LLBean boots is very popular, but order early as they sell out at times.
Mainers like the LL Bean clogs for daily use. https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/112360?page=beans-womens-classic-clogs
These will get you through most days, except after a big storm.
I think there was a whole thread on this last year. IMO get a boot that is waterproof, but also has good traction in icy conditions, like Sorel or Merrell. I have had LLBeans and their traction is inferior as compared to Sorels and Merrells.
There will be days when it is actively snowing and she will need boots, if school is not cancelled. The current trend is the Bean Boots, so thatâs a safe bet if your D cares about fashion. Otherwise, the snow is cleaned off streets and sidewalks pretty quickly in the Boston area. There could still be 2 feet of snow on the ground, but the walkways are cleared. My kids still wear their sneakers on those days.
Also, unless the temps drop below 20 degrees, itâs hard to get my kids to wear a heavy coat. Plus, there wonât be much room in the dorm. So, layers are probably best. I love the 3-in-1 coats that can be used all put together or each piece separately.
@Curiosa, Columbia makes some really good outerwearâlook for their âOmni-Heatâ stuff. Costcos in cold weather climates are really good sources for base layers once cold weather starts to approach. For boots, my spouse and I swear by Sorel, but my daughters prefer Bogsâand whatever the brand, REI is a really, really good source for good warm, waterproof boots.
@elena13 WE are also from GA and S19 is going to RIT, and owns no real winter gear yet⊠
For really cold weather, an insulated (down or primaloft) jacket is nice. See How to Choose Insulated Outerwear (REI) https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/insulated-outerwear.html
For thermal underwear Patagonia Capilene 3 works well.
Dress in layers and remember to stay away from cotton, as cotton traps water inside its fibers, keeping your body wet
Why Cotton Kills, A Technical Explanation https://gizmodo.com/why-cotton-kills-a-technical-explanation-1688286083
Yes, Winter clothing does take up space in a dorm room. It can be stored in a box/plastic bin (under the bed, bottom of closet?) when not in use. While Winter clothing is bulky, itâs also pretty lightweight, so it can also be shipped home in the Spring for a reasonable price.
DD is going a little bit south but they got more snow than us last winter. We got her some new snow boots this year. I donât know if she would wear them to class- maybe sometimes if itâs bad. If the sidewalks are cleared sheâll probably wear Bearpaws or other fashion boots.
DD selected her dorm room this morning! Sheâs in a small LLC that only is allotted 1/2 of a hall, so we knew there wouldnât be lots of options. However, the girls did want a two-person room rather than a four person suite. She had the earliest possible slot for selection and there was only one two-person room open so she got it. Suites were tempting with the living room area but the bedrooms are much smaller and you canât choose your suitemates.
So theyâve got a 14.5â x 19â room with their own bathroom in the corner of it and a sitting area. Should be nice. The building is just LLCs and upperclassmen. Might be calmer than the freshman high-rises.
@sdl0625 Cool! I hope he has a great time! My daughter is in Poughkeepsie so heâll be a few hours north of that and will likely get more snow. It will be a great adventure.
I basically live in down vests. Itâs like wearing a sleeping bag :). Wicking under layer, flannel shirt and down vest.
For the kids: Get some warm socks and warm slippers. Find a pair of fleece lined sweatpants for lounging around, quick jaunts. 2 pairs of gloves, one lighter weight and one heavier duty, I like warm mitts. You can get a real pair of winter boots, but more importantly get a pair of boots you can actually walk around with. A lot of boots of clunky and bulky and meant for standing/working outside for hours or shoveling the driveway and playing in the snow. I like something like Vans SK8-Hi tops for actual walking around the city and day to day use. There are plenty of other examples like those, many brands offer some sort of casual high shoe with warm lining. Pair those with thin real ski socks and your feet will stay dry and warm, and you can walk around and not feel like your wearing cement for your shoes. Most kids arenât walking around school/campus/town wearing big bulky boots very often. You can always get a cheap pair of snow boots for sledding and dealing with a few snow storms here and there. But get an actual pair of winter type shoes that will be used regularly and are comfortable and NOT DORKY looking.
I worked for an outerwear firm for a bit and am still part of their R&D test group, so I always recommend buying a few quality pieces instead of buying a bunch of inferior stuff that doesnât work. You can always buy stuff as they go along and figure out what they need, instead of wasting $$ on stuff that doesnât work, doesnât fit and doesnât work.
^^ Whatever brands you go with, this and exactly this.
Although we live in Califonia, we live in NorCal where the Tahoe ski/board/snow culture takes over for 4-5 months a year so there are plenty of options for warm clothing. There is a Premium Outlets Mall where we have often found excellent out of season bargains at North Face and Columbia, and the local REI has great Sorel etc specials out of season too. Also, D19 has spent a number of winter weeks in NYC so she is prepared for the cold - not quite as cold as where some of your kids are going!.Although, we were there during one of the polar vortexes⊠Quite frankly, I find the summer humidity in NYC far worse than the winters.
Yay @homerdog! So happy for you guys!!!
Hi all! I was on this thread from March to October last year, then decided to leave CC. I thought Iâd check in with an update for anyone who happens to remember me from those months. My daughter just made her decision and weâre letting it âgelâ for a few days before finally hitting submit on her deposit. Iâm extremely glad to be done with this lengthy and stressful process.
My D is a choir kid with a lot of community service. 4.12 w, 3.9uw, 1440 SAT, 6 APs. She was interested in LACs and Catholic schools.
Her results were mostly as you would predict: in at two safeties with large merit awards, denied at two high reaches. Then in at two low reaches, one with merit and one not, and waitlisted at a third. Her match/target category was also mostly predictable, in at three with merit or need-based award, waitlisted at a fourth.
She has chosen to attend Scripps College. Weâre very proud of her and excited for a bright, enriching future. In the end, she wasnât quite ready to go far from home and I wasnât quite ready to have her go. Knowing there is this tremendous, distinguished consortium of schools within a 2-hour drive of our home was just too good to pass up.
Among my lessons learned:
âWaiting for RD is hard, so more EA schools wouldâve been good.
âA greater diversity of options in our home region wouldâve been good, since as mentioned although she LOVES to travel and thought sheâd be up for going away, when push came to shove she wasnât quite ready to go far from home and I found myself struggling with that too. She intends to study abroad for a semester her junior year, and I think that timing of being two or so years older will be better for her than going far from home now.
âWe reallllly shouldâve ignored all the emails, letters, and feedback provided by her schools in the winter after apps were in before decisions were out. We got some false hope at both her high reaches from these communications, to some extent.
âFor me, I thought March would be busy and distracting but then April would be easy and fun. Instead, both months were really stressful and distracting.
âBased on what Iâve learned over time, I think admits to the reachiest schools need a stronger math record than she had. Weâd let her drop off the track to AP Calc and take AP Stats instead, which was okay overall but probably sank her at the high reaches.
â I also think admits to the reachiest schools require a better suite of scores than she had. She had all 4s in 4 APs, and no ACT or subject tests, which again probably knocked her out at the higher reaches.
â And finally, I think admits to the reachiest schools, when unhooked, require significant individual distinction and awards, which she did not have.
â I no longer see any point at all in taking a kid to visit a school with a <30% acceptance rate before applications are in, unless youâre going ED and have to know. I had planned to take my S21 to some reach schools and now see that as a poor use of time and resources at this stage.
I could go on but those are some basic lessons learned. Another biggie is the need to have a prudent list. We saw some kids get wiped out with things like 1 acceptance, 1 WL, and 10 denials and similar ratios. I was glad that D had enough target and lower reach schools, and that she did get into most of those lower reaches, but I was still nervous as RD began. Thereâs a lot of outdated information out there that people are relying on to make lists, and with acceptance rates plunging ever downward, that can lead to a lot of heartache.
So. Overall I am happy with Dâs final outcome and excited to have her in Claremont. And Iâm glad to emerge on this side of the process and look forward to focusing on the fun stuff now.
@homerdog, I think heâs going to love Bowdoin. Brunswick is such a nice little town, and not far from Portland.
So many congrats to catch up on since we were away over the weekend! Iâll go page by page, I guess.
Congrats @Britmom5 - thatâs so exciting. Great school! My daughter was pushing S19 to visit Drexel so she could get some dragon swag! Lol.
And congrats @me29034 - fun to have a surprise ending! Will he be close?
Oh wow @EganAg - double trouble! That will be tough, but congrats on the decisions!
I missed @firstwavemom too, I think. Congratulations! I would be so excited to be sending a kid to Tulane. (Especially since, at the moment, heâs not contemplating a school in any fun destination that would give me an excuse to travel. Lol.)
@Doublekk2 - congrats on the Tufts commitment! To you and @RightCoaster - if your children study Spanish at all, they must consider going abroad to the Madrid program. I had the director, Susan Sanchez-Casal, as a professor when she first started teaching ages ago. She is phenomenal.
@MaineLonghorn I called my gynecologist because her son is a freshman at Bowdoin and her son is probably a lot like S19 and from the suburbs of Chicago too. She said his experience has been an 11 out of 10. Worth every penny. We will seeâŠbut it seems like a really good fit.
This parallels advice I ran across before diving into college visits with my D17, and I agreeâcollege visits are most useful for safeties, and secondarily for what might be called ânicheâ colleges (single-sex, those focused on a narrow slice of fields, and such)âbasically, kids should ask the âWould I be happy here?â question, and only apply to those to which they can answer yes. (Unless theyâre after prestige and nothing but prestige, in which case they should simply be sent to bed without supper and made to meditate on their crimes for a while.)