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Decision about College

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Go to school... it sounds like it would be easy for you. If you feel your programming skills are so good that CS won't help you the study math, physics, EE, or even something else.
 
Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Go to school... it sounds like it would be easy for you. If you feel your programming skills are so good that CS won't help you the study math, physics, EE, or even something else.
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Agreed - you can always try and test out of some classes as well, something to consider. Maybe you can get out with a degree in fewer years than most folks?
 
Like you said, night classes would be ideal for you. Slowly get a degree while running your business thing. Take like 6 or 9 credits at night and you will be set. Go for an Associates, and that can usually be transferred if you choose to later go on to get a Baccalaureate degree. An associates degree will give you a degree and keep you safe.
 
With a college degree you could double or even triple your current earnings-- especially in the IT field.

$3000/mo is definitely something to brag about in high school, but certainly nothing too spectacular in the career field.
 
There are a couple of aspects of a college education that are often overlooked in these discussions. One is that, since just getting into college requires a minimum level of achievement, aside from whatever course of study you pursue, in college, it also teaches you TO study and compete in a more advanced competitive environment than in highschool. The other is that a degree in almost any reasonable field is a kind of societal merit badge that, fairly or not, raises the presumption and expectation that a graduate is more qualified for higher level employment.

Then, there's always the chance you may learn something useful. 🙂

In other words, all things being otherwise equal, it's to your advantage to have the degree, and this is the point in your life when you can most afford the time to pursue it.

Good luck. 🙂
 
go to astronaut school



edit: oh and screw school, go do the VoIP thing.. who knows what you could miss out on, take control of a large portion of the market share early on in technology... thats the way to do it. if you dont do it now, you'll lose your foot hole on the VoIP market... just sayin
 
if you can, try to at least do part time bachelors. that way you can keep your business and get your education at the same time.
 
If you enjoy your business, why not keep doing it? Especially if you are doing 3k/month in high school (assuming that is profit, not revenue). Take some night classes on the side. If the business doesn't work out, you have a start on your education.
 
A friend of mine was similar to you in that he was Microsoft certified by the age of 16, became second in charge of a small networking business in the early 1990's, and shortly after graduating high school he purchased the business when the founder obtained a permanent position with a large company. With his father, educated in computer science, as a business guide and help, my friend successfully built his business into a stable small company for which he has purchased a small web developing company. During all of this, he pursued an associates degree in computer science as a part-time student then further pursued a bachelor's degree in history, also as a part-time student. The degree in history was due to his desire to learn and think about aspects of life other than computers.

Today, his business is successful. He has paid off the mortgage on his parents home, purchased each of his parents their own cars, purchased a motorcycle to drive along the California coast, purchased his own Bentley that he converted into a racing car for some timed race through the streets of Europe. He is wildly successful, business-wise, and apparently living the American dream.

However, he missed the university experience and often wonders about what was missed. I suspect much of the motivation behind his vehicular purchases are to recover the missed university experiences. While the so-called "college experience" may not be everything its myth proclaims it to be, a formal education does provide the ability to understand aspects of life in areas other than computers. Humanities, economics, formal business procedures, those boringly awful essays in literature, foreign languages, computational theory, basic analytical methods of thinking common in engineering, and meeting students from other continents are all experiences that enrich life in a way your home-grown business cannot.

The decision is your own. People who attend to their own business rather than going to university often wish for the university experience. People who attend university often wish for a successful home-grown business. I think the best idea is to develop your business while taking part-time classes. It may be necessary to have a competent and reliable second person to help you accomplish your dual goals.
 
Like everyone said, school.

But remember that part of the benefit of going to college is the EXPERIENCE such as making new friends, exposing yourself to new environments; cultures; and ideas, and networking.
 
College- DO NOT BANK on something like that- I would find a way to get a degree and do the business- i did that and it worked out for the better
 
college makes things so much easier

plus, it is just a wonderful life experience

you can start a business anytime, but you could regret not going to school when you are young
 
i think you're making quite the strong assumption that your current success will A) last or B) be replicated elsewhere. With a college degree, if your business ever fails and you happen to run out of money you can always be hired at a large company in your field. Also alot of the skills and knowledge you need so the IT industry might not be self-teachable (is that a word?) so college can help with that. PLus if you can find competent managers to run the company you'll still have it when you graduate.
 
Just go part time. For the full college experience make sure you take day class english 101 and 102. Because if you do a tech degree, that will be your only chance to meet women.
 
I think college is worth it, always. The experiences you get in college cannot be gotten anywhere else. I think having a business and making a little money may seem nice, but I think it sounds downright boring compared to 4 years of college (you may not think so, and in that case you shouldn't go to college). Now, you only get out of college what you put into it, so if you're going just for the paper, you'll probably hate it. If you like learning, though, and strive to achieve a certain breadth and depth of learning, it will really pay off.

If you get into the right program, you'll really have some achievements to be proud of by the time you're done, too. For example, I'm in my 3rd year, and I've: designed and simulated an op-amp in HSPICE; designed, laid out (in Cadence), and simulated (in HSPICE) a 16-bit register file with a 5:32 decoder; written an operating system in Java (multithreaded, with priority and lottery schedulers, a network layer, etc.). This semester, I'll be designing and constructing a video conferencing system in Xilinx hardware using Verilog. That's just four the classes I've taken (admittedly those are the ones with bigger projects, but others still have smaller projects that are fun and interesting).

This semester I'm also a GSI (also called a TA by many schools), meaning as a 3rd year student I get to teach discussion and lab sections, write homework assignments, etc. This is stuff that will be gone after college (or grad school if I decide to go), after which I may be working a 9-5 job for the next 30 years (hopefully it'll be an interesting enough job that I won't think about it that way, but there's no guarantee of that, or that it won't take some tries to get the job that isn't like that). You'd be skipping over 4 extremely interesting years of life you may never get to return to.
 
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