Did the Weather Choose Your College?
A new study says bad weather on a campus tour reduces applications by up to 10%. I have a St. Patrick's Day story that proves the point.
“We like to think our big decisions are insulated from something as arbitrary as the weather. The research says otherwise. We are permeable. The weather gets in.”
Years ago, my oldest son, Michael, had a decision to make. He'd worked hard, applied to some of the best schools in the country, and found himself with acceptances from two of them — NYU and the University of Michigan. Two great universities. Two very different campus visits. And as it turned out, two very different days of weather.
The NYU visit was mostly indoors. The weather in New York that day was grey and unremarkable — the kind of city day that keeps you moving from lobby to lobby without ever really feeling the place. He was impressed. He wasn’t moved.
Next, we drove to Ann Arbor to visit Michigan. It was St. Paddy’s Day. One of those early spring afternoons that arrives like a surprise — warm, sunny, and about fifteen degrees warmer than it had any right to be. We walked the campus in shirtsl…
