Oh this is funny! Like someone way back in 2009, my D20 has ruled out any school in humid cities. Or hot. Basically anything south of NC is a no. Can’t have bad hair days!
“My daughter got waitlisted at Duke. I think my husband was relieved when she picked a school (Vanderbilt) that didn’t have a history of beating his beloved UConn in the Final 4.”
UConn and Duke mens have only played twice in the final 4 and UConn won both times. And in the women’s tournaments I’m going out on a limb and say that if Duke and UConn played in the final four, UConn won. There are very few programs that can match Duke in basketball, UConn is one of them. And if you include women’s UConn has a big edge.
“My child refused an entire metropolitan area (Boston) b/c he’s a Yankees fan.”
That is not a stupid reason, a very good reason actually!
Most rational reason posted on this thread to date, IMO.
And Boston is perfectly happy not having Yankee fans in the area.
See!! So he made the right choice!! :))
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I love this thread!
That makes sense @gatorcheer! I live near a northern university and earlier this fall I saw some students wearing ankle length Canada Goose Coats, wool hats, ski gloves, and giant boots. It was 55 degrees. Other students were still wearing shorts. I cringe to think what the earlier group is going to do tomorrow when we have -25 degree wind chills. Good to know ones’ limits!
Regarding humidity. Limits choices drastically- not only the South but the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and other areas must be off a list for some months of the school year. And lower humidity often comes with weather where a hat or hood would mean bad hair.
Retired to Florida. Yes, your body changes (saw an article about some compound or other) but the heat is worse than the cold insofar as you can add clothes but only subtract so many. Cold weather is conducive to staying indoors and studying plus hurrying to get places.
“my D20 has ruled out any school in humid cities. Or hot. Basically anything south of NC is a no. Can’t have bad hair days!”
My naturally curly-haired D dealing daily with the humidity of New Orleans can testify that this is a perfectly valid concern. 
This thread is hilarious!
My eldest is a sophomore in HS right now and we’re just starting to have the conversations about possible college choices…he has already EMPHATICALLY declared that he will NOT under any circumstance consider even applying to UTD…not because we live in Dallas and it’s local (we’ve already told him he can live on campus and won’t have to commute) but because “I don’t need every Aunty & Uncle in the community knowing my business and trying to ensnare me in their matrimony search nets”
???
1.) We’re Southeast Asian (IndoPak)
2.) The kid has a point lol
Jokes aside, it’s a fantastic University (great ECON dept which is what he’s considering), currently, my nephew, 2 first cousins and 2 sons of one my cousins are all at UTD…and I have two more cousins that recently graduated from there, along with probably 2 dozen kids from our ethnic/mosque community. We won’t force him of course but I do hope he’ll at least apply and see what happens. ??♀️
I also said “Nothing south of Pennsylvania” lol. Originally it was “Nothing south of New Jersey”, but I ended up going to La Salle my freshman year.
I absolutely did not want to go to the local U. But it, the flagship U, was my only viable choice and living on campus was a world apart. I definitely understand wanting to leave home, especially when too may relatives are local.
This thread is so entertaining.
Weather or culture is a valid concern, the kids need to feel comfortable in their surroundings to thrive in college.
DS did not want to consider any schools in the south. He applied and got into GT and Vanderbilt but didn’t feel comfortable. He outright refused to apply to UAB or Rice (with fee waiver) - because it is hot and humid.
We were okay because our in state schools are fabulous and affordable to us.
Funny thing about my Bay Area kid was that all of the schools that he liked were either in Boston or the Midwest with the weather extremes and he didn’t want to stay in California. He hated the UCs and didn’t care for USC, but loved BU and Tufts, which Mom hated. And now it’s barely above freezing where he goes to school with nasty humid summers and he loves it.
@hamurtle that’s pretty understandable my 2 oldest went to UMass and NEU respectively, though they spent a good part of their non-adult life in Colorado.
@Hamurtle which school did your Boston-loving kid end up at?
Some of you are veering into rational reasons like weather and pushy relatives living too close. In the spirit of this thread, how do they feel about doors that are too heavy, sidewalks that are too wide, a spider mascot, or brown as a school color?
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My daughter said “tartan” wasn’t a “color” when we visited CMU. (Personally I thought it was awesome!). She also dissed many a mascot.
@CAtransplant he pulled a fast on on the parents. Ended up going to WashU, although he will be considering BU and Tufts for grad/medical schools. Possibly Brandeis as well since he’s a Bio major (another school he liked although mom didn’t care for it either) and he had an interview. The
The only Boston area school mom liked was BC because of the architecture. Son didn’t like it because it wasn’t strong in his interests and he didn’t care for Jesuit schools for some reason-I had to drag him to an Santa Clara open house to see dad’s undergrad/grad alma mater and he was underwhelmed. And he probably would have been deferred since they are particularly picky these days.
Back to the spirit of things, Tufts wasn’t a choice of Mom because she thought that the Jumbo theme was too much overkill.
Son didn’t like USC-remembered that the Trojans got wiped out from his literature classes. And also from health class when they talked about Trojans as well. So best not to be associated with a school mascot that represents a defeated empire and a box of (can’t mention the product).