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Comment by jtmarmon | Hacker News Reader

Thiel Fellow here. The question is not whether or not you should take it, it's whether or not you should drop out.

I had already dropped out when I took it so it was a no brainer for me. If you've already dropped out or decided to I don't even know why you're asking - at worst it's free money.

If you're asking whether or not you should drop out, that's a pretty opinionated thing and depends entirely on your circumstances, but I'd recommend you go for it (fellowship or not). As morgante said, you can always go back to college. 10 years from now sillicon valley might not be so friendly to us tadpoles

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While I completely agree that attendance at a four-year university is overhyped as The Key to Success, the idea that "you can always go back to college" is flawed. While people do go back to school all the time, calling a multiyear timeout on making money is extremely difficult once you start acquiring real responsibilities, and working a real job while in school is no cakewalk.

source: I dropped out, worked as an engineer, then went back and graduated at 29.

It's not flawed at all. You can always go back to college if you want.

If you don't want to go back to college (because you don't judge it to be worth taking time off your career for)... yes, I suppose that will make going back to college rather difficult ;)

And another thing you might not consider if you drop out or delay college now: college tuition has been increasing really fast for well over a decade now, and it's not clear when that's going to stop.

I took an 8 year hiatus from school, and when I went back, tuition had doubled since the last time I attended. I ended up graduating with $25k in student loan debt, whereas if I had stuck it out the first time around it would have been a much more manageable $12k.

I wouldn't be anywhere near in as much debt right now if I had taken out loans and stuck with school the first time around.

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