
15 Successful Entrepreneurs Who Didn't Need College - transburgh
http://www.college-startup.com/college/15-successful-entrepreneurs-who-didnt-need-college/
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pg
This is a very misleading article. Many of the people they use as examples
come from an earlier era when college was much less common. Of the recent
founders they mention, most did go to college; they just didn't graduate.

My advice would be: college is valuable, but what's valuable about it is the
experience, not the degree.

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nitam
My thoughts exactly but i am having tough time conveying that to others. I am
not sure if it is inherent human "thing" to like titles or it will slowly fade
away like having finished high/elementary school.

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dfranke
> will slowly fade away like having finished high/elementary school

The only reason that has faded away is that it is now taken for granted.

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trekker7
See it's not that I wanted to go to college. What happened was, I turned 18,
and what do you know I wasn't yet a billionaire entrepreneur.

College is a back-up option that lets you get a job and make 60k a year to
support yourself, just in case you don't go IPO before your parents kick you
out. In my experience it's pretty tough to get a job without a college degree,
but if you're a brilliant hacker you'd probably get hired regardless.

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mrtron
It is difficult for a brilliant hacker to get hired, especially for what they
are really worth, with no track record. Going to a good college and excelling
is a good starting track record.

Also, you must continue to live in your parent's basement, who else would
guard the fort?

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jey
Build your own track record (by writing code). After all, having a 4.0 GPA
isn't much of a differentiator, and GPA is a poor indicator of programming
ability anyway.

It's possible to get a good programming job without a college degree as long
as you've done enough interesting coding projects outside of school. I didn't
have any trouble landing interviews after I got kicked out of college, and I
chalk this up almost entirely to the fact that I was able to fill out my
resume with hobby projects I'd done previously. With a barren resume I
would've been dismissed at the first filter, regardless of what I _claimed_ to
be able to do.

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hello_moto
4.0 GPA shows the other side of you: discipline, be able to set your priority,
focused and of course, intelligence. You wouldn't get 4.0 if you're not smart,
except if you go to Podunk college.

Of course it doesn't necessarily translate to good programming ability because
one has no 10 years programming experience. But it's what people perceived to
be "RAW talent".

By the way, there are people who are good at programming but not great at
solving complex problem. There's a reason why Google hired PhD and MSc to
build the search engine. Compare that to Reddit people. Reddit people can code
I give them that, but they can't write a site "search" feature.

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jey
A 4.0 GPA just shows that you can do all of the rote busy work and that you
care about your GPA. It shows that you can memorize enough of the crap to
regurgitate it on the test. Smart people can do that too, but you don't need
to be smart to get a 4.0. You just need to give the professor whatever (s)he
expects. If you want to do well in school, you'd do best to not think and just
do exactly what you're told. This is the secret to earning a 4.0 GPA.

I agree that a 4.0 GPA shows "discipline", so if you're looking to raise an
army of robots, you probably would do best to reject anyone who doesn't have a
4.0 GPA. I disagree that it indicates your "priorities" are straight -- all it
shows is that your priorities are aligned with the priorities that are
socially prescribed, not that you have your priorities figured out. Why
_should_ someone place a high importance on GPA? Isn't it just a waste of time
and effort? Aren't happiness, learning, and curiosity more important?

" _By the way, there are people who are good at programming but not great at
solving complex problem._ "

I fully agree. But I think the implication here is that people with a 4.0 are
good at solving complex problems. If so, that's total bullshit. You can get
through a Computer Science degree never solving any hard problem nor thinking
at all. You have to copy the example the professor gives and follow his
recommendation as closely as possible. If you show any creativity or thought,
you will be punished.

People with a 4.0 who solve hard problems aren't able to solve problems
_because_ of their 4.0s -- they are able to solve them _despite_ their 4.0s.
They were able to get a 4.0 GPA without turning into a robot, now _that_ is
impressive!

If I was hiring programmers, I wouldn't dismiss someone for having a 4.0 GPA,
but having a 4.0 doesn't tell me anything useful about them at all. They still
have to prove themselves to me, from scratch. Having a 4.0 would put up one
barrier though: they'd have to also show me that they didn't have a robot's
personality.

/if it isn't already obvious from the acerbic tone of this post, yes, I had a
bad time in the school system :)

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yters
Is there any substantial point to institutional higher education today? The
only possibilities I can think of are: 1\. Research that isn't tied down by
practical concerns. 2\. Professors can help people learn the material faster
than on their own.

1 is good, and from my very limited knowledge seems to be fairly strong, but
fading, in academia. 2, of course, depends on the person, and the emphasis on
grades can slow a person down, as you say. I'm churning through the busy work
right now in my courses, since grades still matter at least for their
appearance.

In my opinion, our educational model needs to be majorly revamped, or
augmented. I know a couple people here went to Amherst, and I quite liked what
I saw on their website.

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jey
I think we need a cultural shift that places less emphasis on grades and
college, and more emphasis on results and direction. I think most people will
still go to college, but there need to be socially endorsed options for people
who don't want to go to college, or can't handle college. But yeah, I agree
that the educational system needs to be fixed, majorly.

My mom still wishes I had a college degree so that I would have the stamp of
being a bona fide "educated person". She knows I am doing fine and that I have
options in life, but she thinks it'd be great if I went back and finished my
BS. At least she gave up on the idea that some day I'd grow up to be a
neurosurgeon... :-)

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hello_moto
What happened these days is that company like Google and Microsoft higher
smart and experienced students.

If you have 3.2 GPA and have experience with open source, you're qualified to
be interviewed.

If you have 4.0 GPA, you're also qualified.

If you have 4.0 GPA and have experience (internship), you'll get an offer :).

It's both. Everybody wants the best talent available. For students coming out
the school, GPA is what differentiate them the most because companies do not
expect them to have tons of experience. They're hiring talent.

I don't know why we need this huge cultural shift and stuff like that because
clearly our current systems are working fine.

There are outliers (people who have 4.0 GPA but sucks at coding), it's
unfortunate but everybody has to deal with outliers everywhere and anywhere.

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gibsonf1
Nice that they included Frank Lloyd Wright :)

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downer
College happens to be a pretty good place to meet co-founders.

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imsteve
But somehow I only met pretty girls. I must have done it wrong.

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downer
Nah, Cisco did the same thing.

