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Comment by filoleg | Hacker News Reader

To add to your great points, if OP ever decides to immigrate elsewhere (not even talking about the US specifically, but pretty much anywhere outside of the EU), attempting it without a college degree can range somewhere between extremely difficult and impossible. Yes, even for high-earning fields like software development.

Unless there are strong reasons not to do college, I would recommend to not skip it.

Disclaimer: I am talking about OP's situation specifically. I am not trying to make a general "everyone should go to college unless they have a strong reason not to" statement, because I don't agree with it myself.

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An additional tip: College is not too hard, specially in colleges where you can choose to pursue easier subjects or less number of subjects in a semester when needed. This might give OP the flexibility to purse the startup/project in parallel with college if they want.

To add to that, you might not even need a master's degree; bachelor's is perfectly fine too and it's less of a time/effort investment.

bachelors was enough for me to get a visa, i think it was just the right amount of schooling. but i do miss my uni days

Just my experience, but I'm not sure how much a degree matters in UK after you have a few years experience. The exception probably being 'big companies' and (obviously) graduate schemes. I guess getting your food in a door somewhere (if you have no other way, and no experience) - a degree will probably help.

All that said, I really grew up at university. I loved it. It was great fun, great to expand your social circle and I'd absolutely recommend it if you can.

A lot, if you're trying to get a visa.

I guess to clarify my point (and again based on my own experience and that of my social/work circles): assuming you're a UK resident, looking to work in the UK.

I would say a degree, masters and PhD all give diminishing marginal returns when applying for a given job, but they open doors (and bypass recruitment filters) which you might get tripped up by with just work experience.

There is also a lot to be said for being a well-rounded person. Even at £9k per year, I would encourage people to go to university - it is the most convenient way to meet a lot of new people, experience living in a different part of the country, and learn to be an adult all while keeping some structure and goals in place.

Lot of colleges now a days have strong startup programmes. This can help you get in touch with venture capitalists and like minded folk. Theres also value in the network of friends and acquaintances you meet at college.

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