Seth's idea is one that i'm sure a lot of people have thought of recently. I know i have a bunch of ideas written on scrap paper about it. I'm just glad to see someone might be doing something cool to circumvent the current college standard.
As much as i talk about college being a big fat waste of time and money, I generally enjoyed my time spent there. I had an awesome marketing job with one of the greatest companies/brands in the world and made some stellar contacts. It was the job offers halfway through college that showed me that the experience was worth MUCH more than the diploma. Finding out that jobs that "require" college degrees really just require proof that you are capable and determined was a great realization.
If you can demonstrate to a company that you have what it takes, waiting for you to finish your degree could be a waste of time for all parties involved.
So if your goal is to get a good job... it is entirely possible without a degree. Your friends and family may tell you otherwise, and very few people will encourage you to drop out to take a job... but it's your decision. Having a degree hardly dictates your happiness or success as a person.
I ended up leaving school after 3.5 years. Not to take a job, just because it was clearly a waste of my time. I wanted to focus on starting/building my company, and school was just getting in the way of that. Incidentally I found (sorta like Seth) a way that I could get my last semester's worth of credits from my university - so i'll still have that "all mighty piece of paper" in a couple months.
My suggestion to people usually is: Do what you want! Fitting the social norm is easy and will probably work out for you, but it might not be the best choice. If I were to go to college again, I'd study something that interested me as a person. Not something that I felt was a happy medium between interesting and a safe career path.
You should go to college to learn about something you think is cool & enjoy your time spent there. Study art or music, history of physics... something that will make you want to attend early morning class discussions. Get involved on campus, network with people, and use your free-time to read and figure out how you're going to make your mark. If you're just going to school to prepare for a job... rethink why you'd spend your time and money being lectured and quizzed on material from drab books who's curriculum is behind the times anyway. If you are planning to start a company, you'll know for yourself if college is important to you or not.
shhh... don't tell anyone. they don't like to hear it!
well I do, but if only more people would too. alas, norms are norms.
by the way, the "reply" link above is also italicized. the tag is closed properly, but it is visibly inconsistent. just in case pg feels like changing it.
As much as i talk about college being a big fat waste of time and money, I generally enjoyed my time spent there. I had an awesome marketing job with one of the greatest companies/brands in the world and made some stellar contacts. It was the job offers halfway through college that showed me that the experience was worth MUCH more than the diploma. Finding out that jobs that "require" college degrees really just require proof that you are capable and determined was a great realization.
If you can demonstrate to a company that you have what it takes, waiting for you to finish your degree could be a waste of time for all parties involved.
So if your goal is to get a good job... it is entirely possible without a degree. Your friends and family may tell you otherwise, and very few people will encourage you to drop out to take a job... but it's your decision. Having a degree hardly dictates your happiness or success as a person.
I ended up leaving school after 3.5 years. Not to take a job, just because it was clearly a waste of my time. I wanted to focus on starting/building my company, and school was just getting in the way of that. Incidentally I found (sorta like Seth) a way that I could get my last semester's worth of credits from my university - so i'll still have that "all mighty piece of paper" in a couple months.
My suggestion to people usually is: Do what you want! Fitting the social norm is easy and will probably work out for you, but it might not be the best choice. If I were to go to college again, I'd study something that interested me as a person. Not something that I felt was a happy medium between interesting and a safe career path.
You should go to college to learn about something you think is cool & enjoy your time spent there. Study art or music, history of physics... something that will make you want to attend early morning class discussions. Get involved on campus, network with people, and use your free-time to read and figure out how you're going to make your mark. If you're just going to school to prepare for a job... rethink why you'd spend your time and money being lectured and quizzed on material from drab books who's curriculum is behind the times anyway. If you are planning to start a company, you'll know for yourself if college is important to you or not.