Some interesting stuff, some debatable stuff:
The Successful College Dropout Is a Myth - TIME
https://apple.news/AmpUZYD4rS7yhVmiOXXRsyg
It is not a myth, that would imply never happening. It is RARE.
Anyone who studies a “successful college dropout” like Zuckerberg or Gates should look at the patterns: they largely dropped out because they had a good idea that was already functioning well before they left. Zuckerberg’s Facebook was already successful before he dropped out of Harvard. Gates had already started working with Paul Allen on Microsoft when he dropped out, too, and he explicitly said that if it didn’t work out he would’ve returned to school.
It’s also worth noting that both of them came from wealthy backgrounds, and they were programming prodigies because they had access to high-powered computers and programming classes at a time before most other people did. Definitely in the 70s - but even in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Programming classes and workshops weren’t as ubiquitous then as they are now. I’m a year younger than Mark Zuckerberg and we barely even had device carts in our high school. Zuckerberg’s father taught him programming and then later hired a world-renowned programmer to teach him more. Most of the Facebook co-founders were also wealthy young men who went to private schools and were taught programming at a young age by parents who had the luxury of learning it themselves.
Also…we only ever hear about the successful college dropouts. We don’t ever hear about the ones who drop out for a year or two only to return after their startup or idea doesn’t take - or worse, who fall into poverty or other circumstances after they leave.
Well, for starters, I think you have to define “successful.” For lots and lots of people, having a job that pays their bills equals “success.” Not everyone wants or needs a career; some lead very happy lives punching a clock from 9 to 5 in a blue collar job.
That said, I think the numbers bear out the idea that a degree translates into higher earnings for the vast majority of people. Part of that, of course, is that people who can afford a degree tend to come from a higher economic bracket in the first place- they have the advantages that brings.
I absolutely want each of my students, and each of my own kids to get a college degree. But that doesn’t mean that each kid I teach will get one, or will have one 4 or 5 years after graduating. Life has a funny way of changing your plans sometimes. Illness, anxiety, family issues, simple immaturity-- all can get in the way of that traditional 4 year path.
I think that the term “dropout” might be a seriously imprecise and incomplete term which glosses over the fact that there are multiple different reasons why someone might drop out of college.
John McEnroe, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college because they had better things to do, and the better things were so compelling and so successful that college was going to be a waste of time for each of them.
Other people might drop out of college because they just can’t handle it, or because they can’t afford it. If these people don’t have something else to do then they might not be so successful. Some however might be inclined to learn a trade and do quite well at that (not “Bill Gates” well, but then hardly anyone is).
Some people might drop out of college because they realize that they have no idea what they want to major in. After a year or two or three of working for a living they might figure it out, and go back to college with the correct major and do very well.
^^Yeah, but it makes a much better headline if you call them “dropouts.”
Such a silly, superficial article, defining “success” as extreme wealth or power. Typical of Time, in my opinion.
Media reference to Gates and Zuckerberg are really getting tiresome. And the tech field is still a bit different from other fields. Many “successful” people in that area are not as degreed as in other fields.
I do think that it would be a welcome change if our country developed an educational system that did not pressure everyone to go to college. And provided more alternative paths.
I also think that volunteering and doing service in the community can build a resume and make an applicant for jobs attractive, without a degree. More internships should be available to people who are not in college.
But I am just thinking of regular folk, many of who consider themselves “successful” after making a modest living, raising a family and being relatively content a lot of the time.