Isn't this a bit too cynical? Is there nothing of value that can be, you know, learned at MIT? What about the social aspects of being in college?
There would also be value in getting a great job as a top-tier-school dropout ("intern who just loves this place and how fast everything is progressing, seems like a shame I have to go to school in September, but I'll keep in touch" "Now that I'm at school every day I miss..." "can you come back and start monday?")
I think you get an overall superior package from dropping out and doing 20 under 20, joining a top company, or doing other stuff at a top level (even if it fails) than from universities today -- particularly as universities have gotten dramatically worse over the past 30 years (and especially past 5 years), and the requirement for a degree doesn't really exist (absent immigration pathways) in cs/tech.
I'd take "my YC friends" over "my college friends" overall, too.
This all assumes a highly motivated and self directed student. I don't think university really saves "I don't know what I want to do, my parents are telling me to go to Harvard so I will"; IMO if you're 16-18 and have no idea what kind of things you enjoy you've already failed/been failed.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have rich enough parents to get a full ride, or to have poor enough parents to qualify for a free ride.
College friends are probably diverse. YC friends sounds like a bunch of similarly neurotic people.
It would not be that wonderful because of this burden, hence the comment.
Please. College is a chance to gain exposure to things you otherwise never would know existed. I knew what I enjoyed doing going into college, but I found a lot more.
I'm sorry, but that is narrow-minded to the point of absurdity.
Most undergraduates at top schools aren't going to come anywhere near paying $200-300k. The top schools almost all have very generous aid programs that cover most of the cost by scholarships. Here's some data for MIT [1].
[1] https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/the-cost-of-atten...
Median family income for MIT students is $137k, per this article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobilit...