<p>Weather is among the most significant non-academic criteria I use - a true make-or-break requirement. I demand cold, snowy weather with as few very hot (80+ F) days as possible.</p>
<p>Excellent responses all. Sort of what I expected: some people it really matters and some it doesn’t. </p>
<p>All I suggest is that you consider it in your thought process (hot, cold, snow, rain, gray skies, sunny skies, whatever) if any weather is particularly troublesome for you and such.</p>
<p>My kid wanted four seasons. Lots of variety. Some people can’t handle gray skies for very long. Some don’t like the tropics and palm trees every day of their lives. Some like dreary cold rainy days and a cup of coffee…makes them “think” better. (Not kidding…I have heard this from many people.)</p>
<p>Some find too much sunshine too distracting and counter productive when studying. </p>
<p>Some have to have sun all the time and hate cold weather.</p>
<p>Remember, you will be there for four years. And after the honeymoon wears off around Thanksgiving of Freshman Year…you are going to have to live with it. So pick wisely. No right or wrong answer. Just what is best for YOU.</p>
<p>Good luck. And my thoughts and prayers to those buried in snow in Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, who are enduring the 100 year blizzard this week. It probably won’t happen again for another 100 years.</p>
<p>Me! My colleges are all either Farrrrreeeezing cold (Chicago/Maine/NE) or reaaallly warm (Stanford/Pepperdine) </p>
<p>go figure. I like extremes</p>
<p>I’m only applying to schools in the North East…I’m sick of 69 degree winters!</p>
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<p>I don’t know if I’d call Stanford “reaaallly warm” by many stretches of the term, but yeah, I intend to enjoy 60ish degree winters and 60ish degree summers.</p>
<p>xAAAx, when I wrote post #17, I expected people to slam me for thinking anyone going to Stanford or Berkeley would surely know about the Northern Coast’s legendary brisk weather…then you posted.</p>
<p>I didn’t, but I’d suggest that everyone do. Studying in college is stressful enough without unpleasant weather on top of it.</p>
<p>One of my friends here (I go to uni in NJ) is from Florida, and she said that during her freshmen year she was really depressed in the winter because the sun disappeared around 4pm. So, yes, do think about how you’d feel about different weather patterns.</p>
<p>Hmm. . .just thinking. . .we can’t control everything, so learning to be adaptable is not a bad thing. Specifically, weather is one of those things least in our control so embracing all the positives of an uncomfortable, or unfamiliar, weather situation may, indeed, be one of the unexpected pleasures of branching out.</p>
<p>While digging out of the Blizzard of 2010, my dd turned to me and said, “This is why I want to go to school in the south”. Me too…</p>
<p>Very timely…in mid-winter, D suddenly applied to a FL school. Up to then, D was looking only at northern schools since she didn’t like the heat. Yesterday was the 4th snow-day in a row, and D got her acceptance. She was planning on a 0-4 nursing program, but the Fl school is a 2+2 (with a competitive application to the upper level program). Now I’m hearing that she believes in herself and is sure she can get into the upper level program at the Fl school. I think the Fl school moved to #1…could it have something to do with shoveling 30" of snow?</p>
<p>Sounds like the yields at places like Dartmouth and Middlebury might be a little lower than usual this year…good news for marginal applicants.</p>
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<p>Well, I guess it’s all relative. Here in Maryland, “brisk” is considered to be 50. So, it’s about the same as Stanford. I know Stanford gets especially chilly at night, even in the summer. On the flipside, Maryland gets 3x as much rain (45 inches per year), has very cold winters and very hot summers, and 260 overcast or rainy days a year. But yeah… I expected it to be pretty easy to look at the weather and figure out it’s not 80 and sunny every day.</p>
<p>weather is actually my #1 factor… since I have seasonal affective disorder. I get so lazy and not motivated come fall, winter time. My grades always suffer around that time and during the summer I’m super motivated. All my college choices are in New Orleans, Florida, or California. Mostly So Cal though.</p>
<p>FWIW, guidance counselor at son’s school (in Michigan), asked 100 juniors in September where they were thinking about going to college, in general terms. 80% said “someplace warm”. He told us parents that this is pretty standard, but that rarely do more than 15% actually go to a warm climate. As they get into the process, cost, closeness and reputation take over. I wouldn’t start worrying about Dartmouth and Middlebury just yet.</p>
<p>The clothes today are soooo much better at keeping you warm and dry than they were a few decades back. While navigating Boston back before Goretex, several times I wondered if I could have gotten into U. of Southern California. The array of waterproof shoes/boots these days is unbelievable.</p>
<p>lol I just hope that I won’t freeze to death next year…</p>
<p>When H was being transferred to the Chicago suburbs, I still have memories of visiting a prospective school for my young kids. The principal showed me some pics of a classroom and I saw this very tall pile of “something” in the corner. </p>
<p>Being a southern Cal girl, I had no idea of what that pile was, so I asked. And the principal said, “snow pants.” I knew right then that we weren’t cold weather people. LOL</p>
<p>I grew up bouncing among the Boston, Detroit, and Chicago areas, so I thought I knew a thing or two about cold weather. Then I met some folks from Minnesota, who told me it’s not uncommon there to have electric heaters to keep their cars’ engines from freezing overnight. That’s kind of where I draw the line…electric blankets for cars.</p>
<p>Several years ago I took D to look at Northwestern and Depaul in Chicago. As we walked down Michigan Ave , she was chatting on her cell with a friend here in So Cal. “OMG,…I could NEVER go to school here…it is sooo cold right now…I just couldnt take this”
(…It was 50F degrees at the time)</p>
<p>I am applying to Stanford for the sole reason of the Californian sun.</p>