

Worth staying in Austin? - principia1

I started Physics grad school this Fall, but I have recently considered dropping out in order to find a job in industry (I'd like to work at a startup). I know this could look really bad to employers, but I just have no motivation to continue my studies<p>Recently I've been working on a programming project on my own (a sort of video game), as a way to improve my programming skills, and I've been working on it with alot more motivation than studying for my Physics classes. I'm still fairly new to programming so I can't say I'm committed to programming over Physics yet<p>Anyways, the semester is almost over and I have to make a decision soon as to whether to move back home (Los Angeles) or stay in Austin to find a job. Ideally, I would like to work as a programmer for a computer software startup. That is because after reading Paul Graham's essays, I think I'm willing to take the risks involved in running my own business or joining someone else's startup.<p>But my programming skills aren't that great and my statistical analysis software skills aren't either (I've only used SPSS minimally). Also, I have no idea as to what kind of startup I'd like to work for. I'm not interested in Iphone apps, social networking, etc. But analytics seems pretty interesting.<p>Would I really be missing out on alot of opportunities if I moved back to LA instead of staying here in Austin?
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Skywing
Nothing says you cannot continue your education back in LA. Also, nothing says
you cannot dive deeper into the world of startups in Austin, either. If I were
you, I'd put some more thought into what you actually want to do. You sound
interested in programming and startups, but I don't think it sounds like you
know enough to actually know what you'd be getting yourself into if you just
moved back to LA immediately. With how much programming you describe yourself
as knowing, it would probably be difficult to find a job at a startup, too.

I guess it all just depends on your scenario and stuff, but from what you've
described, I'd say stick it out with at least another semester, but make it a
goal of yours to really think about what you want to do during that semester.

