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Comment by JoeAltmaier | Hacker News Reader

God Bless America, is what I say. If you can make your fortune without years of study, why not.

And the title argument is ridiculous. Nobody 'lets' somebody else choose their life.

I think the key here is that school is actually obstructing, not aiding, the "years of study". Extraordinarily gifted people can often be autodidactic - very good self-directed learners. When that hunger for knowledge exhausts the ability of the public school teet to supply, it becomes either a matter of starvation or fending for oneself. Staying in school in these cases can actually hamper learning via distraction and peer pressure to conform to the "norm".

I dropped out of high school after completing the advanced, senior-level math in my sophomore year. The school had interesting classes, but there were no more classes to intellectually challenge me. It was the right choice, and I immediately enrolled in college. You are right on track, exarch.

If I may ask, how did you manage to enroll in college without a HS diploma?

More than one university tried to recruit me before I'd even started high school, based on the results of an SAT test I was asked to take in 6th grade. I didn't go, but mostly because no one offered a full-ride, and my family was poor and couldn't afford to pay tuition and put me up in another state.

Sophomore year, I scored highly on the ACT. Before dropping out, I was given conditional acceptance, as long as I completed a GED.

It really is, isn't it? "Comrade, American economy needs you!"

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