation, you wouldn’t get to experience anything except constant summer and a week of winter for 4 years straight. That seriously scared me. Can anyone else relate?</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…”</p>
<p>So rumors and heresay will be a basis for making a college selection??? Such nonsense.</p>
<p>^Of course not solely. But for someone that obviously can’t visit a school for all of the winter months to try it out for myself, there is little to do other than gather as many opinions from as many reliable sources and try to come to a conclusion that way.</p>
<p>Why in the world SHOULDN’T it be a factor? I grew up in a town so far north that Milwaukee was considered “south”. Chicago was “deep south”. It never occured to me that there was another way to live, so I unthinkingly spent my undergraduate years trekking out the side of one building, across the truly frozen tundra as fast as possible to the next building…on through fine arts, science, and admin buildings just to get to the dining hall. And then back we all trudged through the rutted ice from building to building, day after day… And I was a kid who loved cross country skiing, down hill skiing, snow shoeing, etc. The reality of bitter cold and short days as a daily part of every jaunt out of a dorm is something that any potential student ought to consider if they are thinking of going north to college. </p>
<p>I think anyone thinking of making a drastic change in climate owes it to himself to visit during the worst weather months before making the decision to move. Navigating the daily life of college in the north was hard enough for those of us who grew up there. It was miserable for the international students and students from the south.</p>
<p>My two best friends at Wisconsin came from LA and Birmingham, AL. Neither complained much about the cold and enjoyed the differences in the people. Both are married to women they met from Wisconsin. Though they came from far different backgrounds both found the midwestern girls much more down to earth and fun than the Southern or Cali girls.</p>
<p>^^^barrons, something about your post reminds me of a Beach Boys tune.</p>
<p>eastcoascrazy, where on earth did you go to school?? Like barrons, I am a WI alum, and I don’t remember a lot of ‘frozen tundra’, although it was an extremely cold period in the upper midwest at the time I lived in Madison. I never drove a car, just walked, rode a bike or took a bus, even though I lived a good distance from campus (or later, work) the entire time I lived there. </p>
<p>I’ll concede there are a lot of differences in lifestyle depending on climate, but there is some exaggeration going on here. I suspect the anecdotes the OP has heard are not from a random sample of people who have lived in a variety of climates.</p>
<p>Midmo, not exaggerating. There are a number of fine colleges and universities north of Madison. I went to one of those fine universities during a period of several brutal winters in the late 70’s/early80’s. The student body really did develop short cuts through the buildings during the winter months. Most of our international students were Nigerian, and those who I knew personally were miserable during those winters.</p>
<p>Honestly, this discussion is built on the assumption that warm weather=good weather. A primary reason that I am seeking to attend college in Boston or NYC is because I can’t really handle heat and I like snow for 3 or more months in the year.</p>
<p>Having just posted twice about my own experience with harsh winters, I have to back pedal a bit to say that that was only my personal experience. I don’t think that cold necessarily equals bad any more than warm necessarily equals good. I do think that moving from one climate to another, without thought about how that climate would effect your day to day life, is a mistake. If you don’t like hot weather, then it would be reasonable to look at colleges in cooler climates. </p>
<p>Personally, I think that if it is at all possible, high schoolers and their parents should visit potential schools during the more extreme weather months of the school year. Visit Michigan Tech. in mid winter, and visit the University of Florida or the University of Arizona in September. Northern schools look great in October. You need to walk around those campuses in February snow and slush. Southern schools look great in mid winter. You need to walk around those campuses in the heat and humidity of May or September. </p>
<p>The climate might not matter one bit to one person, but may matter a great deal to another.</p>
<p>Weather should be a consideration, but as a tie-breaker. Honestly, I’m only applying to schools north of the Ohio river, I miss snow!! For me, a cold winter is a must. You have to spend 4 years at this place, so you should consider everything.</p>
<p>^^Michigan Tech in mid-winter is beautiful, actually, though not for the faint of heart. That’s where I want to live when I’m on my own, and my parents, who were born and raised in that area, can’t understand why I would want to go to a place where snowfall is in excess of 150 inches annually. We live in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, so we have our fair share of snow (and truthfully, I found winters in Massachusetts mild in comparison).</p>
<p>I agree with others that weather should not be a huge factor. Whoever told you that colleges in the north come to a standstill in the winter or that student populations in these areas suddenly become zombies just waiting for the spring is insane. Are some people affected by SAD? Yes. Do some people hate the snow? Absolutely. But we are used to it; it’s part of how we live our lives, and we find great things to do in it. Sledding, tubing, and ice skating are popular things to do where I come from, and I’ve lately found that foam sword fights in the snow are excellent as well. It’s not a roadblock to fun and happiness; it can easily be a building block for them, too. </p>
<p>Now, I know not all types of weather are for everyone. I would shrivel up and die in California or Florida, though I’m not sure if the main cause of death would be overpopulation or the climate. But honestly, ruling out all California schools because of the weather would have been silly, and I only decided against applying to Scripps or Pomona because they didn’t have the campus culture I wanted. If all else is equal between two schools, use the weather to decide which to attend, but don’t let yourself miss out on some great possibilities just because of the climate.</p>
<p>Cornell remains on my S’s early list despite my warnings that the extreme weather difference (we live in Central Texas) could be problematic. He says that it could be a positive as what we consider to be horrific weather would probably keep him indoors, studying, the great majority of the time.</p>
<p>The “I can’t live where it is hot” thing confuses me. Usually, unless far, far north or at altitude those cold snowy places in winter are hot places in summer. Current conditions;
Miami 84 F
NYC 93 F
Chicago 93 F
Ann Arbor 92 F</p>
<p>Average daily high temperature, Miami:
May 87.1
June 89.5
July 90.9
Aug 90.6
Sept 89.0</p>
<p>Average daily high temperature, Chicago:
May 69.9
June 79.2
July 83.5
Aug 81.2
Sept 73.9</p>
<p>Average daily high temperature, New York City:
May 70.9
June 79.0
July 84.2
Aug 82.4
Sept 74.7</p>
<p>Average daily high temperature, Ann Arbor:
May 70.5
June 79.2
July 83.0
Aug 80.7
Sept 72.5</p>
<p>The Northern cities are on average 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Miami in the May-September period. For many people that’s an enormous plus for the North.</p>
<p>I was pushing S1 to “go east young man”. Red eyed to Boston and he woke up in Middlebury. I was actually afraid to have him wake up and see how rural it was- this was in the fall- as pretty as it will ever be. Dartmouth, the guide said he didn’t feel like the campus was isolated because he hadn’t “left the campus in 2 years”. Sons eyes were like saucers. loop around Boston and RI and back to California. He did apply back east but his heart wasn’t in it. Fast forward- he is a rising senior, tons of friends who he will be networking with in California for years to come. He was never going to stay back east, I knew that, but I never considered the impact of making all those friendships and then just leaving 99% of them behind after 4 years. What a waste. S2 will not be getting the go far and wide for college speech. He too will always chose to live in California. </p>
<p>So, you might want to consider this in addition to weather. Side note- Son’s skied every weekend since they were 4 so snow and cold are their friends. But, so is sand and surf.</p>