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College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

danieltenner.com

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Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#11

Post by vaksel »

tjogin wrote: post #10
vaksel wrote: post #7

Why not both? I mean seriously at school worst case scenario you spend 30 hours a week going to class/doing homework. Thats a worst case scenario where you have 22 credits + homework. Plenty of time to do a startup on the side, especially in the early stage where you have slow growth. And its not like you have to become a hermit, you have plenty of time to have a social life

Well, one obvious downside is a mountain of debt.

Yes, but for that you get the following:

a) Interest free debt that you don't have to even think about for 4.5 years, and even then you only pay back a few hundred bucks a month and if you can't they'll work with you to defer payments or adjust them.

b) No other expenses for the 4 years(rent, food, high speed internet, utilities), nothing to worry about but school and startup.(this is if you live on campus..which you should since your loan can cover housing)

c) Plenty of engineering talent all over the campus who can take a risk with you and even work for free

d) Plenty of people who you can consult for advice(teachers/councilors)

e) Access to alumnis who you can eventually tap for angel level funding

f) No obligation to show up to classes/do homework...yes your grades will suffer(if you mess up on finals), but if you are doing a startup, you don't really need to care about grades, and this way you can be very flexible

And sure you'll end up 40-200K in debt, but so what? Everyone else is in the same situation as you. But unlike them who'll get a job at $40k/yr, you'll have a startup that you had 4 years to grow to profitability. And it doesn't matter what business model you have, in 4 years anyone can get profitable.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#12

Post by JeremyChase »

tjogin wrote: post #10
vaksel wrote: post #7

Why not both? I mean seriously at school worst case scenario you spend 30 hours a week going to class/doing homework. Thats a worst case scenario where you have 22 credits + homework. Plenty of time to do a startup on the side, especially in the early stage where you have slow growth. And its not like you have to become a hermit, you have plenty of time to have a social life

Well, one obvious downside is a mountain of debt.

I agree with Vaksel entirely. I have two degrees and during both I performed well academically and had more free time than I care to mention; Certainly enough to get a side project started, and I did just that during my second degree.

I also think the article makes a great point in that you can always drop out. If college isn't for you; you can leave.

tjogin; Private colleges are expensive, but if you go to state schools it is not. You still have to deal with feeding yourself and housing, but the courses are only a couple thousand per year. You barely get a used car for that little. :)

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#13

Post by Zev »

awt wrote: post #8

What I think would be cool is if somehow high school could be replaced with college. Allow people to specialize earlier, and hey, if it turns out they're not interested in their specialization, at least they found out 4 years earlier.

What happens if someone spends 3 years in a specialization they picked out when they were 12 or 13 and realize they hate it? You can't reasonably expect people that age to know what they want to do for the rest of their life.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#14

Post by otto »

tjogin wrote: post #10
vaksel wrote: post #7

Why not both? I mean seriously at school worst case scenario you spend 30 hours a week going to class/doing homework. Thats a worst case scenario where you have 22 credits + homework. Plenty of time to do a startup on the side, especially in the early stage where you have slow growth. And its not like you have to become a hermit, you have plenty of time to have a social life

Well, one obvious downside is a mountain of debt.

That really depends on how you plan things.If you want to go to college you will find the means for it.

I personally planned financially for it, applied for as many scholarships as I could, hold 2 jobs and work through holidays. Not to mention there are ways to reduce the cost of a degree. Take general ed classes at a community college and then transfer credits.

I'll be finishing my second bachelors degree in Mathematics(finished my CS degree already) with no debt.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#15

Post by tigerthink »

wheels wrote: post #3

The main reason I'm usually not a huge fan of the college-no-college discussions is because they're "big identity" discussions ( http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html ). Most readers of this site made a choice when they were kids or very near to it and the position that they defend tends to reflect the choice, well informed or otherwise, that they made then.

Good point. Did anyone do one or the other and regret it?

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#16

Post by ph0rque »

tigerthink wrote: post #15
wheels wrote: post #3

The main reason I'm usually not a huge fan of the college-no-college discussions is because they're "big identity" discussions ( http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html ). Most readers of this site made a choice when they were kids or very near to it and the position that they defend tends to reflect the choice, well informed or otherwise, that they made then.

Good point. Did anyone do one or the other and regret it?

I regret my college loans... like I said elsewhere in this comment thread, if I could do it over, I'd make it as cheap as possible for myself.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#17

Post by quilby »

Im 16 and I dropped out of school to go learn CS at a university (tau.ac.il).

1. Some of the professors are not interested in teaching- they do it because they have to. They rarely answer questions and go way to fast over the material.

2. We have to take many math courses. I was very interested in math until I got to university. Why? Because if you have a bad teacher you cant learn a lot.

3. Out of the about 300 people that learn with me in various courses there are probably less than 10 who are actually interested in CS (ie. program outside of school...).

4. Because of (1.) it is actually easier to learn from a book and much more efficient. You just need someone to answer the questions that you get here and there.

The whole thing just isnt fun at all... not even close. I really dont know what to do.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#18

Post by jaymstr »

ph0rque wrote: post #5
jaymstr wrote: post #4

This is a tough one. I sometimes regret choosing to go to college, but it truly changed everything for me. I studied Materials Engineering, and now I'm doing a web startup, but I really believe the college experience, the connections I've made, and the failure in multiple ways in college (not in classes thankfully) has helped me prepare to take the leap to full time entrepreneur.

Yup... if I knew then what I knew now (a moot point, admittedly), I'd audit classes or do the cheapest possible thing to be associated with the university without paying for it, and simultaneously work on startups/projects.

I wouldn't say it is the classes though. College transformed me as a person and forced me to grow up. Maybe it helps that I go to Drexel where we have co-op (school for 6 months, work for 6 months, repeat). Anyway, I would not have been prepared to lead a start up right out of high school. Today, I think I'm ready.

Re: College vs Start-up - It's not about the job

#20

Post by ph0rque »

jaymstr wrote: post #18
ph0rque wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup... if I knew then what I knew now (a moot point, admittedly), I'd audit classes or do the cheapest possible thing to be associated with the university without paying for it, and simultaneously work on startups/projects.

I wouldn't say it is the classes though. College transformed me as a person and forced me to grow up. Maybe it helps that I go to Drexel where we have co-op (school for 6 months, work for 6 months, repeat). Anyway, I would not have been prepared to lead a start up right out of high school. Today, I think I'm ready.

Sure... I meant participate in a startup/project, not lead it right away.
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