College vs Tech Job

I hope you can get the experience of college, for personal development and learning beyond your scope of natural experience would take you.But do the math. If you can't get a full-scholarship for school (tuition AND cost of living) you may put yourself behind financially. There are lot of people today in their early and mid-20s who are seriously questioning if their degree was worth it.Old [school] people and large companies like that education bullet point. If you want flexibility in your

I’d Would have liked to finish school. Startups rarely pay off and it’s incredibly difficult to find the time and space to dedicate to learning something really deeply and well later in life. On the other hand there is an entire other calculus regarding the debt load you are taking on but I’d value the upside (options etc) of the startup at 0 when doing that math.

Exploit the learning and networking resources at your school instead. If you show that you are motivated, there are faculty who will be happy to teach you everything you want to know for zero extra dollars, and might even pay you a small stipend for it. You are surrounded by smart, motivated co-students in a way you will not be when you enter the workforce and more than half of your colleagues enter a downward spiral of mediocrity and low-grade alcoholism.After you graduate (unless you're in

You're me almost a decade ago. A couple semesters into college, I picked up a part time role as a junior developer. Since, like you, I had already been programming for years, I exceeded expectations and became highly valued by my employer. Part time became full time, and I started to make a lot of money for a college kid. At the same time, I was learning so much from my work that school seemed to wane in utility, really only complicating my work schedule where I was being paid well to enric

Makes sense. I'm a woman with a BS degree already from a highly-ranked college, still considering applying to this school, however, because:I don't have the upfront money to pay tuition for other private schools. Total cost of a college degrees to job is ~$100K which is way higher. I don't want to spend 4 more years and accumulate a ton of loans. Colleges also don't share the risk with me of getting a job. This makes me think this school has much more incentive to educate

No, everything about it is nonsensical. Learning can be much more intense than in school just as working can be much more intense than in some 9 to 5 job. It's not a matter of age at all.Getting a degree has other benefits. You might develop a passion for something you didn't know before. Something that's not as approachable as PHP. Something harder. Instead of a one off payment, a degree might enable you to fund your own startup whenever you have that great idea or develop a passion for some

Why $50,000 in loans? How about a state school? You can always get an MS at a private school later.Getting a job may be easy now, but how about when it is like it was in 2001 or 2008? You will be competing for each job with several others who have a BSCS? That is for jobs that do not explicity require a BSCS. You may also be married with children then. You have the time now and lack financial obligations other than keeping yourself fed.I know people like John Carmack and Jamie Zawins

Yes. Exactly this. Please get a degree. You will have a great experience doing it and get a piece of paper that will make you employable at much higher salaries. Worst case you won't enjoy your time in college. Do it any way. Life is not about having everything your way every minute of your life. It is a marathon. Prepare yourself for the long haul.If you are worried about the debt there are plenty of great universities which are not all that expensive. Many schools also have the option of GA

Compariatively little is still 4 years or so of your life.You can earn money to make up for whatever you paid into college, but you can never get that time back.If going to school isn't going to help you earn more, then why focus on it full time? You could do continuing studies throughout your life to broaden your horizons, and focus your youthful studies on apprenticeship, internship, networking or a major that will actually help you earn more.

This should have been Ask HN, I suppose. The answer is it depends.If you're outside of the field, looking to break into an entry-level position, and would like to have your hand held the whole time, it possibly does (provided you live in a high-earning country such as USA, Australia, Switzerland, etc.--if you're from rural Africa and you'd take year(s) for you to pay it off, the answer is always no)If all you're looking for is knowledge, possibly widening your horizons