I dropped out of college couple of years ago and it was the best decision I ever made in my life.
While I am not as (financially) successful as some of geek drop-outs who inspired me. I have done better (financially) than most of my friends who did graduate from the same college I dropped out from and most importantly I enjoy what I do. Do you need to graduate from a college in order to be successful in life? If you can open a book and read, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t have the same knowledge you will get by graduating from a college. The only difference is a piece of paper that will cost you ~50-100k (if in US) and 4 years of your life.
Ok maybe its a bit simplistic view against college but its not very far from the truth. When I dropped out of college I constantly needed inspiration from success stories of geeks who made it big but never finished college. These are the five successful geek personnel who inspired me the most:
1) Michael Saul Dell:
Geek Creed: When he was 15 he used to take apart Apple II computers and rebuild it just for the hell of it. He dropped out of University of Texas to run PC’s Limited (now Dell) at the age of 19.
2) Steve Jobs:
Geek Creed: Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak – NeXT Computer – Pixar Animation. Dropped out of Reed College only after one semester.
3) Bill Gates:
Geed Creed: Best known for Microsoft. Dropped out of Harvard to start a software company with Paul Allen. After more than 30 years, Microsoft is still one of the largest software companies in the world.
4) Paul Allen:
Geed Creed: Paul Allen was the other half of Microsoft with Bill Gates the same way Steve Wozniak was a partner with Jobs on Apple. He dropped out of Washington State University to work as a programmer.
5) John Carmack:
Geek Creed: Cofounder of id Software and lead programmer of famous games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, Doom. He dropped out of University of Missouri only after 2 years to work as a freelance programmer.
Final Words:
You don’t necessarily have to be a (computer) geek to drop out of college and make it big. There are many successful and famous people who made it big without ever getting a college degree. Yes, some of them got lucky but most of them took proactive steps that put them in the right place at the right time and you don’t need 4 years and a lifetime worth of loans to be there.
Comments:
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pauli
06/23/2009Well that douche donated more money to good cause in one year than you ever will in your lifetime.
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Rainbow Angel
06/23/2009Wow, there really is NOT enough time when you’re young to get educated and make a career for yourself in USA and the computer business!!! WOW so much pressure so young in life! That’s really disheartening
BTW Gates Foundation does have a big heart for the world! Kudos to you for giving back to the world
Sas agapo olous
Rainbow Angel -
Erin
06/23/2009Now, the question is: how many “geeks” dropped out of college, and didn’t amount to squat? hmmm… quite likely far more than those drop outs who made it big.
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AlanR
06/24/2009Well here is my thought. I’ve got simillar situation with my collage – I didn’t quite drop out, I made a pause for a year or so with few exams left. I’m cofounding a company (I’m lead programmer and braniac).
What I’m trying to say is that if you start something it’s good (for yourselfs sake) to finish it if you thing that it’s important enogh. I intend to finis mine(collage) but it’s not a must if things develop differently. Just do what you think it’s best. How do you know what’s best? Ask yourself this; will I ever look back and say “damn I shold done that differently!”? The answer should be “no-way!! I’d done it again” ;)
My point here: Never regret your decisions – so don’t make ‘bad’ ones upfront :) Live, learn and if decision was ‘bad’ next time decide better. -
Glenn S
06/24/2009You forgot Larry Ellison. He attended around 2 1/2 years of college before dropping out and founding the third largest software company in the world and becoming the fourth richest person in the world. Of course, most of this is meaningless since genius isn’t born of education.
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Mike
06/24/2009@Erin
I’m sure that is the case, but it isn’t necessarily because they’re stupid or because they were deprived of opportunities due to lack of formal education/qualifications.
Most likely the case is that their dropping out after already attending (going back on an earlier decision) is a reflection of their lacking in motivation, determination and persistence. There are many people who have all kinds of qualifications but simply lack the motivation or ability to implement thier skills and knowledge in real world situations that can have desirable results.
Strangely enough, the investing of large sums of money into gaining a formal education is often the thing that drives those who graduate to retain a certain level of motivation. It’s the same thing as people who receive information for free don’t value it (or take as much action on it) as those who have paid good money for it. Committing yourself to something that has cost you dearly both in terms of time and money is often much easier — it’s largely a psychological thing.
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TomDidy
06/24/2009“Well here is my thought. I’ve got simillar situation with my collage – I didn’t quite drop out, I made a pause for a year or so with few exams left. I’m cofounding a company (I’m lead programmer and braniac).”
You spelled “simillar”, “collage”, and “braniac” wrong. :-) Yikes.
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biz
06/24/2009These people are contrast to those who finish the university, but they are not successful in business, since they do not know how to think.
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Guff
06/24/2009No amount of hard work and brains translates into this kind of zillionaire cash without a healthy dose of luck/being at the right place at the right time. If you look behing the lifestories of all of these guys you’ll see what I mean. The hardware and software worlds are littered with stories of brillant, hardworking people that had products or services that never got far off the ground or fell hard at some point after launch for one reason or another some of which was just plain old “bad luck.” The dot.com implosion years ago is a perfect example of great ideas, highly motivated/smart people, and lots of investor cash that just couldn’t overcome its Greek tragedy styled fate that it was not to last.
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Sambo
06/25/2009@AlanR – I applaud your attempts at getting a business going. However, as someone who went down the same path – finish school first. You will not regret this and it may save you in the long run.
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Carrie
03/01/2010Why do poepl keep spouting the theory that dropping out of school is a smart thing todo. It only works for 0.001% of pople that do, the rest couldev been better
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Rob
03/07/2010The facts seem to speak for themselves. A college degree is not a guarantee of success or even a true measure of intelligence. There are arguements on both sides and the most intelligent and successful people did not finish college. College doesn’t teach you to think, only to memorize what others before you thought, which everybody else who took the same courses already knows.
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06/23/2009
Bill gates is a douche though…