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Comment by hirematheeth | Hacker News Reader

Hey guys,

I am 17 and I posted this because I received my admissions letters this week. I got full rides to every state college I applied but I got wait listed at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and Caltech. I really don't know how to think of this. Can I still start a successful startup? Can I still be more successful than an MIT undergrad? Is there something about these colleges that makes students there better or is it completely dependent on the student's personality, work ethics, etc.. to be successful?

Sorry if the question seems out of whack. I am probably overwhelmed right now by the admissions letters.

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Larry and Sergey went to Michigan and Maryland. Woz went to Berkeley. Jobs, I think, did one semester at Reed. I don't think it matters super much in starting a startup.

Stanford is a good place to go if you want to start a startup simply because it's in the middle of Silicon Valley and thus infused with startup culture (in a way that MIT definitely isn't). But you already seem to have that down.

However, where you go to college can have a great effect on how much fun you have and how much you learn, and that is the most important thing. I'd just go wherever seems to you to have the best intellectual vibe.

I got rejected from Carnegie-Mellon and Rhode Island School of Design - both top design schools. I was pissed but honestly I never associated those rejections to my startup success. Like PG has said in past, startup is more about determination and ability to learn from failure than any specific school or skill.

If anything just laugh off any rejection you get and keep working towards your startup path.

It won't change your ability to start a startup. It might change how strong a background in CS you get... but again, that depends on what kind of learner you are.

What states?

I got into University of Maryland, Purdue, Georgia Tech, and University of Texas, Austin.

Knowing little about any of those schools, I'd say visit each one, choose the one that "feels" right. Look for inquisitive students. College is all about the community. Lame advice, I know, but you know, I only went to one college.

I have high school friends who graduated from three of these schools. They are all smart people, did well in college, and are doing well after graduating. But none of them are starting a company. The idea doesn't seem to intrigue them either.

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit in you, constantly remind yourself that you have it, regardless of where you are and what people tell you. If you have it as a highschooler, great. The eye for opportunity is a great gift, and colleges do not know how to measure this, nor can they teach you how to acquire it.

I don't think you should worry if a school will turn you into a successful entrepreneur. The greater concern should be people to bounce ideas off of, and potentially work with. Talent is everywhere; train yourself to spot it. That is an asset second to none.

I must agree with pg though. Vibe is very important. It's a lot more enjoyable to build stuff when everybody around you is talking about building stuff too. Where I went to school, people spend more time talking about philosophy :)

Actually one thing I would look for is something like the WARF program at university of wisconsin.

I think what you want from a University is a place that help you with your invention. If you have an idea they can help you get a patent (Unlike Andrews) and then you as the inventor can share some of the profit. Not all Universities do that and this is the one thing I would emphasize from a University. This can also help you establish a better record for jobs or startups.

http://www.warf.org/about/index.jsp?cid=26

A University should provide support in nurturing the invention process or providing patent and invention support.

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