Chosing a school for the COLD weather Forum

[BlueFeathers]

The general consensus seems to want schools in warmer areas but as a native Texas I'm so ready to leave for many reasons and the weather is high up there.

Unlike many, I'm irritable in humidity so I'm obviously not too happy right now. I'm content then I'm not. I focus more when it's cold and I'm not an outdoors person. No need to run the trails with sunglasses, I run indoors on a treadmill.

But cold = high, VERY high numbers. I'm taking the LSAT in December and I pretty much know I won't crack the 170s. High 160s to mid most likely and my GPA is 3.0-3.4. So schools in NICE weather areas for me seem unreachable. Colder is more East Coast and LSAT numbers are worrying.

I want cold but not rural cold so nothing like Cornell. Basically when it's summer I want decent, in the winter I don't want sunshine and shorts. Between late October to January I want cool to cold and as the winter ends I want mildly warm. All 4 seasons is good too.

This Texas 2 seasons of warm-hot and humidity is over very soon. I can take the humidity and a hot hot summer as long as I get a cold winter in return. 80-90 sweating summer and a snowy, cold/frost winter. Consistent cold weather then a switch not a mild tropical winter of 60 degrees and sunshine making it seem warmer. COLD.

[ppa840]

The general consensus seems to want schools in warmer areas but as a native Texas I'm so ready to leave for many reasons and the weather is high up there.

Unlike many, I'm irritable in humidity so I'm obviously not too happy right now. I'm content then I'm not. I focus more when it's cold and I'm not an outdoors person. No need to run the trails with sunglasses, I run indoors on a treadmill.

But cold = high, VERY high numbers. I'm taking the LSAT in December and I pretty much know I won't crack the 170s. High 160s to mid most likely and my GPA is 3.0-3.4. So schools in NICE weather areas for me seem unreachable. Colder is more East Coast and LSAT numbers are worrying.

I want cold but not rural cold so nothing like Cornell. Basically when it's summer I want decent, in the winter I don't want sunshine and shorts. Between late October to January I want cool to cold and as the winter ends I want mildly warm. All 4 seasons is good too.

This Texas 2 seasons of warm-hot and humidity is over very soon. I can take the humidity and a hot hot summer as long as I get a cold winter in return. 80-90 sweating summer and a snowy, cold/frost winter. Consistent cold weather then a switch not a mild tropical winter of 60 degrees and sunshine making it seem warmer. COLD.

BU?

[Lonagan]

Just use this as your personal statement and apply to Minnesota.

[im_blue]

166 - BU, BC
167 - WUSTL, Minnesota

[justadude55]

isn't stl pretty warm?

[09042014]

Wisconsin, Minn, Northwestern should be options.

[Henchman21]

Just use this as your personal statement and apply to Minnesota.

+1

Also, you can just use the same personal statement for Wisconsin

[joemoviebuff]

Don't know where you're planning on practicing, but Salt Lake's got four full seasons, and isn't humid at all. University of Utah?

[Dead Ringer]

+1 on using this as at least your "why x" essay. Very funny.

My mom and some friends went to U Wisconsin in Madison. My mom and two of these girls all separately told me they would sometimes cry on the way to class during the worst cold snaps. That should be cold enough for you.

[niederbomb]

Yeah, I hear ya, I'm about as white as they get, and every time it gets hot, I'm a magnet for boils. Definitely need to keep to the north like my ancestors did.

Just approach the problem systematically. Get a map of the USA and work West----> East along the northern border. First, Washington State. Any law schools? University of Washington. Bookmark TLS profile, check. Idaho?...check. Montana?...check.....(last one). Maine? University of Maine. Bookmark TLS profile, check.

Then you'll have a handy dandy list of all the law schools on the northern U.S. border, and you can start your research there to find out which ones you like.

Too bad Alaska doesn't have a law school; then you'd be set.

[Sogui]

As a lifelong Texas I'm going to warn you, Texas really doesn't have it that bad.

Every building in Texas has powerful central AC, it's only hot when you're going out and that's when you can dress for the occasion.

Sure you can go somewhere more temperate, but if you want COLD that means going farther north. I went from Austin to NYC and I have to say the most miserable weeks of the summer weren't the last 2 months I spent in Austin, but the two weeks in August when I moved in and have no AC.

Sleeping without AC in 80-90 degree weather really sucks when you've always had AC, I got a pretty strong fan but even that can't really keep you cool. Now it's getting "cold" and I find that sometimes the radiator gets a little over-active and I have to perform a delicate dance of cracking the window and letting in the 30-40 degree air and shutting in before my feet freeze. Also the law schools up here basically "shut down" their AC in October and we hit a hot streak, we got some apologetic emails, some classes were canceled, but basically we spent a week going to class in 80-degree furnaces.

TL;DR - We spend most of our time indoors, especially in law school, indoors in Texas is probably more comfortable than indoors in the Northeast.

[Lwoods]

166 - BU, BC
167 - WUSTL, Minnesota

These + Notre Dame and Wisconsin. South Bend and Madison are more college town than rural.

[motiontodismiss]

Just use this as your personal statement and apply to Minnesota. U. Calgary. American cold is baby cold.

[lifestooquick]

also check out Ohio State

[Fresh]

Just use this as your personal statement and apply to Minnesota. U. Calgary. American cold is baby cold.

Yeah canada is cool and tough because it's so cold....eh?

[patrickd139]

OP: Whereas I empathize with your desire to escape the heat (from Texas myself), you better 1) pick a T14 (T6, ITE?) in the cold; or 2) have some serious, legitimate, and convincing ties to the market where you're looking to practice. Maybe "I've been in a southern furnace my entire life and now I want to see how life is when it gets cold" was a legitimate line for employers in the past, but this economy sucks. Potential employers are likely to see you're not from that market, have no ties to that market, and assume you're going to return to your home market, no matter what your true intentions. And this says nothing about the obverse when trying to get back to your home market.

TL;DR: It's law school, not vacation school: hope you're looking at T14s or have ties to the market if you hope to get a yob in the cold.

[fugitivejammer]

+1 on using this as at least your "why x" essay. Very funny.

My mom and some friends went to U Wisconsin in Madison. My mom and two of these girls all separately told me they would sometimes cry on the way to class during the worst cold snaps. That should be cold enough for you.

this has happened to me.

[mwheatley]

University of Utah is 20 min from world class skiing. Get a student pass at snowbird and enjoy 50+ ski days. The season runs from November to late May and sometimes into June.

[r6_philly]

+1 on using this as at least your "why x" essay. Very funny.

My mom and some friends went to U Wisconsin in Madison. My mom and two of these girls all separately told me they would sometimes cry on the way to class during the worst cold snaps. That should be cold enough for you.

this has happened to me.

It's really hard to cry when it's really cold.

[paratactical]

OP, have you ever lived in cold? Cause I've met people from Texas that thought four seasons would be nice, but they didn't realize how cold it gets in Boston.

Look at Virgina/Pennsylvania north, not Boston/NYC north.

[northwood]

if you are going to a school near the ocean, it generally stays 5-10 degrees warmer than going to a landlocked school. So, if you are trying to decide between boston and minneapolis, boston will generally be warmer in the winter than minnesota ( there are a few select days when this is not true, but as a general rule it is).

also, check for winter weather patterns. Its easier to get around a school with snow, than a place that has freezing rain, or ice/ winter mix. Sure its 5 degrees colder, but anyone from the north will agree that days its better to walk in snow, than freezing rain / ice.

snow you can brush off- ice and freeezing rain chill your bones

[r6_philly]

OP, have you ever lived in cold? Cause I've met people from Texas that thought four seasons would be nice, but they didn't realize how cold it gets in Boston.

Look at Virgina/Pennsylvania north, not Boston/NYC north.

Stay away from Pittsburgh. Too much lake effect snow. This side of them mountains is much nicer.

[r6_philly]

if you are going to a school near the ocean, it generally stays 5-10 degrees warmer than going to a landlocked school. So, if you are trying to decide between boston and minneapolis, boston will generally be warmer in the winter than minnesota ( there are a few select days when this is not true, but as a general rule it is).

also, check for winter weather patterns. Its easier to get around a school with snow, than a place that has freezing rain, or ice/ winter mix. Sure its 5 degrees colder, but anyone from the north will agree that days its better to walk in snow, than freezing rain / ice.

snow you can brush off- ice and freeezing rain chill your bones

Snow turns into ice the next day after the sun comes out.

[irishman86]

Midwest, Northeast, or Mountain West all have four seasons.

I understand your motivation though. I am originally from California, but I've lived in the Midwest and Northeast, and the weather is so much nicer in a region where there are four seasons. I've visited Texas in the spring and summer, and it's really ridiculously hot and humid down there during the spring and summer. (Also, despite what some people say, normally it doesn't feel humid at all in the Northeast or Midwest.)

I will say that cold weather can be a bit nasty if there's wind. Only certain areas typically get heavy winds (like Chicago). There are many other regions where you can experience snow and winter without having as much wind chill.

[vanwinkle]

OP, have you ever lived in cold? Cause I've met people from Texas that thought four seasons would be nice, but they didn't realize how cold it gets in Boston.

THIS.