<p>It’s not a state law. The University of Minnesota is an autonomous entity that under the state constitution has its own governing board; it is not a creature of the legislature. The University sets its own tuition rates.</p>
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<p>“Snowy” is a bit of an exaggeration. Average annual snowfall in the Twin Cities is 45 inches. That’s pretty similar to Boston or Western Mass and a lot less than you’d see at, say, Cornell, Oberlin, Notre Dame, Bowdoin, or Dartmouth, all in much snowier places. No denying it gets cold, but the extreme cold you hear about is just that–extreme weather. Usually the Twin Cities get maybe 2 or 3 cold spells per winter, which typically last a few days at a time. The rest of the time, winter weather is fairly moderate, but when it’s not news-worthy cold, the rest of the country pays no attention and people wrongly assume it must be extremely cold here all the time because that’s all they hear about. (It does get colder more frequently and for longer stretches in northern Minnesota, but you can’t judge the weather in the Twin Cities by what you hear about, say, International Falls, up along the Canadian border). Overall, average winter temperatures are pretty similar to Madison, WI or Middlebury, VT.</p>
<p>As for “dark,” a couple of things. Long winter nights are a function of latitude. The Twin Cities are actually further south than Portland, OR and Seattle. The other side of dark is gray skies. My D1 is currently attending a LAC just a few miles from Villanova, and although she loves the school, one of the things she least likes about her experience there is the dreary winters. She says she hardly ever sees the sun in the winter, and she finds that depressing. Minnesota winters are definitely colder but they’re also much sunnier (and the two actually go hand-in-hand). As D1 says, “In Pennsylvania the default winter weather is dark and gray; in Minnesota the default is sunny.” Some people don’t like cold; some people don’t like dark & gray. Take your pick.</p>
<p>OP, there is both a substantial Vietnamese community in the Twin Cities (and some great Vietnamese restaurants!), as well as a very active Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Minnesota. You might find it worthwhile to contact them to discuss any concerns you might have about the challenges you’ll face in adapting to life in Minnesota and at the Uiversity. Here’s their website:</p>
<p>OP, Wikipedia entries for US cities provide detailed climate data. I would check there for more information on the weather in the two different locations.</p>
<p>I was looking over the average temps a bit; UMN-TC (Minneapolis) appears to be close to 20 degrees cooler than Villanova during the winter months (in Mpls the January ave. is abt 12-13 degrees F.), and we get a good 10-12 inches more of snow in the Twin Cities. </p>
<p>This yr of course does not count…we hit the 40s several days this past January and there has been no snow to speak of here in the Cities (my snowplowing service is NOT happy since under my contract they only plow when there has been a snowfall of at least 1-1/2 inches, I think they came out twice and that was really pushing it but I decided not to get out my ruler and measure it… Although they are all but guaranteeing 6 inches minimum from the storm that is supposed to be moving in tomorrow/Wed ) (actually much of our snowfall is in the early spring when it is warmer and it melts faster)</p>
<p>The good news for the OP is that the subzero weather - when we get it - is typically in late Dec/early Jan, lasts only a few days at a time and is often when UMN is on winter break…I think their spring semester starts around the second or third week in Jan?</p>
<p>Between the two weather should not be the major factor. Neither is great, but neither is Fairbanks either. Maybe the milder winters will be a trend as some claim.</p>
) (actually much of our snowfall is in the early spring when it is warmer and it melts faster)</p>