Winter in Ithaca

<p>I am from lower NY so I am somewhat accustomed to a snowy winter and hilly terrain, but after visiting this weekend my concern was that Cornell was so hilly and huge, I would imagine it is not an easy task to get around in the winter.</p>

<p>Questions:</p>

<p>Assuming most students won't be going on long walks across campus when it's very cold/snowy, how bad are the lines for the buses? Are the buses very crowded?</p>

<p>I drove down a road that took me to the bottom of campus, that I would never attempt to naviagate in the dead of winter, so how safe are the roads? I just keep picturing a bus skidding down this road with my d on it (sorry for that visual).</p>

<p>Thanks for any info. D enjoyed her visit, while I was a bit apprehensive about the size of the school - but that may be 1st child going off to college anxiety.</p>

<p>you'll never have to walk through 3 feet of snow. The sidewalks are well maintained, and most students DO walk to class in the middle of winter. </p>

<p>The roads are only crappy during a snow storm. I never drive when this happens, I'll either walk or take a bus.</p>

<p>I don't know if a bus will ever skid down the Buffalo or Seneca during a snowstorm, but a mattress full of college kids sure will!</p>

<p>The only time weather was ever a problem for me at Cornell was during an ice storm. But ice storms happen all over the Northeast, and there's not much you can do about it. The snow removal systems throughout Upstate New York are some of the best in the world.</p>

<p>Then again, I'm from Buffalo. So the weather in Ithaca is balmy.</p>

<p>As for the lines for the buses, they get pretty bad some times, but the 81 comes every 10 minutes, so it's not a big deal. But then again, TCAT isn't the greatest when it comes to staying on schedule sometimes.</p>

<p>assuming "lower ny" is the nyc/westchester/rockland area, ithaca winters really aren't that different. if you've handled it well all this time, cornell wont be a problem.</p>

<p>I don't think it's as bad as some exaggerate it to be. Snow storms are not pleasant, though.</p>

<p>20,000 people attend Cornell every year. I think if there were some crisis of run away buses or impossibility to navigate on foot, the problem would have been realized by now.</p>

<p>It's such a beautiful part of the world.</p>

<p>"Assuming most students won't be going on long walks across campus when it's very cold/snowy"</p>

<p>Actually, they do when they go to class. I'm not sure most students take the bus, but even if they do, they still have to walk around from building to building and the library, etc. The sidewalks are cleared, but there's not much you can do about the cold and the wind. Think of it like walking in NYC on a cold, windy day.</p>

<p>If my daughter could navigate Cornell's winter anybody can. I have received a few phone calls from her to tell me "crap, it's snowing sideways. My face is frozen I can barely talk." But then the same night she would be asking if it would be appropriate to wear high heels to parties. There was only one time she was almost stuck downtown and couldn't get back to her dorm. The weather looked fine before she went to the dance studio, but turned nasty after a few hours. She couldn't get a cab, bus or get anyone to pick her up. Luckily someone took pity on her at the studio and drove her back. It was a bit scary, but it could have happened in NJ or lower NY. One thing I do notice about Ithaca is that weather changes very fast. It could be sunny, then all of sudden it's raining or snowing.</p>

<p>A little snow's nuthin'. Why, back in the day, we used to walk 3 miles through 2 feet of snow to get to school....</p>

<p>Actually, this happened freshman year. Some friends and I went to see the first showing of LOTR 3 in the Regal Theaters in Ithaca. When we got out of the theater at 4 AM in the morning there were no TCAT buses running so we walked all the way back to Cornell from Pyramid Mall in December in the middle of finals week. Why did we not just call a cab? Who knows? We were freshmen. We didn't know any better.</p>

<p>Two things you get used to very quickly at Cornell: snow and walking.</p>

<p>My freshman year we decided to head on over to Ithaca College for a concert in November. We caught the bus over to South Hill before the concert, but after the concert, we decided it would be a good idea to walk. An hour later, after the snow began to fall, we emerged on Cornell's Arts Quad, triumphant, and proceeded to have a snow ball fight. This being our first semester freshman year, we didn't know the streets of Ithaca all that well, just that we were on South Hill and we needed to get back to East Hill.</p>

<p>A couple of years later I realized that there is a shortcut to IC -- there's a pedestrian bridge over Six Mile Creek around half way up State Street.</p>

<p>in reading your posts, I think the real question is "Can my d adjust to Cornell"? The answer is, <em>if she wants to.</em> Did she fall in love with Cornell this past weekend? If so, she can handle Ithaca. Many many kids from NY do. So do many kids from California. And some from TN. My d is from much further south than you - and she is happy. And she stays warm. This is a girl who never walked anywhere at home. But she has boots - suede (not uggs) that we waterproofed. She said her feet are warm. The classrooms are warm. The dorms are warm. Actually, she complained over the winter break that she is warmer in her dorm than in our home. </p>

<p>However, if your d is not in love with Cornell now, after visiting this weekend, she may end up one of those students who complain about the weather, the size of the campus, the lack of busses, and the noisy kids down the hall. A lot of a student's adjusting to a college is wanting to be happy, because everywhere there are going to be failed mid-terms, unrequited loves, and rain on new shoes. I know of kids hand picking their roommates and it doesn't work out. Then other kids get a random assignment and it is fine. </p>

<p>Good luck to your d as she makes her decision!</p>

<p>we take buses from the dorms to the classes?</p>

<p>no. but if you want to, you can. there are buses running all over campus.</p>

<p>MemphisMom: perfectly stated! </p>

<p>My s never walked anywhere until Cornell, and the 20+ minute walk to classes Freshman year didn't phase him, and neither does the weather. (yes, that's how long it takes from North campus to Engineering). Obviously he loves Cornell!</p>

<p>yeah, engineering is the farthest away from freshmen dorms, that can be a haul! To be honest, I never understood why some people insist on the buses. It's a walk through one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States where you'll pass through gorges, rivers, waterfalls, and rustic ivy covered buildings on the way to getting your morning coffee and a newspaper. In fact, this very weekend I was walking through campus thinking of how dang beautiful the place was. I guess I was always in a bit of a rush to class, it would have served me (and plenty of others!) to slow down a bit and take a peek at our surroundings on campus.</p>

<p>^ Also, it's a great form of excercise! You'd probably be colder standing and waiting for the bus than you would be walking.</p>

<p>^^ Yeah, I don't know of anybody who took buses - even in the middle of winter. </p>

<p>One of my fondest memories is walking over the suspension bridge to the Arts quad everyday - looking down however many hundreds of feet to the raging waterfalls below. Gotta love it.</p>

<p>I took the bus my second semester senior year, but only because I was living by the Commons. </p>

<p>In retrospect, I wish I would have walked up the Slope more.</p>