<p>I would wait and let her figure out what she needs and what others are wearing. There is still plenty of time before the cold weather starts in. My D went from TX to DC. She realized by Christmas that her “winter” coat was not warm enough, so we let her pick out a new one for a Christmas present. While I would have sent “snow” boots like Lands End boots - she just wanted fashion leather boots and still, 5 years later, doesn’t wear snow or rain boots. But she loves hats! </p>
<p>I love my rainboots. I have a long fleece socky things I wear inside the boot if it cold and rainy. I wear mine when I’m walking the dog and it’s crummy out. I also wear them a lot when I go into the City (NYC) and rain is in the forecast. </p>
<p>At my kid’s school in Maine the kids all wear LLB duck boots. I have no idea if the girls have switched over to the new rain boots there. </p>
<p>Just pack a few layering items that she already owns and let her figure out if and when she needs more. My son spent the last two years at college in Pennsylvania without a winter coat, hat, gloves, raincoat or even umbrella. We live in Rochester so of course he owns these things, but he did not want to bring them to school with him. He lives in a thick hoodie he bought at school. </p>
<p>Not the choice I would make for myself, but I figure he’s old enough to know if he’s cold and what to do about it.</p>
<p>My D is a rising sophomore in Rochester NY. She said she packed way too many heavy sweaters last year, and is planning on leaving many behind this year. She wore the same few pieces over and over - and added lots of gloves, scarves, and especially smartwool socks. Most of the time she wore a cami, a light crew neck (t shirt weight or thin thermal), a light hoodie, and the appropriate weight coat/jacket/parka. She is a boot fanatic and took many types of boots. She told me last week she needs to get a pair of jeans made of heavy denim - her legs got cold, but it was too hot to wear tights under jeans inside. </p>
<p>You could buy a couple of vacuum bags and put some extra layering items in them. That negates her claim about storing items. Tell her to keep them in the suitcase under the bed or on top of the closet. This way, you know she will have the items if she chooses to wear them. </p>
<p>Funny story…</p>
<p>DD did a weekend visit at a school in New Hampshire this past January. She insisted on only taking her North face fleece pullover. I suggested her long down hooded thing that she hates. I tried to explain that NHV cold & New Hampshire cold are two completely different animals. A few hours after her arrival, she called me in tears…she said she had never been so cold in her entire life. She said her internal organs were frozen.Trust me, they figure it out when they are cold enough. Send her a few items in the beginning of December, if she refuses to wear them & chooses to be cold after having the items to prevent the discomfort, then she’s far too stubborn for her own good. </p>
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<p>Welcome to the world of teenaged boys. :)</p>
<p>My strategy has always been to gradually lay out the items I think he might want to take in a guest room, including the linens, shoes, etc. I have a pile of pants, a pile of Tshirts, a pile of sweaters, etc. When he is ready to actually pack–like one or two hours before we leave 
--he puts what he wants in the bags. I try not to argue about things he wants to leave behind.</p>
<p>Yes, your D is being ridiculous about layering items. One can only think that she really does not understand the climate. She is going to get tired of that one item, it is going to get dirty, smelly, lost, or wet. If I were you I would not discuss it further until the day you leave. I would select a <strong>few</strong> others, and at the last minute tell her firmly that you are taking them whether she likes it or not because a) you don’t want to have to pay to ship them later, and b) you don’t want her spending money duplicating stuff she already has. If she doesn’t want to wear them, that’s up to her, and they will take up very little space in her room. End of story.</p>
<p>BTW, no way in hell would <em>I</em> ever make a packing list. So I sympathize with her there. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know about the rest of the country, but a pair of jeans on a very cold Minnesota day is not a comfortable choice. </p>
<p>Cold climate or snowy climate? There’s a difference. For example, metropolitan New York City is often cold but extreme and frequent snowfall is relatively rare.</p>
<p>I brought a pair of waterproof lightweight hiking boots (mid ankle) for Lake Jr. They are durable enough to handle a typical heavy snowfall but comfortable enough to wear under milder conditions. Worked out well in a surprise blizzard last fall. As for clothes, like a lot of guys, he was happy with sweatshirts, which gives you the option of wearing layers underneath. Since the university bookstore’s collection of sweatshirts was rather dull, I ordered online from other sources. Also, if it’s cold for an extended period, thick cotton socks are a must. They do not necessarily need to be thermal socks, which many kids find to be uncomfortably thick.</p>
<p>One word of caution. But be prepared for complete, utter and total rejection! LOL. Just before heading off to Freshman Orientation last year I purchased various items of clothing that I thought he would need AND LIKE. When he opened my package of clothes in his dorm room…well, let’s just say he wasn’t full of glee. All I got was “nobody wears these, Dad!” I protested: “you’re in college, you need more jeans!” No sale. My bruised feelings were made worse upon my return home, when I recalled the experience to his Godfather, who resoundingly scolded me for trying to select clothes for a teenager. Getting old is a pain in the caboose!</p>
<p>Haha…this is only tangentially related, but for some reason I was willing to fall on my sword over the “shower caddy.” I just could not imagine my son getting to the bathroom down the hall without one. And of course he made fun of me and refused to use it.</p>
<p>Re socks, again–SmartWool is your friend. They have a lot of very thin “dress” styles, and they are expensive but totally worth it. Unfortunately I have now sold my kids on them and we fight over the gender-neutral pairs. In our experience the problem with cotton is that if it gets damp and clammy (and feet do sweat in the winter, especially in rubber rain boots) it can be really uncomfortable. Or at least that has been my experience after 30-plus midwestern winters.</p>
<p>@Kajon
No doubt jeans alone would be miserably insufficient in sub-zero winter weather. That’s why I also purchased a pair of Long Johns for Lake Jr. Must admit that I had a bit of parental “one-upsmanship” in mind, because the drawers were fire-engine red, like Jed Clampett’s drawers.</p>
<p>My son lived in two pairs of LL Bean flannel-lined jeans all last winter, more comfortable than long underwear but just as warm. Barely wore his other pants. 10 degrees and windy is pretty common during their winters.</p>
<p>Except for football games, the kids rarely spend more than 20 minutes outside in winter. Our D is non-fashion and hates shopping. She will have a hoody, a raincoat, a waterproof ski jacket, and one Woolrich shirt, plenty for a minimalist.</p>
<p>She’s just got to figure it out for herself. I know I did. When you grow-up in a temperate climate, you just really have no concept of LIVING in weather. Sure, you can visit but vacationing is nothing like living. You actually HAVE to get to the bank even though the sidewalks are slushy. I’m a CA girl and it took living in New York a year during their worst winter in decades for me to really get it.</p>
<p>My D is going to Virginia which has more extremes than home for sure but it’s not like upstate New York or anything. We focused on shoes mostly because D’s SoCal shoe wardrobe was not even close to being appropriate for the east coast. We DID buy her rain boots because that’s what all the girls were wearing when we visited. We bought her a pea coat at a thrift store during that same trip. She’s taking her puffer jacket, a rain coat, several sweaters, scarves.The difference is, D’s not fighting me on this.</p>
<p>Just treat her like a toddler. If your D is insisting she doesn’t need more than the one layer, have her pack a box with the other stuff and price out the shipping. When she starts freezing her tushy off and she needs the stuff, she can pay for the shipping herself. Don’t let your last couple weeks turn into a stupid power struggle over sweaters.</p>
<p>I think I just need you to take my word that she is not on the spectrum of normal when it comes to lack of interest and common sense about certain aspects of self-care. Saying, oh she will learn from experience soon enough, isn’t really helpful. Saying, if she feels X then of course she will do Y, may be true of most kids but it is absolutely not a given with this kid. She has been in medical treatment for most of her life for one thing or another which I never dreamed I would have to oversee until the damage was done. Assuming that she would be cold and therefore of course would shop for appropriate clothes is just not realistic. Assuming that she would think to request I send her clothes that she left behind is also not realistic. The more likely outcome is that I would get a call that she’s been hospitalized for pneumonia. The best I can do is make sure that she can dress appropriately with absolutely minimal thought or effort.</p>
<p>She’s not going to be outside all the time. Just long enough to walk back and forth to class and meals. D goes to school in Vermont and gets by with hat, gloves and smart wool socks. She likes cell phone gloves or gloves that can flip up to expose her fingers. She wears a heavy fleece or hoodie for a jacket except for the very coldest days, when she wears a ski parka. She rarely has to walk through snow. Everything is shoveled and plowed immediately. She mostly wears sneakers or ugg style boots. She wears jeans with holes, but will wear sometimes wear leggings underneath. She will not wear anything intended as a base layer or long underwear. She would never wear a long parka or coat. She has never worn snow boots but will wear hiking boots.</p>
<p>As far as layers, most days D will wear a cami, thin long sleeved tee and maybe a light sweater or hoodie. She would throw a fleece jacket over all that. If it’s super cold she would wear parka instead of hoodie.</p>
<p>So her fairly minimalist list might look like this.</p>
<p>7 camis
5 short sleeved tees
7 long sleeved tees
4 light sweaters
4 hoodies
1 heavy fleece jacket
1 ski parka
7 pairs jeans
2 pairs leggings
4 pairs flannel or sweat pants
3 beanie hats
3 pair gloves
3 scarfs
4 pairs smart wool socks
4 pairs regular socks
1 pair ugg boots
1 pair hiking boots</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>It might be helpful to remember that you don’t actually catch pneumonia from being cold. You just feel cold from being cold. You may be miserable but you won’t be sick.</p>
<p>You will not be there to dress her. All you can do is to make sure she has appropriate clothing or that you send her the clothes once school starts. If her life depends on dressing warm and she is unable to figure that out, then for goodness sake don’t send her to a cold climate school. Hopefully it will help that scarves and Ugg boots are very popular with college kids.</p>
<p>If your daughter is a special case then asking the general public was never going to help you. If she won’t take the stuff, if she won’t buy the stuff, if she won’t ask for the stuff then you already knew what your one option is. Buy the appropriate gear on your own, dump it in her closet and hope for the best. Just get her a decent pair of shoes, the silky long johns, a pair of lined jeans, a sweater and a good jacket. Hopefully she’s ready to be on her own in other ways if you feel she can’t be trusted to keep herself warm in the winter. </p>
<p>I know we are talking about dressing warm clothes here, but when going off to college, your kid may need some nice adult clothes for interviews, dinner at professor/administrator’s house, college functions, or parties.</p>