Everyone is going to tell ronakgp94 to go to college -- society, parents, family, everybody. I am offering an alternate view point based on my own experience. College has entrenched itself so firmly in our consciousness that I am not a real threat to it's sway.
Please, don't make me drink the hemlock.
There is a reason that ronakgp94 is even asking this question. Things have changed, times have changed. There are options for self education that did not exist even ten years ago. The field that he is going into is one where getting a good job without a college degree is almost trivial.
Listen to the words that he is saying. He doesn't like school, he doesn't want to be there, he wants to work on his product.
olso4052, I'm being earnest relaying a seldom heard view point. I have a tale to tell of the darker side of academia. Hear me out, and keep an open mind. I spoke in absolutes because of the strength of my conviction on this topic. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, I know most don't.
College is hell if you don't want to be there. It creates an environment of chronic low level stress. Low level stress leads to depression. Scientists need depressed rats in order to test the efficacy of an anti-depressant. They get depressed rats by exposing them to chronic low level stress. It works every time.
There is a reason suicide rates are high among college students. Academia often creates high pressure pointless busy work and unrealistic deadlines.
Many campuses have a culture of binge drinking. Chronic stress and binge drinking lead to anxiety, depression and lower intelligence.
Alcohol is a potent neurotoxin, and it's swilled with abandon as a rite of passage. Student that embrace this culture leave college with more knowledge, but diminished mental faculties and perhaps the start of a problem with alcohol.
The financial security of a college degree is not what it used to be. I believe that the tipping point has been reached where those that pressure young people to go to college are now giving poor financial advice unless they are entering certain majors.
One of my oldest friends went to NYU for four years. She racked up a lot of student debt, spent six post college years working low end jobs and eventually had to move out of nyc because she couldn't even afford to share a one bedroom apartment in a bad part of town.
NYU tuition is at least $20,000 x 4 = $80,000, unless it is subsidized by others.
This kid could probably go out today and get a job making $80,000 a year. The math could go a lot of ways but after four years you could either be looking at many tens of thousands of debt or a savings account with six figures in it and a lot of on the job experience, and a lot lower stress.
No matter how you slice it college is over priced, even if other people pay for you. The internet has driven the cost of information down to almost zero, and there is no reason to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year to learn.
Fear not, college is being disrupted. College administrators got fat on their student loan bubble, and scrappy start ups backed by Bill Gates and others are coming to knock them off their perch.
Of one thing I am sure. The cost of college is unsustainable and getting the public to subsidize it further will be tough with out large budget deficits and debt.
To paraphrase Elon Musk, a college professor is like a Vaudeville actor, and the coming online education will be like a Hollywood movie. Why be taught by average minds when the greatest minds can record their lessons once and scale to infinity?
I had fun in college, yes, and I learned some things in class. I would have had much more fun, gotten my life started earlier and made a lot more money if I lived on my own in a place like NYC from 18-22. I really wish I could get that $80 grand on tuition back, I would so much rather have bought a house than gone to college classes.
-- Just one man's opinion, take it with a grain of salt.