I have a real problem with the way a large number of people on HN dismiss college because there are better & less expensive ways to learn the things you need to know and get the credentials you need. Of course there are. The diagnosis is correct, but the prescription is wrong.<p>There is no better & less expensive way for someone between the ages of 18 and 21 to surround themselves with people the same age, who are as smart as they are, and learn how to be a positive social creature.<p>Maybe it's because I have a liberal arts degree instead of an engineering degree, but college taught me how to be a person, in the broadest sense. I'm perfectly happy to admit I went to college because that was "the thing to do," and I'm glad I can relate to so many people by virtue of having done it.<p>My best friends are still the 5 people living on my freshman floor who played counterstrike on 2ms ping university servers at 4am with our doors open, shouting at each other down the hall.<p>College is FUN. F-U-N. It is a highly structured 4-year period where you have exactly 2 responsibilities: graduate and don't die.<p>Sure, there might be less expensive ways to socialize, but none that so forcefully eject you from the shell you built around yourself in high school - something I suspect many who hope to eventually be in startups have built. You can say "oh, go to tech meetups", but you can still stand in the corner there, an intimidated 18-year old, just as easily as anywhere else.<p>If you can take Guy Kawasaki's advice: live off your parents as long as humanly possible. And if you have to pay for college yourself, consider it an investment in what many people consider the best 4 years of their lives.
I made an account just to comment on this blog...<p>The part about the rocket scientist just irked me. Why are you trying to impress upon someone else your beliefs on the importance of money? Some of the brightest people I know are also the most distant from material goods; as long as they have a fully belly and a roof over their heads, they are completely satisfied working on what they want, regardless of monetary compensation.<p>Of course, HN is full of people chasing after money, but personally, I have a great respect for people who perform great work for the sake of great work, and I would NEVER chastise them for not hungering for wealth.
Albert Einstein:<p>"Education is what is left after you've forgotten everything you've learned."<p>Learning only things you think you'll need (e.g. coding) limits your thinking considerably. I always find it amazing how knowledge from absolutely unrelated fields helps me to solve specific problems.
Brilliantly written, despite the seemingly over-discussed topic - esp. here on HN.<p>"Private victory precedes public victory" - this resonated most with me.
Rule of thumb: if it has hard Math in it (engineering, physics...) or labs/facilities you cannot afford (chemistry...) or it requires a degree to work (medicine...) or you want to be a professor go to college, otherwise (literature, languages, philosophy, history...) you can do it on your own, it will be mostly on books.<p>Computer science is an edge case since it has some math/logic in it, that's why every two months there's a heated thread in HN/reddit/etc that started by someone asking or answering "do I need to go to college to be a software developer?" or similar.
Many people who advocate or encourage skipping college in favor of experience/entrepreneurship overlook one thing: how difficult it is to succeed. Most real-world businesses end up failing and online entrepreneurship can be just as cut-throat (if not more), having a college-level degree gives you at least something to fall back on. College is also a great networking tool to build the relations that can one day help your startup.
"3. Selling bottled water for more than you paid on a hot day accomplishes this, and you could make decent coin doing it…"<p>I took the most exception at this comment for some reason. I guess because it seems like a serious suggestion instead of an example of what I understand as arbitrage. Maybe because it seems the most hand-wavey of all the suggestions.<p>Yeah, you can sell bottled water on the beach for more than you paid but, I think it's dubious to say that you can make decent coin in the long, or even mid-term. When I think "decent coin" I think of an income that can support my lifestyle and family.<p>Valuable as a way to learn about business? Sure.
Pretty vague: thesis is you only need to add value, and skim some of that value for yourself. Gosh, wish I'd thought of that.<p>How about: develop the skills to let you do either of those? Any guidance there? No, just some handwaving about college either being useful or maybe not.