<p>those numbers are ridiculous, when has it EVER gotten up to 38 degrees in Evanston in February? I’d say it’s more like 10-25.</p>
<p>W&M and Wake Forest should be considered as well.</p>
<p>Universities: U Washington, UIUC, Boston U, Wisconsin, UT Austin, Brandeis, U Rochester, UC Boulder, Ohio State, the UC System</p>
<p>LACs: Colby, Conn College, Skidmore, Whitman, Reed, Trinity (TX and CT), Franklin & Marshall, Bucknell, College of Wooster, Beloit, Lawrence U, Holy Cross, Bates, Kalamazoo, Earlham, Knox</p>
<p>Personally, I think this is kind of a fun, if imperfect “all around” ranking system: <a href=“http://www.ordoludus.com/5.html[/url]”>http://www.ordoludus.com/5.html</a></p>
<p>emory baby!</p>
<p>On another thread, there is a discussion of which schools provide the best classroom teaching and this may factor into one’s consideration of which colleges provide the best all-around experience. The data is old (1995) and perhaps not an accurate reflection today of what is happening on college campuses, but perhaps worth keeping in mind and using as part of your mental checklist as you evaluate various colleges. </p>
<p>Of the fourteen schools that I previously mentioned as top all-around schools, ten would make the list of Top 20 undergraduate colleges as ranked by combined USNWR overall rank and classroom teaching rank. Those schools were:</p>
<p>Combined rank of USNWR overall and classroom teaching excellence:</p>
<p>3 Stanford
5 Duke
7 Rice
10 Notre Dame
10 U Virginia
14 Northwestern
15 Vanderbilt
17 Georgetown
18 U North Carolina
19 Tufts
20 Wake Forest</p>
<p>lillybloom,
The temperature data is all from weather.com. I suspect that what you are referring to with the cold temps in Evanston have to do with the famous winds that blow in off of Lake Michigan and make it seem so much colder. Great if you like cold temps, but can be pretty miserable if you don’t.</p>
<p>hawkette:</p>
<p>Having grown up pretty close to Duke, I can assure you that there were days growing up when the ground (which is moist that time of year) froze solid. I have also lived in Chicago/Evanston, so I can definitely say that it is much colder next to Lake Michigan than it is in Durham.</p>
<p>I guess my point was that, if you’re looking for warm weather, the California schools and Rice are really in a different class.</p>
<p>tarhunt,
I agree with your comments about the relative superiority of weather in California and Houston over the South and I know what you mean about some of those freezing days in the South. Not every winter day in Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem or Nashville is going to be good for golf or ultimate frisbee. 
</p>
<p>The temperature numbers that I gave were averages and I am sure there have been plenty of winter days over the last few years when you could play almost any outdoor sport in 60+ degree weather at any of those Southern schools. And given that the school year commonly ends in early May, if you like outdoor living, this makes the comparatively warmer weather at the Sunbelt schools all that much more attractive.</p>
<p>Tufts, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Georgetown</p>
<p>^^ I don’t think Chicago appeals to that many people, and therefore it’s not really an “all-around school” of the variety the OP is looking for. If it were, I think our admissions pool would be much more bloated than it already is.</p>
<p>Have Duke and Penn been mentioned yet? Probably.</p>
<p>National Univ-Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, Princeton, Northwestern. National LAC’s-- Davidson, Holy Cross, Williams, Colgate.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re confusing the temp with wind chill.</p>
<p>Record Evanston highs for Jan-Feb–60’s and 70’s. Avg high is 30-35.</p>
<p><a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com;
<p>Berkeley, Harvard, Michigan</p>
<p>Just to give a more complete picture, the record lows for Evanston are:</p>
<p>-20 December
-27 January
-20 February</p>
<p>The record highs are:</p>
<p>70 December
63 January
74 February</p>
<p>The average highs and lows are:</p>
<p>36-20 December
30-14 January
35-18 February</p>
<p>The conclusion is that if you’re ok with cold weather, then Northwestern is a terrific college choice. If you’re not, it could be a long four years…but nearby Chicago is a fantastic city and probably enough fun to help you forget the cold!</p>
<p>Mid-30’s is not cold if you are prepared (coat, hat , gloves, pants). -20 is too cold for anyone but that’s about one day in four years. That said one of the best parties I went to was on a night of -27 or so plus wind chill down to about -60. I ran the block from my car to the party. When I got back to the car the tires were so hard and flat spotted that it clunked down the street until they warmed up.</p>
<p>I might be crazy… but Chicago winters are fun! Enough but not too much snow… dress-up is lots of fun… plus there’s always a fireplace going somewhere and coffee to warm you up.</p>
<p>Angora wool is your friend. I swear I don’t get commission from this company, but their overpriced stuff is so, so, so worth it:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.icebreaker.com/[/url]”>http://www.icebreaker.com/</a></p>
<p>What I think one should know about Chicago-area schools is that the skies can be grey for days at a time. This was not a problem for me (who needs a blue sky when you can be warm and toasty indoors?) but it might be troublesome for those who think they have seasonal affect.</p>
<p>If I were to choose a school based on weather, Berkeley, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Miami would be tops.</p>
<p>UMich
Berkeley
Wisconsin
UNC
USC</p>
<p>I would def. add U of Wisconsin to Hawkette’s list</p>