

College Optional - lwc123
http://larrycheng.com/2009/08/26/college-optional/

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Locke1689
_Bill Gates, Founder and Chairman, Microsoft Paul Allen, Founder and Chairman,
Vulcan Group_

Truly awful examples. First, if these two are examples then the title should
not be "College optional" it should be "Degree optional." Gates and Allen both
dropped out of Harvard without degrees, but that doesn't mean that they didn't
gain the benefit of Harvard while they were there. Gates, for one, published a
paper[1].

[1]
[http://66.102.1.104/scholar?q=cache:YiLhtZUyuZ4J:scholar.goo...](http://66.102.1.104/scholar?q=cache:YiLhtZUyuZ4J:scholar.google.com/+author:%22Gates%22+intitle:%22Bounds+for+sorting+by+prefix+reversal%22+&hl=en)

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embeddedradical
that and other resources.

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nuweborder
Regardless, you have to look at both options, because they both have their
positives. It really depends on the person no matter what. One could be
college educated and know the books, and have no business savvy, and have no
experience or knowledge of developing a startup. And at the same time, someone
could be a experienced hacker, and web programmer but not educated at all, and
have not business savvy, and have no idea of how to take their talent to the
next level with their own startup. Personally, your best bet is to hire or
invest in the person that has both. Not only is educated, but has great
business savvy, and experience in building a web startup. Neither a college
education, nor experience can stand alone and be as potent as if they are to
work together. Clearly it has been proven that you do not need a degree, such
as the success of Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, and that you dont need to
be a hacker, or have great experience or business savvy, such as George W.
Bush. But why not have both in someone like Donald Trump? College or no
college. Both sides hold significant value. It just depends on the candidate
your reviewing, and what they bring to the table.

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tokenadult
Supposing you want to hire someone to work for your start-up, would you
completely disregard an applicant's presence or absence of a college degree?
What would be your hiring screen? (Does that vary depending on what kind of
job you are hiring for?)

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bokonist
Personally, I view colleges in the following way:

a) a degree from a top-tier college is a slight plus, because at least someone
has screened you before

b) a degree from the flag ship state school is neutral, because it doesn't
really say anything about you

b) a degree from a lower tier private college is a slight minus, because it
indicates you might not have been smart enough to get into a better college.
Of course there could have been other factors, such as location, scholarships,
etc. that explain the choice. So I try not to let it bias me.

c) no degree is a slight plus, because it means you learned all your skills
through self-motivation

That said, I try not to pay much attention to degree. I kind of wish people
didn't list it at all. The worst interview I've done in the last year was an
MIT computer science student. Some of our best developers have been from
second or third tier schools.

A portfolio or a list of stuff you have actually built is by far the best
thing to have on your resume.

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tokenadult
_a degree from a lower tier private college is a slight minus_

What are some examples of "a lower tier private college" to illustrate this
statement?

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bokonist
Something like Lehigh, George Washington, or Kenyon.

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balding_n_tired
Kenyon? It had a very good reputation at one time.

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mmt
_At the end of the day, I’m not sure that the traditional college educational
process of reading a textbook, listening to a lecture, and then taking a test
is a process that is often replicated in the real world of business._

Now there's what I consider a shocking understatement.

I, however, am quite sure that this traditional process is not often
replicated in any real world, including business.

