

College or not? - sahillavingia
http://sahillavingia.com/blog/college-or-not/

======
noahkagan
Sometimes I regret going to College. I hardly learned anything. The bigger
thing I got out was how to organize myself and socialize.

In hindsight if I had momentum around an idea I'd have preferred to go work on
that directly. Personally I learn way more through doing than reading.

------
ryanmickle
Congrats Sahil, on your decision to take some time. I trust that you'll
quickly fall in love with the energy and meritocratic environment that is the
startup world. Also know that you always can go back, even if USC doesn't
normally allow it, the lessons you'll likely learn in the "real world" will
make you a better student, if you chose to return (looking back I'm sure many
of us wish we could do it "all over again").

I have a good friend who was offered the opportunity to work for a startup out
of high school in 1999 after he finished an internship. Long story short, the
company sold to Netscape and he always speaks highly of his experiences and
the people he met. When he returned to school, rather than graduating "into" a
decimated Silicon Valley job market, he rode the bubble until the 101 felt
like a ghost town during rush hour. And he made his way back to school, where
he was able to get exactly the education he knew he needed, based on
experience. Now, just for the purposes of the case of one example, he is a YC
W10 founder.

Obviously, dropping out of school to work as broad-stroked advice probably
doesn't make sense, but in the case of a talented, driven entrepreneur like
yourself, I say go for it.

------
powertower
I went to an engineering school that is ranked high in that department.

Many will disagree with me on this point, but I truly believe that "college
education" is a scam.

College was sold to me on the premises that 1) I would be taught my job
related skills there and 2) this experience would provide me with a job / or
at least prepare me for a job.

Neither of these things turned out to be true. Not even 20% true. But rather
0% true.

Nothing usable was taught and by the time I was a junior in my computer
engineering curriculum I doubt 50% of the class would be able to hook up a
couple of batteries to produce the correct voltage needed.

Huge classes, 60 point curves, theory and mathematics without practical
application, no hands on works that deals with real world use/cases.

Get them in, get them out, take their money.

I'm not saying college is useless, just that what is sold to you is not what
is delivered.

I run my own business now.

------
lwhalen
I studied electrical engineering at WPI for 4 years. They were going to push
me into a 5th to complete the degree, so I said "heck with this" and dropped
out. It was the best decision of my life, and after having paid down $60k of
my over $100k in debt, I consider my biggest mistake in life thusfar to be
'going to college' in the first place. I learned lots of cool theoretical
stuff with respect to dinking around with electricity and circuits, but
absolutely none of my classes prepared me for my 'real world' job of being a
sysadmin (for now). I have maybe _three_ people currently in my life that I
consider good close personal friends that I met in college, but they're
'friends'. Not 'business colleagues'. My advice? If you're a fairly well-
performing autodidact, don't bother with college and the staggering debt that
ensues.

------
phirephly
As a mechanical engineer, I felt that most of my classes were pretty useless.
Tons of theoretical analysis, etc etc. I then got my first job, and while they
were bringing me up to speed, I noticed that I was sure glad a knew a few
things from two or three of my classes.

I went back and talked to some of my friends, and they had the same reaction,
but with totally different classes for different companies.

So at least in MechE, a college degree gives you a light framework for the
employers to build on, and really is more-so just a certification that you're
not an idiot and can learn things.

------
angdis
There are, of course, exceptions but most people are better off if they finish
college. Yeah, I know... "Bill Gates", "Mark Zuckerberg", "<insert-any-one-in-
a-million-tycoon>", so what?

Without that degree, it still is the case that many doors are closed and you
have to work much harder and longer to get to the same places than those with
a degree.

And anyway, whatever happened to education for its own sake? Not everything
has to be vocationally/income centered.

------
idigit
I went to college for 2 years, then dropped out to peruse the startup world. I
can say that I've made many valuable connections being in the industry (more
so than in college), and I definitely don't regret my decision dropping out.

------
nwmcsween
Depends, do you like in depth and depending on the college/university cutting
edge knowledge? Education isn't about money it's about learning about what you
drive for.

