YouMoo!: Quit College
[Question][1]: Do you think [quitting school][2] (college) is a “good thing?”
[1]: http://nslog.com/archives/2005/09/24/qotd_quit_college.php
[2]: http://wilshipley.com/blog/2005/09/quit-school-and-set-things-on-fire.html
As a holder of three different degrees ([BS][],[MEng][], [MBA][]) I think that Wil in the original article is right: if you want to be like him then there is no reason for you to be in college. College will train you for a completely different environment than going out and just experiencing the real world. This shouldn’t be taken to mean that everyone drop out of (or never start) college:
* If you want to work 8 hour days at an existing corporation, you will need to get a degree. (But if you’ve got the drive and the talent to go make it on your own (or with a group of friends), then feel free to skip college.)
* If you want to do something that requires a degree (like teacher, doctor or engineer), you will need to get a degree. (How many people would visit a pyromaniacal family practitioner with no degree?)
* If you want to have mobility between many corporations, you will most likely need a degree.
[BS]: http://louisville.edu/speed/cecs/
[MEng]: http://louisville.edu/speed/cecs/
[MBA]: http://cbpa.louisville.edu/
So why do companies prefer people with a degree? It tilts the odds a little further in their favor that they get someone who is worth his salt, since the interview process of non-professional workers is pretty much a crap shoot anyway. They get someone who has proven that they can start a project and finish it some number of years later without throwing in the towel. They get an employee that has had to work on teams and give presentations. They get someone who has a little bit of an idea about what life in corporate America will be. They get someone, who a some level, has already proven himself.