<p>Hi guys, I'm international student living in a tropical country with hot and humid weather with no experience with the four seasons.</p>
<p>What clothing would you recommend are essentials for fall/winter? Are thermals necessary? Do I need boots? Etc. Just any and all advice about clothing or other things to pack for an incoming international student with no four-season experience you can think of would be very appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/543765-uvas-gym-laundry-machines-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/543765-uvas-gym-laundry-machines-2.html</a> this thread has your question</p>
<p>Same situation here! Lol. Will you bring winter clothes when you first arrive or are you planning on buying it as time goes by?</p>
<p>Bring thermals sparingly … maybe one or two, for the very cold nights. I didn’t have them but sometimes I wish I did. It doesn’t dip below freezing here in the winter very often. The most annoying thing: very cold rain, just above freezing. You don’t need really heavy-duty boots, as you won’t be trudging through a foot of snow, but sneakers get wet during the winter, so just bring waterproof footwear.</p>
<p>It also depends on how late you intend to stay at night. Leaving a party on foot at 4 am with the mountain breezes blowing is cooooold! (They blow quite strongly downslope from the Blue Ridge mountains at night). Your biggest enemy during the winter is the wind basically. C’ville may have a so-called mild winter temperature-wise, but being near the mountains 3 hours away from the ocean makes for a totally different weather profile from say … NYU. Windbreaker for fall. Daytime winter is generally nothing to worry about – just wear a sweater.</p>
<p>I grew up in the southwest (seasons are summer, monsoon, winter) so to me UVA is really cold. I think coming from a warm tropical climate, you’ll probably feel the same way. Things I wish I’d brought during my first year: rainboots, a windbreaker, rainboots, and rainboots. Bring the obvious like warm sweaters and a good quality jacket. Gloves and scarves are nice also. Thick socks helped during the days it did snow/freezing rain. I used my fleece pullover a lot. Hope that helps</p>
<p>Haha so I’m definitely bringing rainboots then - and yep it does help. Thank wahoo + galosien : )</p>
<p>Gal: it goes below freezing all the time in Cville. Remember those two weeks this year that it barely made it above 25? Brrrr, I’m in the sun and it still makes me shiver.<br>
I would leave home winter gear until Fall Break, if you plan to go home. Or, have the stuff shipped later. There’s no point to keeping it all in your room. Up until end of October, you can get by with a t-shirt, jeans, and a sweater/sweatshirt.</p>
<p>Are you staying in the IRC? Just buy the winter stuff here. If you’re willing to go to a place like Goodwill, you can get pretty good deals. (Old Navy if you’re too finicky. :p) It’s usually overpriced overseas anyways.</p>
<p>I’ve living in VA most of my life - and I’ll see you at UVa this fall!
You should bring lots of things that you can layer - long sleeve shirts, sweaters, hoodies. A wool coat is a classier alternative to a down jacket, but if you wear one you’re going to want something under it on colder days (hence, the hoodie). You loose a lot of body heat through your head, so pack a hat (and a scaft, and some gloves, and thick socks)!
Jeans are really great for most of fall/winter. Hiking boots are good in all weather.
Please remember that a typical VA summer involves 100+F days with high humidity. It’s not always cold!
I recommend shopping for winter clothes when you arrive and see for yourself what the weather is like. It wont become freezing overnight, and local stores probably have the best selection - since they buy based on the climate.
I think its awesome that out of everywhere you could have chosen to go to college, you chose UVa. Rok on!</p>
<p>North Face fleece jackets are really nice.</p>
<p>I remember canuck and I had a big discussion on this last year ahahaha. Basically listed everything we were bringing. :)</p>
<p>Follow shoe’s advice. Leave your big winter clothes at home and get them during Fall Break, have them shipped to you, or go on a little shopping trip. 
I’m from NOVA so it was relatively easy for me to switch out clothes during the year. I brought all my jackets after Fall Break. </p>
<p>So, I can more accurately comment on what to bring if your a girl, since I am one. 
Hopefully, canuck will browse through here soon and give you a male perspective.</p>
<ol>
<li>I would definitely invest in a few pairs of boots. Get a pair of rainboots and you’ll be really happy you did; During second semester, I feel like it rained every week. Rainboots make your life SO much easier. just throw on some tights, a tshirt/sweatshirt, and those boots and you’ll be ready to go! I would also get a pair of flat boots, brown or black (or both :D). I actually have a couple of pairs; one for parties and nicer ones for other occasions. My party boots had so much crap spilled on them, and I don’t mind because I got them pretty cheap. But if I spilled all of that on my nicer boots, I would have flipped a ____. Boots are great all year round, especially during the winter/fall. </li>
<li>gloves, scarves. love them. great accessories to have. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a mass amount of these, and it was nice during the year to have options. For gloves, you really only need one pair. Scarves: it’s always nice to have more. </li>
<li>Jackets. My jacket count varied over the year, but the number was usually around 5. (Are my shopping tendencies starting to show yet? ;)) **1. Down jacket/heavy duty jacket. For colder days, this saved my life. Look straight down. Those things you see (your feet) will be your mode of transportation as a first year. And so, a down jacket keeps you toasty during the freezing weeks. Shoe is right. We had this 2 week period where it was butt cold. My wool pea coat is great, but not thick enough. ** 2. Wool pea coat. (lol) This is great when it’s cold, but not freezing. It’s classy and an essential. Long or short will do. It depends upon your preference. I have both lol. I tend to use the short one when I’m wearing jeans/sweatshirt and the longer one when I want to look more put together. ** 3. ** Raincoat. It rains like hell sometimes. Bring one and you won’t be soaked through. 4. Light fleece. A light fleece is great for the in between weather. Too hot for a bigger jacket, too cold for a tshirt. I used my light fleece for most of fall, and the beginning parts of spring. I also took it to the library year round. My heavier jacket came with the fleece inside, so I just took the fleece out and wore that. During the colder months, I put them together. (I had a Northface.) and last but not least, 5. Party jacket haha. I love the clothes I buy and didn’t want to ruin any of the nicer jackets I have. So, I got a cheaper wool pea coat that I wore to parties. When you get to a frat house, people just throw their jackets onto a couch and you have to find it later. Sometimes stuff gets spilled on there and I didn’t want to worry about it, hence my party jacket. These are the jackets I had. Essentials: Heavier coat and light jacket/fleece. Recommended: party jacket.</li>
<li>Jeans. It’s ridiculous how many pairs I have. They’ll get you through thick and thin. They also last a long time, so I would definitely bring a couple of pairs. Definitely a pair of darkwash.</li>
<li>Hoodies. I pretty much lived in them during finals week. Most of my hoodies are UVa ones, so just buy them here. My favorite one is a grey one that says Virginia is white letters and I wear it ALL the time. It’s kind of ridiculous.</li>
<li>umbrella!! Life saver. I have a small one I carry in my tote/backpack at all times and it’s definitely gotten me through. I also have a sturdier umbrella for the unfortunate rain + wind combination.</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s only really, really hot for the first few weeks, at most. After that, the weather settles in to nice 65-80 degree weather for the next couple of months. Tshirts, jeans, shorts, capris, nice tops, cardigans, long sleeve etc etc. will get you through. Since your international, I wouldn’t worry about buying winter clothing until Fall Break. You’ll get by with the clothes you have for the first month or two. After that, take a little shopping trip. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! I had an excess of clothes during the year so I’m not the best example of packing only necessities. But there’s a little info. If you have anymore questions, let me know! Also, if your flying in to the DC area and your roommate lives in NOVA, see if you could visit them before moving in and go on a shopping trip to Tyson’s together; it would be a nice bonding activity and you would be able to buy a lot of new clothes without having to worry about fitting them into your suitcase/going over weight limits. There’s a mall in cville, but not as much selection.</p>
<p>Also, one big thing is being overlooked here: your backpack, or something to carry all of your stuff to class in at least.
Here’s what I recommend best: get yourself a nice backpack with padded straps and lots of room. Spend some money on it and it can last you all four years. I had a standard Jansport last me sophomore year of high school until halfway through my third year, and it still functions fine, but I needed to get a laptop backpack since I was dropping 2K+ on a new laptop. I spent $60 and got a North Face laptop backpack (look, they make really good stuff…LL Bean was also looked at, I just got the NF one on sale) and by goly is there a difference. I can pack SO MUCH into that backpack and never feel it on my back. It’s got a water bottle holder so my water will never leak out in my stuff AND i’ll always have a bottle, it’s got padding, the shoulder straps are excellent, and it’s got a ton of pockets and a sweet mesh pocket on front that great for snacks and my mini umbrella.<br>
Long story short: invest in a good backpack. It’s worth it. I suggest either getting a laptop backpack (I use mine all the time without carrying my laptop, the laptop sleeve takes up no space), or getting a regular backpack and getting a cushion sleeve for your laptop because you will be carrying it around at some point. Or do both, I have a laptop sleeve around my laptop in the backpack. Never have to worry :)</p>
<p>Lots of girl just carry around a purse or big bag also. Messenger bags are also popular. But I highly suggest getting a backpack, and then going from there.</p>
<p>speaking of which, does anyone know where i could get this backpack?! It’s a North Face Recon SE limited edition and I can’t find it anywhere. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.deepinsideinc.com/admin/img/gds/12955_1_2_500.jpg[/url]”>http://www.deepinsideinc.com/admin/img/gds/12955_1_2_500.jpg</a></p>
<p>Dude! That’s what I got!! I love the thing db, it’s definitely a GREAT backpack. What size laptop do you have?</p>
<p>Sweet colors, btw. I’m totally going to hunt you down on the sidewalks if I see this backpack, so I hope you’re the only one on grounds with the thing</p>
<p>DB I PMed you</p>
<p>ahahahaha I know for a fact I’m not the only one on grounds with this.</p>
<p>I have a 15" macbook pro; if it doesn’t fit, oh well! :D</p>
<p>I had a black recon se before, but I left it at home when I moved in, and when I went to get it, my brother had taken it (grrrr) so I bought a cheap jansport. Bad decision.</p>
<p>I use it for a 15" MBP, so you’res will fit fine. And since it isn’t the only one, it means that someone might be creeped out by me. Nice.</p>
<p>Haha, I use my backpack for everything. In addition to laptop, chess pieces + clock, water bottle and swimming gear, I’ve also packed a gallon of milk, yogurt and 6 pounds of frozen chicken into the same bag simultaneously.</p>
<p>(The UVA Dining Hall convenience stores are such a ripoff. If I have time I always choose to buy from Barracks instead.)</p>
<p>db123 - THANK YOU. I’m a girl Hahaha - seriously, that is some intense and seriously helpful information, you have no idea how confused I’ve been. Living next to the equator isn’t exactly always ideal. And an umbrella is a must - always :P</p>
<p>shoebox10 - Thank you too I currently use a Jansport backpack which I’ll probably bring. I just stick my 15" macbook pro in a sleeve and lug it around my backpack - it’s worked fine and will hopefully do. If not, I’ll probably end up using a messenger bag or one of those big purses :)</p>
<p>Do you guys also have any advice for this question <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/724710-cellular-phone-time-management-tool-you-use.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/724710-cellular-phone-time-management-tool-you-use.html</a> ? I was also wondering about that.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much btw, you’ve all been amazingly helpful :)</p>
<p>^^ Singaporean? I don’t know what other major country that sends students to UVA is near the equator, besides Brazil and Peru. And maybe Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines.</p>
<p>Man, shoe, there was only 2 left. I bought it full price hahahahaha. The things I do.</p>
<p>w_icked, you would be amazed how much I fit into my room ahahaha. Imagine what I listed, plus dresses, shoes, shirts, shorts, jackets, sweaters, cardigans, accessories, etc. etc. and double that (my roommate was just like me) and you’ll have our room hahahaha. The word used most often to describe our room: cozy. ;)</p>
<p>If you have anymore questions about clothing, let me know. This is my favorite subject lol.</p>
![http://www.deepinsideinc.com/admin/img/gds/12955_1_2_500.jpg[/url]](http://www.deepinsideinc.com/admin/img/gds/12955_1_2_500.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
