I find it particularly amusing that two of the most vocal advocates of dropping out of college are Peter Thiel and Mike Arrington—both of whom completed Stanford Law degrees. College dropouts Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are strong proponents of finishing your degrees. Even Steve Jobs talks about the importance of liberal arts education.
The funny part is, I would be more apt to take the advice of those that did finish. They attained a degree and experienced first hand the lack of advantage. By completing their degree they are the only ones in the position to fully evaluate whether it was worth it or not.
As someone who left school and then went back later in life because I fell prey to the "I need a degree mentality", I can certainly say that only after I finished school, that I am in a position to evaluate fully whether it was worth it or not. Only after I finished my degree, was I able to state unequivocally, that attaining the degree did nothing to further my career.
I achieved the status of CTO 3 times before ever completing it. After that, I became my own worst enemy and started to convince myself that I needed to return and seek the completion of a degree. So at the point before the degree, I most certainly would have been in the you need to finish camp. Only after completing and the removal of that insecurity, was I able to see that it had no effect and offered no advantage to where I was before.
Now I am not saying that individuals like Bill Gates are insecure about their lack of degree. but I do question whether they can truly make an evaluation the pro's and con's given that they have not completed the experience required to make a full evaluation.
I exactly understand your point. It is for that reason that I mention that I graduated from college. I have a degree but it did not take me to where I wanted to be. I remain a critic of the education system and I see that UnCollege addresses some valid issues about traditional colleges.
My main issue with this "Get my Piece of Paper" mentally is it seems that College is more about vanity than education. Which in my opinion it is. People go to College to have a degree not learn.
I understand that if you don't go to College in most industries then you won't get a job. But i'm not so convinced that if you want to start a tech startup or work for one that College is the most important thing. Most startup jobs pages are open to College degrees or experience/portfolio. Which UnCollege is vastly about, building experience and learning. I think those which are savvy are able to get opportunities to build experience, even early on when building experience. Such as internships, freelance work, etc.
I don't believe College is in any shape a bad choice, but for many it slows their progress (or wastes time) rather than accelerating them on their path. But I see the appeal, it'd be very easy for me to get through those years of College and apply for a job at one of the big names.
But i'm happy to face the possible risks. This issue is something i'm contemplating at the moment, as i've experienced education wasting my time and it's not a very enjoyable situation. I know i've still got a lot to learn but would rather do so on my own time.
Every time I read a critique of college education, my thought is this: you paid too much to do too little because you were focused on "getting a piece of paper". A better strategy is to use that time trying to know everything and probably not going to the most selective--and thus generally most expensive--school you can find.
The funny part is, I would be more apt to take the advice of those that did finish. They attained a degree and experienced first hand the lack of advantage. By completing their degree they are the only ones in the position to fully evaluate whether it was worth it or not.
As someone who left school and then went back later in life because I fell prey to the "I need a degree mentality", I can certainly say that only after I finished school, that I am in a position to evaluate fully whether it was worth it or not. Only after I finished my degree, was I able to state unequivocally, that attaining the degree did nothing to further my career.
I achieved the status of CTO 3 times before ever completing it. After that, I became my own worst enemy and started to convince myself that I needed to return and seek the completion of a degree. So at the point before the degree, I most certainly would have been in the you need to finish camp. Only after completing and the removal of that insecurity, was I able to see that it had no effect and offered no advantage to where I was before.
Now I am not saying that individuals like Bill Gates are insecure about their lack of degree. but I do question whether they can truly make an evaluation the pro's and con's given that they have not completed the experience required to make a full evaluation.