A Golden Gopher! Way to go! She will need a down coat, so nice they are making them longer now. Mittens or gloves for sure. Light knit gloves for when it's chilly but not arctic. Grippy are nice if she'll be carrying things. I find mittens to be warmer than gloves, but not as convenient of course. She needs to pack a sense of humor because the "natives" will boast about the balmy 25-degree temps when she's shivering in her down.

To add to what was already listed, I'd want Under Armour.... at least leggings and maybe a shirt.... to wear under outfits on especially cold days.

Wool socks (& most everything else) are the warmest. Who knows, she may adapt right away, or be miserable. CA isn't that warm, how does she fare when it gets chilly there?

I really like behind-the-head ear warmers - easier to wear & less bulky than regular earmuffs & boy do they keep your ears cozy!

I am from Maine, not Minnesota. She needs wool socks. She should learn to dress in layers. She will need lots of sweaters of varying weights. She will probably also notice changes in her skin and hair from dry cold air, so plan on that when considering products.

I assume she wont be driving in Minnesota. If she will she needs winter driving instruction not only how to do it, but how to be prepared for winter travel emergencies. (I just had this talk with my own new driver DS- a person who drives to the gym with only shorts and sneakers is in big trouble if they encounter unexpected road trouble)

Well, as a mother who sent her six kids to various colleges, I suggest you wait and let her buy what is fashionable on her campus at the time. I thought we were doing the right thing to be prepared with kids one and two, and some of it went to waste even though the kids themselves chose the coat and boots when they were hs seniors.

Things change. Don't be too hasty. What looks good on line now in California may be way wrong for Minnesota next year. Good luck.

Coming from Buffalo with a daughter attending Brockport SUNY next year, she will bring her LLBean boots, Uggs, hat, gloves, jacket. She doesn't anticipate needing ski pants for college as most time will be in doors. Since dorm room closet space is at a premium she will layer shirts/hoodie/jacket.

I'm saying this as someone who moved from Phoenix to Mpls- let her shop there, as she needs things.

less is more for a lot of kids-- lots of college students don't feel the cold as easily as their 'old' parents!! warm outer wear like nice boots, gloves and a down coat are important! from our experience with colleges tho, plenty of heat is used in the winter! the dorms and buildings are kept warmer than i keep our house, so her indoor wardrobe may not need to be too wooly!

A down coat that goes to her knees; ear muffs; Mittens are warmer than gloves; I'd return the Bogs and get some Uggs. Wool and cotton everything - clothing, bedding.

What busybee said!

Hmm, as a college freshman, I'm not sure I knew enough about quality and price to buy winter gear wisely. So I'm not sure I'd go with letting her do the shopping on her own. At least maybe cover the more expensive basics ahead of time.

I went to college in northern Missouri. So, not quite as cold, but definitely real winters. I'd suggest good, waterproof winter boots with a good tread; a down vest or sweater for fall and spring; a longish down coat; gloves; and a hat. Maybe a set of long underwear and a couple of pairs of warm socks.

As mentioned above, I'd buy some layers but would wait until she goes to school before you make any major purchases. You know your own kid. If she will want to fit in, I would wait to purchase the most visible items. If she doesn't care, go ahead and make the purchases before she leaves.

My college daughter mostly wears LL Bean duck boots and patagonia fleece in the winter. (Although, I think Bean boots really aren't that warm.) For really cold days she has a slim down coat that covers her bottom. If you think your daughter would like LL Bean boots, they are often back ordered so I would not wait to make a purchase.

I have a Texas son who went to undergrad in So Cal and is in grad school in Pittsburgh. I understand wanting to spread out your purchases and take advantage of sales when you can. Consider putting away some money for extras next fall as well as puchasing on sale now. You will see sales after the back to school and Labor Dayher hoopla calms down -- Columbus Day through Thanksgiving are good times to shop for winter clothing sales. Will her school choices give her access to shopping or will you be shopping onlien and shipping?

I have never owned one, but it doesn't seem to me that a down coat is going to change radically from year to year.

Long underwear is something else you can get on sale now. I ordered from Land's End and Wintersilks to get talls for DS. He liked them both but said Land's End had better elastic in the waist. You could get some some silk glove and sock liners -- they don't show and won't change style year to year.

For a guy, hats, scarves and gloves aren't going to change much -- perhaps more so for girls. But it would also seem that one of each and letting her aquire additional would be fine. Doesn't' everyone in a colder climate need at least two f each of those? Would she get thesse as graduation or off to school gifts?

Shoes, boots and sweaters will change the most in style. You may want to look for those in sales starting in later September or October. We went from all cotton to adding some wool. Washable merino or bends will let her clean them in a dorm washer (cold and gentle) while other wools will have to be dry cleaned.

You might want to talk to folks during any college visits or orientation to find out about dorms and how warm or cold they run -- she might want a down comforter or blanket and that could be a good spring/summer sale item.

I disagree with those suggesting layers. As someone else noted, dorms and classroom tends to be very hot, so she won't want layers on when she's inside. A very good knee-lentgh down coat with a good hood and a good hat and mittens will keep her plenty warm when she's outside.

Here we are in MN in one of the roughest snow occasions of the winter. We probably wear what you do when it is 45! LOL. It is about getting acclimated. What a mom might think she SHOULD WEAR and what she does wear NEVER match up. Today as I left school (work) out early due to the storm I watched a student helping another unload the back of a pick up in a cotton shirt--no coat. Students wear shorts/sandals and NO COATS more often than not. My own daughter is in South Dakota and after a year of walking across campus in sub freezing tempts catching all the wind she requested a new coat for Christmas. Down was LAST on her list...it is absolutely a choice item. She preferred at Columbia wind resistant coat. Her brother got her top rated gloves (mittens are the warmest, just sayin) and they began to fall apart the first week. She will absolutely be in complete SHOCK about how cold it is, but she will manage. My nephew went to Boston University-and hands down it is a better experience than Gopher world but she will figure that out. MOA will be up the interstate a few short miles, let alone the 100s of other malls and stores in Mpls/St. Paul. She will have plenty of time to shop for gear. Given layering buying the right coat w/o trying on can be tricky. Frankly I would LET IT GO and let her figure it out once she is here.

Well, keep in mind there is a big difference between what is cool/acceptable in high school in California, and college in Minnesota. And don't forget that, far as I can tell, no one who has responded so far is a college student. I'm afraid we are all old fogeys hoping to do the right thing for the kid. Knee length down coat? Not a chance on a Wisconsin college girl unless she's at least 30, I promise you.

And socks, hats, boots and scarfs are fashion items best left to the whims of the girl/times. Quality? Don't worry about it. I don't think is as important as fashion to kids at this point. Quantity is more important, unfortunately.

Think back to when we started college. Did we wear what our sensible mothers wanted us to wear? Hmmm,

I bought those very llbean duck boots as a high school senior and regretted it for all four of my college years. My feet were often cold. Cold enough that I remember it twenty years later. But I didn't feel I could ask my parents to spend more money on boots when I had picked them. So that's where I'm coming from in suggesting that there be some parental assistance in purchasing the more practical items.

Down coats and jackets are on sale now, so it's a good time to buy. Not all mid and knee-length down coats are dowdy. Check out the North Face coats and Columbia's Lay D mid jacket.

This is the Lay D jacket

Thanks everyone for so many great suggestions and advice! It's in the low 50s here today (brrr) and dh has a roaring fire going! I know the weather will be a shock to her and be a big adjustment, but she is young so she'll adapt. I think I'll get her a few things now and we can shop there in the fall. Anything else she can buy or order herself or ask me to get later. She is the youngest of our three and the only girl (we waited 7 years between our 2nd and her) and it feels impossible that she will be leaving already! She has always been very easy going and still hangs out with us all the time, so it will feel weird without her here.

@arcy_gw: why do you think Boston is a better experience? I love visiting Boston, but is there a particular reason why the school experience is better?

Was it BU she was considering? Or BC? Or somewhere else? BU is soooo expensive.

It's been a little over a decade since I was in college, but I remember thinking the long down jackets were not fashionable then. Perhaps that has changed. (For the record, I would wear them now -- it just wasn't "cool" at the time.) I think arming her with some basics from the start is a good plan... and then let her decide what she needs and/or likes once she gets there.

As for buying layers- I support the idea. True, classrooms and dorms should be warm, but..... football games, concerts and other outdoor activities are not warm! I walked (or biked) miles and miles in college throughout winter. It was nice to have layers and/or the basics to stay warm.

Second the wait-and-buy approach. My college was in a somewhat rural area. People showed up freshman year with all kinds of funky finery, and by senior year everyone was wearing what suited the area--sweats and work boots. I ended up shipping a lot of clothes back home.

I *would* buy at least two sets of good thermal underwear and a few pairs of various weights of wool socks.

i gotta say, i didn't wear long underwear until i was about 40!! not even when skiing for the day! i don't think i was very different than my friends either that way! if anything, i think i ran a little cooler...

most of the time, when outside she will probably be 'playing' or running to classes. if she loves football, she will go to games on some cold days, but long underwear??? i don't think so! (maybe a nip of something to stay warm...:)

The other thing to consider is that she will probably not have room in her dorm to store bulky items that she might only wear during blizzards or extremely cold temperatures. Light weight tech layers will help make the regular cold weather gear more comfortable during extreme weather.

Hand and toe warmers.

We moved from So Cal to Michigan 10 years ago and I have to agree about her waiting to buy until she's in the area but I'd still be prepared to invest in a good down coat and boots. It also doesn't mean you can't prepare her in other ways too as there are lots of adjustments to make when living in severely cold weather. For example, if she's going to be driving, she really needs to understand about driving in icy conditions and snow. I had never heard of black ice until I went sliding through an intersection on it. It certainly would have been helpful to know about that before hand. Also, there is cold and then there is COLD. I was forwarned that it was cold but will never forget the first time I felt 22 degrees with a 10 degree windchill. My only source of warmth was a summer jacket and in the time it took to fill my tank, my hands were beyond frozen and numb. For a brief moment, I thought are we nuts!!! What the H*ll have we done? It's a real shocker for any age. I'm not trying to scare you, but having a little bit of a heads up before hand can really make a difference.

All this reminds me of my neighbors from Tennessee. We were chatting, getting acquainted, just after they moved in that summer. Mrs asked why all the fire hydrants have six foot red poles on them. She almost fainted when I explained it was so the firefighters could find the hydrants after the snow plows go by, and that we shovel them out during/after every snow fall. Poor woman almost fled Wisconsin that very moment.

And even though I am now an old lady, I have never worn long underwear. Neither does anyone I know.

Agree with the wait and see approach - you will see the students in the dorms converging quickly, fashion-wise and it may be a waste of money to get something nice and practical (depending on the student). I spent a few years in Montreal wearing a terrible thin wool coat in -40 weather because it looked good. Looking back - what a terrible idea but at the time I thought I was pretty happening. Not to mention kids sometimes change size in fall of freshman year...

I only skimmed responses but I didn't notice if anyone mentioned North Face? That is the coat of choice for all teenagers around here (Boston). Either down or fleece. Occasionally, my DD will layer a North Face down vest over her North Face fleece jacket. My DS goes to school in Syracuse NY and he also likes his North Face jackets (he has a down jacket plus another one that isn't down but is windproof, or something) although last year he asked for a wool duffle coat from LL Bean (which I don't even think he wears). He has a lot of sweaters (not wool, because we don't need a dry cleaning bill) and fleece half-zip pullovers (Lands End has good sales on these periodically). And definitely lots of warm socks.

DS and DD both have, and love, the LL Bean duck boots. All the HS kids here wear them, and I know DS wears them a ton at college. They both say they are comfortable and warm. They take forever to order -- we ordered DD's boots in Sept. or Oct., and they just arrived a few weeks ago.

I work at a college in the frozen north, and my office window looks out on a path that gads of students (mostly girls) walk by every day to get from dorm to class. They are from all over the country. I have to laugh when every year, at least once, the whole campus gets a cautionary note from the campus safety office warning people to dress properly, particularly with footwear for icy conditions. I've seen the gamut, from dorky-warm to stylish-warm to ridiculously-under-dressed IMHO and mostly looking miserable under those conditions. So a lot depends on your daughter and her approach. Also her personal sense of style and frankly, her major!

I was a natural resources major as an undergrad and now work in the biology dept. The clothing ethos in NR has always been focus on the practical. The uniform was hiking boots, plaid shirt with probably waffle weave long underwear underneath, jeans and a down coat or vest. Wool hat, scarf and mittens and windproof down or polartec coat for outside. No one would look askance at you and think you were a dork around the NR building and in class, in fact if you dressed in heels and a thin coat, then you would be labeled a dork! In the biology dept. most students are pre med/vet/dentistry, and their minds are on their books, comfort is the main concern because you'll need to be studying for long hours and you don't want to be distracted by clothing items or lack thereof. For other majors, all bets are off.

Popular and sensible items seem to be stylish boots, which almost all gals here wear, either with pants or leggings, and some kind of head covering that doesn't give you hat hair! Cute hoods, cowl scarves, earmuffs and headbands are popular. Nice wool socks will never be a bad item to have around. The rest is personal style. The coat style Tibbrix posted is popular around here, but not to everyone's taste. I have a waterproof, windproof jacket that is my absolute go-to item to wear, either on iffy warmer days, or over a winter jacket to provide extra protection. It is expensive but good ones can wear like iron. Can be folded up into little sacks and stashed to have with you just in case. Oh, and the day they dropped me off to college, my folks got me a long cardigan/coat sweater. I loved it, wore it all the time, and still have it! Oh, and I've always been a long underwear devotee, but I'm always cold. You might discuss with your daughter getting a kind of long underwear that she can wear under most of her clothing, something stretchy and close fitting if she goes for a more form fitting look.

When I was in college, I wore a lot of men's clothes, although now the lumberjack look is available for both sexes, having gone in and out of style for youth during the "grunge" era. Maybe that's why I never got married, lol! My current SO likes what he calls a "sporty" look, so I guess I am OK.

I don't come from the extreme cold north, but bought a pair of Bogs and even though they are rated for very cold, they are SLICK on the treads, even in rain, so I would never trust them on ice or snow. I'd look for boots that have guaranteed traction from LL Bean or similar and return the Bogs. Maybe Uggs with Vibram soles.

Having lived in Boston and Wisconsin ... I would choose Boston for school. It is a great city for students and a large percentage of them never leave the area after they graduate.