<p>what exactly will i need? keep in mind i am from california and have worn shorts and flip flops my entire life.</p>
<p>A warm jacket, mittens or gloves, and a hat are really all you need for winter. I always found jeans were fine if you're just walking around campus. Add in a fleece or hoodie for fall and spring and you're essentially set. </p>
<p>If you get chilly (or want to ski or otherwise spend lots of time outdoors), you might want fleece pants, waterproof rain/shell paints, wool socks, etc. But I'd wait to buy most stuff until it actually starts to get cold and you can gauge what you really need. You won't need anything but pants and a fleece/hoodie until at least November, and there'll be opportunities on campus (like the ABC used clothes sale) to pick up stuff for cheap between now and then. So unless you're a) ungodly rich and b) living in a very large room with lots of closet space, you probably want to err on the side of bringing too little stuff and then filling out the cracks as you discover them.</p>
<p>Long underwear under your jeans!</p>
<p>Often, the key to staying warm is layering, rather than one heavy garment. You should think about a waterproof jacket, as you'll be walking around outside a lot. Wet and cold are not a good combination. I also like having a lightweight windproof shell that I can throw over a fleece jacket -- that keeps me warm through most things, and I can add long underwear, a Coolmax turtleneck, and a scarf if I need more. A hat and gloves/mittens really help. Polarfleece is a great fabric: washable; still keeps you somewhat warm even when it's wet; and dries pretty quickly.</p>
<p>Waterproof or winter boots. Slogging around snow & slush in your sneakers can get old really fast.</p>
<p>thank you for all the responses. how necessary/common are winter boots? They look pretty hardcore.</p>
<p>I dunno; I don't think I knew many people that wore them. 90% of the time in winter you're walking on paths that have been plowed more or less clean, so it's not a big deal. I found that my normal shoes were water-resistant enough for the other 10%, but your mileage may vary. Again, I'd wait to buy stuff like winter boots until you really know if you need them (e.g. it's January and your feet are freezing).</p>
<p>You can get inexpensive waterproof boots at landsend.com or any number of other places. I liked to have them, if only because I didn't want to ruin my sneakers in mud and slush. Also, waterproof hiking boots can double as snow boots.</p>
<p>yeah. thanks again. i'll probably hold off, but backcountry is having a sale, so i figured if i need them, I should get them now and have them shipped to school.</p>
<p>Hiking boots are great in the snow and slush and they get your feet up off the cold surface and give you more traction on ice than "street shoes" or sneakers. If you think you might be wanting to hike anyway and you can get a decent pair now on sale, they may turn out to be a wonderful investment. Most of them come with waterproofing on them but you can add or renew it with any one of several waterproofing compounds that most camping equipment stores sell. </p>
<p>Other uses for hiking boots at Williams: trail maintenance crew work, foot protection if you volunteer for something like Habitat, and (with decent socks) they'll help keep your feet warm for building snow sculptures or going out to watch the Winter Carnival downhill ski races. I guess it really depends on what you think you'll be wanting to do at Williams.</p>
<p>I'd hold off on "snow boots" unless I were someone who always seemed to have cold feet. Even then, I'd probably just go with the hiking boots.</p>
<p>snow boots was the best investment i made. They were invaluable during snowstorms.</p>
<p>get socks that aren't just "white sport socks" (esp those ankle socks). even just "longer" cotton socks make a lot of difference. not a huge need for the heavy winter socks.</p>