Is visiting in cold weather a problem?

Pizzagirl · 11-02-2009, 11:38 AM

As we're planning our twin juniors' visits, we want to leverage 4-day school holidays and spring break as much as possible, which leaves us with the following:

- Philly and DC in late Feb / early March
- Boston / New England in late March / early April
- Weekend driving trips over spring to places of interest in OH, MN, IA (we are in IL)
- Colorado / Pacific NW TBD

Now, we're all Northerners. We're not afraid of or intimidated by cold weather, it won't be an issue in selecting a college, and we have no problem walking around outdoors in cold weather in proper clothing. But am I doing the Philly and DC schools a disservice by having my kids see them at that time of year, when skies might be gray, where they won't "show" as nicely as they would in the spring? I'm not insensitive to how first impressions can make a difference, but we won't be able to fit things in if we don't leverage this late February / early March break we have.

Thoughts?

mattmom · 11-02-2009, 11:52 AM

Only disservice is if schools are closed for spring break (which comes early in college) and your children don't get to see the schools in full swing. It's true that mid-
Atlantic springs can be lovely but they can also be very unreliable, and the reality is that the school year has a pattern that includes winter. So I'd say visit whenever is convenient and don't worry about gray skies--just avoid ice and deep snow and dangerous winds, as noted in other threads. Once they are accepted seniors next year they will get to visit again and those April visits might be in nicer weather anyway.

We did most of our preliminary exploration visits over the same period you are asking about and it was fine.

poetgrl · 11-02-2009, 11:53 AM

We spent time in colorado, PNW, last year, and there were some weather issues. It was, however, a strange and snowy winter out there last year, so I can't speak to the norm. Are you comfortable driving in the mountains in 'weather' would be the question I would ask. But, talk about beautiful!

ihs76 · 11-02-2009, 11:58 AM

U Chicago (legacy) fell right off the list after a visit in early March with grey, wind and cold. And I really wanted DS to like it. "Too cold" was all I got. And he has lived North all his life, although in the Rockies which has different cold than the midwest.

I was concerned about this very fact, but we were in Chicago for other reasons.

dbwes · 11-02-2009, 12:11 PM

As the threads on this topic show, you can't really control what is going to strike them on a visit -- it might be any old trivial thing that makes them say, uh uh, not this one.
So even though the weather should not make a difference and gives a more realistic sense of what the place is like for most of the school year, I can't say it won't make a difference to your kids.
I think I have said this before, but if it's a school they are excited about, it may not matter. If it's a school that you are hoping to "sell" to them, then try to go on a beautiful day in May

!

menloparkmom · 11-02-2009, 12:22 PM

as mattmom noted, colleges take their spring breaks throughout the month of March, so you need to check with each college you are planning on visiting in order to avoid visiting a cold and empty campus. If any of your planned visits do coincide with their Spring break, you might consider pushing those visits into the summer. We did our 1 10 day east coast trip loop in June [we were coming from Calif], and son was still able to get a feel for many of the schools despite the timing.

CountingDown · 11-02-2009, 12:33 PM

S2 and DH visited Carleton and Macalester the first week of April, and there was snow on the ground when they got to Minnesota. Seemed like fair warning to me!

S1 visited Chicago for the first time in a January snowstorm. Called me from teh quad and said, "I could see spending four years here." Which he now is now doing...

If you think the weather may be an issue (hot or cold, snowy or rainy, transportation issues, etc.) for your S/D, check it out when it's not sunny and gorgeous. On a related note -- S1 did his final April college decision visits solo. No parental input, and he got to deal with unvarnished solo travel issues. Sometimes a 6 hour plane flight with transfers and shuttle buses on either end is enough to convince a student it's not such a great idea to head cross-country after all.

Agree that planning spring trips can be difficult if your student wants to sit in on classes and the school is on spring break. Check academic calendars before making reservations.

SmithieandProud · 11-02-2009, 12:38 PM

Weather can make a big difference. I used to tour guide at my school and always had to put on extra big charm if the weather was going to be gross, because I knew the school wouldn't show to it's best advantage. Tours on bad weather days tended to be grumpier and more harsh with the questions.

But really, would it be so much better to take them to DC in the summer time when they can experience the joy of 100% humidity and mosquitoes? You can't control the weather, so you might as well just go when you can go, and hope that the weather will be good that week. If you get a sunny day, it won't matter if it's chilly or brisk.

historymom · 11-02-2009, 12:51 PM

In my experience the feel of a campus is largely connected to the people and experiences a student has there not so much on the weather. I don't think it would be a problem at all. You can always look at the pictures of the schools in the spring for comparison

Oh and since kids choose or discard colleges on everything from the clothing of the tour guide to the name of the mascot it's a crap shoot either way. Mine added one to her list because it shares the name of a character from The Matrix and discarded another because there were too many ugly chain link fences around the construction sites.

nightchef · 11-02-2009, 01:04 PM

Pizzagirl, if you want to be "fair" in the sense of seeing both Philly/DC and New England in roughly similar climate states, your current plan is best.

If you flip them, you won't lose that much on the New England trip--it's cold and likely to snow at the end of February, and still pretty cold and only a little less likely to snow at the end of March--but you will see Philly and especially DC in much nicer weather.

SmithieandProud · 11-02-2009, 01:06 PM

I disagree, I say hit the northern new england area as late as possible, at least philly and DC are a little further south.

Pizzagirl · 11-02-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

If you think the weather may be an issue (hot or cold, snowy or rainy, transportation issues, etc.) for your S/D, check it out when it's not sunny and gorgeous.

No, it's not that weather will be an issue -- they've lived all their lives with blustery winters and they aren't looking at any southern schools and wouldn't eliminate based on that. It's that the college might not "show" well under gray skies, etc. That's my concern. Though I suppose there could be rain in good weather, too.

Pizzagirl · 11-02-2009, 01:10 PM

And WTH are tours not offered on Saturdays and Sundays? Argh.

davh01 · 11-02-2009, 01:15 PM

the later the better. campus tends to look more lively when the weather is good. early march could be nice in dc/philly. don't forget to check the school calendar to make sure they are not on spring break.

JHS · 11-02-2009, 01:15 PM

The good news is that you have a fair chance of at least a little spring in Philadelphia and D.C. the last week in February/first week of March. Seriously, we've had forsythia and wildflowers blooming in mid-February, and we've had 30 inches of snow in mid-March. But spring comes a lot earlier here than in Chicago!