Tundra?
The Twin Cities have been having the most mild winters ever in the last 4 years. ADCadet clearly did about the best job analyzing the program. In case it isn't completely clear, a quick explanation of the benefits that I haven't seen elsewhere...
Lectures Online: LOL is just what it says. All of our lectures are videotaped (the projection screen) and the file is posted online under a password protected website. So, you miss a day (say you're skiing in Colorado, for instance), you go, download the lecture, and can watch it right on your home computer. If you use a nice little plug in for real player (2xAV,
www.enounce.com) you can listen up to 2.5x the speed of a normal lecture...a nice review tool for those lectures you just couldn't catch in one go.
Knowledge Coop: A nice option for 1st year crammers...the 2nd years provide a nice synopsis of the lecures covered right before exams, as well as a detailed explanation of last year's exam answers. This is free to all 1st years
Note Coop: not quite as succinct as K-Coop, but it's a writen outline-format transcription/explanation of each lecture. This is something you pay to join (pay for the copies), and you write up one lecture every month or 2 (sometimes 3). A nice addition to Lectures OnLine when you miss a lecture.
As to the area:
The Twin Cities is great:
Sports: Professional Baseball, Basketball (men and women), Football, Lacross, Hockey (provided they ever play again)
A vibrant theater community, both big name shows as well as small theaters.
Big enough to have many housing options.
Four true seasons (yep, you'll get to know the joys of hot and humid to bitter cold, and everything inbetween).
One of the highest number of parks of any major metropolitian areas in the country.
Good job opportunities for those coming with a spouse.
Generally big enough to have anything you want to do.
Close to nature areas (camping, lakes, rivers, Boundry Waters, etc)
Drawbacks: Yeah, it gets cold, but whatever, you'll be inside for class!
It's not a huge city (is that a plus or a minus?)
Public Transportation isn't great.
Traffic/Sprawl is getting worse.