Hi, I’m a prospective applicant from abroad. I’m used to living in 66F-120F temperatures. I wonder how cold is Maine, really? Especially Waterville? I heard that temperatures could go to -4F sometimes and it’s 6months snowy without sun.
What about central Pennsylvania? How brutal is it compared to Maine’s weather and winters? Will I be able to adjust to that weather? What problems would I face when I traveling from my 115F place to one of those places for the first time and what do I need to know?
You may want to start with some data. Waterville residents experience an average January low of 8°F. As an all-time low, temperatures dropped to -32°F. You should be able to find comparable information for locations of interest in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is more mild than Maine. But I wouldn’t say Maine is 6 months of snow and darkness.
I had a friend from the southern border of the us in college. She had never seen snow. She survived just fine after a shopping trip freshman year to buy real clothes. You will meet kids who will help you out with what to buy. When you move into your dorms it will still be hot!
What you are used to and what you can adapt to are separate questions. Plenty of people move- for lots of reasons- to places with really different climates. My cold-adapted husband melted when he first got to Bahrain, but he adapted.
Waterville does get sun in the winter (deeply blue skies and amazing sunsets) but the days are shorter than closer to the equator. Central PA in the middle of winter is warmer than Maine (though the deep winter is shorter), but to me, once you have to bundle up to go outside the actual #s don’t matter that much.
I agree with @momofsenior1, though, to make sure that your joint pain won’t be exacerbated by the cold, and if it will be don’t look farther north than the Carolinas.
My favorite time of year in Maine is the winter! It’s just gorgeous, especially as you go north. The state gets a LOT of sun in the winter, different from other states. We had friends who moved from Maine to Ohio and quickly returned after their first winter - they said it was cloudy most of the time and they didn’t like it.
Worth noting, however, is that Colby College in Waterville, Maine has a separate term for the coldest month–the month of January–during which students can take a one month long course in warm weather locations.
Also during the last 2 or 3 weeks in December, school is not in session due to Christmas break & New Year’s Day holiday.
Oh. That is starting to sound scarier that I actually thought. I have an appointment tomorrow with my doc, so will see what he says. But the biggest thing here is - I already applied ED to Colby!!!
Man, what an unseen blunder!? And Colby seems very positively aggressive and generous in giving FA to applicants, and I’ve run out of excuses to make to get out of ED.
Do you guys recommend me to withdraw me ED app before decisions are out and try EDing to any other college, probably in Pennsylvania?
I got no options other than colleges in NY, ME and PA.
You’ve got great advice here. Central PA can get cold in the winter, but not like Waterville, Maine.
The only place with “interesting weather” in PA is in the NW corner near Erie, since it gets what’s known as the Lake Effect snow conditions. It’s not colder than Waterville, but snowier.
PA is cold, ME is colder. Better cold weather activities in ME, imo. I can enjoy a Maine winter but just March through the PA ones. But if you have a physical issue with cold, neither is a good choice.
Hmm, don’t you think that a human body can acclimatize and adapt to changing geographies, maybe not overnight but 2-3 months when body slowly starts getting things in order? Does anyone have any experiences in adjusting from equator to polar conditions?
Of course we can adapt! That said, we don’t know your medical condition/joint issues.
I have family that live up north with a medical problem and she suffers badly every single winter. They are moving to FL as soon as it’s possible with their jobs.
I had to move FROM the south because I get terrible headaches in the heat. I never adapted to the heat even though I was born there.
I like Pennsylvania, but Maine is hard to beat. Ocean, mountains, lakes and not crowded (if you avoid Route One during the summer, ha). But I can also see that it might be a hard place to life if you have joint problems.
OP: It will be cold in Maine, but folks dress appropriately.
Based on the temperatures in your current location, you might be most comfortable in the states of Arizona (dry, desert climate), Florida (humid & warm) or Texas.
Why are you limited to Maine, NY and Penn? There is still time to apply to colleges in more southern states it needed isn’t there?
If your doc tells you your medical condition would worsen in a cold climate could that be a reason to get out of an ED decision? That might be worth looking into.
As for the cold, unless your doc tells you the cold would be bad for you, I think you’d been fine in Maine. You just might need a serious adjustment in your wardrobe. I’m sure some students would help you shop once you get there.
My D has the opposite situation. She is from the northern midwest and is going to school quite far south where it is very warm and humid at times. The first month was hard but she adjusted quickly. In fact she was talking to us on the phone the other day and was commenting she was wearing a sweatshirt and sitting in the shade and when the wind would blow she was cold. I looked up the temp where she is on my phone and it was 80 degrees! It’s going to be funny to see her try to readjust come winter break at home. We have snow here!