Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Skipping College (Peter Thiel)

Wren, I had that too. Debt to my eyeballs and only jobs I could get before I finished high school, let alone graduated. I still think it is a problem. I would have loved to learn something, really learn something for the first time in my life. That would have been worth the money. But training that kept me bored and where I could pass by handing in assignments at the last minute? That was a waste.

Introducing the 2011 "20 Under 20" Thiel Fellows:
http://thielfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=19

Quite a variety of soon-to-be "dropouts."

I think some of them are interesting. We have a friend that developed a DNA separator for his PhD at MIT. He realized that others needed a similar tool for DNA research and built a 10 million company selling this DNA separator and then sold the company.

Ren

Certainly there were LOTS of things learned in college (and medical school) that were completely useless. I took two years of college calculus- needless to say, I don't use any of it at all!
I've also had to learn lots of new skills on the fly. As a cardiologist, my field is very technology-oriented and changes frequently. I've had to keep up quickly.
Having said all of that, I think it would be a huge mistake not to go to college. Sure, there are a handful of Bill Gates out there who founded a Microsoft-type company without going to college. It's rare and I wouldn't count on that.
So much of the job/work world is getting along with your co-workers and boss. Producing whatever "product" you are producing. Although college is not necessarily the most efficient way to get a job, it's probably the safest and most secure.