I’ve been recruiting for US startups since 2008, probably recruited over 100 folks from engineers to C-level.

I have never considered a candidate’s college or if they even attended one. The only thing I evaluated is what they accomplished in the last 1-2 years. That meant hiring some brilliant engineers straight out of high school.

Most of these candidates were early stage hires for dozens of companies that went on to become billion dollar public companies or get acquired for 8-10 figures.

As far as a springboard for a career, I haven’t seen colleges come close to worth the price of admission.

Almost your entire career value is dependent on how well you can self-learn and self-motivate. The one important piece that school might teach or give you exposure to is how to collaborate effectively with others.