College is totally worthless. Everyone is the very smart entrepreneurial type like we all of course are, and already posses the vast majority of skills that they'll ever need in life. Indeed, college for them would be nothing more than nights spent alone in their dorm room working on their next failed startup and leaving comments around the Internet about how much more successful they'd be if they stayed out of college. Man, now if only they could get invited to a party or talk to a girl.
Is College Really Worth It?
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Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#12Seeing this question really bothers me.
Because it's a impossible question to answer, it's too broad and there are so many factors.
The Major and the school. Each and every one is so different, I don't really see if it makes any sense to even average them together.
Personal need and motivation? Are you there to learn and challenge your self, or for the social experience, or just to do the lowest possible to get a piece of paper that says Degree.
Indirect opportunities. For example meeting great researchers and professors and working side by side with them in some cases. Internship opportunities. Social networking and meeting people.
Causation vs. Correlation. Are people who go to college more successful because of college, or are those people bound to be successful anyway, they just happen to go to college.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#13wait; has anyone considered this: college is fun.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#14wait; has anyone considered this: college is fun.
It's educational and gives you a place you could meet future co-founders as well. I feel like people look at college from a purely educational perspective, which isn't exactly correct. If you're going to college just for the education, you're in the wrong place, if you ask me.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#15wait; has anyone considered this: college is fun.
It's educational and gives you a place you could meet future co-founders as well. I feel like people look at college from a purely educational perspective, which isn't exactly correct. If you're going to college just for the education, you're in the wrong place, if you ask me.
Then again then college isn't the only way you can do those things. Perhaps if college didn't exist, there could be something filling the void that's not only more efficient at educating, but at fulfilling those things too.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#16Not if you're smart and motivated it's not. I went to High School with a guy named Chris. He dropped out of college to do programming work, and I stayed on, eventually going to grad school. Now he's the founder of GitHub and I'm some no-name programmer working for a financial company nobody's ever heard of.
I don't think you even have to be smart, because college really just forces people who aren't really motivated to learn, to learn. I mean what's a better substitute for motivation than the threat of thousands of dollars going down the drain because you failed.
EDIT: and really even with the forcing learning is not guaranteed.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#17Excellent question. For coders trying to maximize their probability of getting rich enough not to worry about money by the time they are 25 or 30, I'm sure going to college is an awful bet, especially in the US, where college education is expensive. And the more education you get, the worse of a bet it is (I have a PhD from an Ivy League school, BTW, as does pg, I think)
However, some important work and innovation absolutely requires higher education. For example, you are extremely unlikely to learn linear algebra and matrix theory "on the job", while running a startup, or even if you are just relaxing at home with nothing else to do for a few years.
tl;dr: don't go to college, but expect to have your
horizons limitedRe: Is College Really Worth It?
#18You could probably actually buy two Ferrari F430s once you take into account all of the student loan interest.
This kills me -- I've seen so many financial illustrations about the miracle of compound interest and the true cost of a loan. But these lessons are never applied to paying off an onerous student loan until middle age.
This unexamined attitude of education as an unqualified good has already led a lot of young people overpaying for professional education of questionable benefit, and now to even more taking on unreasonable debt in pursuit of a bachelor's degree.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#19Excellent question. For coders trying to maximize their probability of getting rich enough not to worry about money by the time they are 25 or 30, I'm sure going to college is an awful bet, especially in the US, where college education is expensive. And the more education you get, the worse of a bet it is (I have a PhD from an Ivy League school, BTW, as does pg, I think) However, some important work and innovation ab…
> you are extremely unlikely to learn linear algebra and matrix theory "on the job"
Why? All of the information is available in books and on Wikipedia. Nowadays you can learn nearly anything for free with just an internet connection and some dedication. The biggest potential impediment is be a self-defeating attitude that prevents you from trying.
On the other hand, don't expect learning "on the job" to mean that you'll get paid to learn.
Re: Is College Really Worth It?
#20Not if you're smart and motivated it's not. I went to High School with a guy named Chris. He dropped out of college to do programming work, and I stayed on, eventually going to grad school. Now he's the founder of GitHub and I'm some no-name programmer working for a financial company nobody's ever heard of.
Sheerly out of curiosity, outside of your anecdote, what evidence or credentials do you have to make that claim?
Now, I'm not saying you're unqualified or wrong to make that claim — I merely would like to know what you're basing that statement upon. I see a lot of people make statements like this one based on a few prominent data points, completely ignoring the vast number of data points that don't fit their claim. It seems wrong, especially for a community so hell-bent on accurate, useful data.