Opinion: Skipping college is not going to make you fastlane

[Runum]

Retired teacher... The issue for me is the lack of personal responsibility no matter which path one chooses. Also, the lack of vision.

The populace has been groomed to believe someone will always take care of us and our happiness is guaranteed. That is the script MJ has written about. If I follow the rules that everything will fall into place. Over time the cost of following those rules has risen substantially and the reward has fallen. Higher education was a part of that process and it worked for a while in the 1950's.

Education is not a solution but a tool, one of many tools in life. Education is formal and informal and both are valuable. Not going to college does not guarantee anything just as going to college does not guarantee anything. Staying debt free doesn't guarantee anything and going into debt does not guarantee anything. We have been led to believe that if we give up certain things that there will be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and it is increasingly turning out to not be true. The populace has bought into this and coupled it with not having to work hard because, everything is guaranteed anyway.

If you benefited from your formal education that is excellent for you. However, all of your classmates had the same opportunities and many will not turn out so fortunate. Life is not guaranteed by anyone. Comfort, health, happiness nope. It is all up to the individual.

Education is a tool to be used for the benefit of the individual and that individual can use their tools for the benefit of themselves and society. All education gives the learner more choices and opportunities in life.

Ironic thing is, individuals that are not working hard and are waiting on someone to deliver their guarantees are also learning as well. They are just ignoring the lessons that life is teaching them.

 

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[Sethamus]

Over the last 6 months I have read a lot of comments condemning college and associating it with the slow lane mentality. Why is this?

I understand the hate for college debt and the increasing cost of education. Is it the systems fault though for these kids to take out huge loans on shitty degrees with no future planned or their own fault with maybe some help from their parents?

My education helped put me where I am today and without it I probably wouldn't be where I am or even the fast lane mindset. I learned responsibility without the high cost of losing a business, effective communication, general problem solving, and countless more. I partied with the best of them, and actually learned early that alcohol and calculus doesn't mix well Monday- Thursday lol. However I had a plan and intentionally chose engineering for the career options and typically higher income. I chose the petroleum industry, specifically field based, so I could earn much more and work less days than a typical 9-5 job. Some of this was probably my upbringing and my parents do earn a lot of credit in this, but they are 100% slow lane and that is fine. I surely do not hate them for this and seeing their missed opportunities for businesses that they backed out on set a fire under me to be different.

For the "seasoned " members of this forum. What is your advice for all of the young new entrepreneurs joining the forum?

 

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[Envision]

Yes, it technically is the systems fault.

When you government back student loans you give schools the untempered power to continue increasing the cost of tuition. 18 year olds are just uneducated in general and they sign on the dotted line for 50k in debt and think they will deal with it later.

School is a business and the propaganda runs deep.

Sure, if you dont go into debt and can get into an ivy league school you are setting yourself up to really advance and get ahead. But the vast majority simply doing it because of FOMO are actually going backwards.

It took me 8 years to get my bachelors but I did it with no debt. By the time I graduated I had a 7 figure business and investment properties - I gave my 2 week notice to my job the month after i graduated.

You don't need a degree to be successful. You do however need an education.

Use Youtube, this forum, mentors and anything else you can find.

 

[biophase]

I think the main issue most fastlaners have with college is its cost.

It's graduating with a huge debt load that any other normal 22 year old would never have.

It's being saddled with student loan repayments for 30 years.

It's that the ROI is not worth it for many degrees.

It's not the actual going to college part, it's the cost.

 

[Morgan77]

It's more that needlessly going to college / university is following the script. If there's something you want to do at Uni and you actually get something out of it then go for it. Nothing wrong with that for me.

 

[socaldude]

Dont confuse education with modern academia.

Our current higher academic model is one based on debt backed by tax payers, marxist ideology and fake high hope economics.

Its all about getting more money, building more buildings, having a monopoly on knowledge and promoting entitlement. Its a system that has deviated tremendously from the best interests of the student.

Yes doctors and attorneys need degrees. Education is great. But not under the current model we have in america.

 

[100ToOne]

My cousin lives in the ghettos of the ghettos in a third world country.

Getting a scholarship to become a doctor, like he did, is the quickest way out.

So..... these questions depend on so many factors man.

 

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[Kevin88660]

I'm not a millionaire yet. But that still doesn't negate the fact that college won't make you a millionaire or fastlane either.

Too many kids just want to skip schools because they hate schools and think they are smarter than that. We just feel thats a wrong approach.

Going to school and getting good grades and then working for a company for two years is an excellent road for humility and work ethic training for most young people.

Are you really a hustler who saw a big opportunity and can work on it or you just hate school? People need to be honest with themselves and it is hard for an 18 year old to see it.

 

[Vigilante]

@Kak @Vigilante maybe a potential topic for one of your shows if we get some good feedback.

That was the subject of my first worst selling book.

Launching Points : 50 Careers That Don't Require A Four-Year College Degree: David Happe, Jeff Gerke: 9781450731171: Amazon.com: Books

I should do a show on that. Solid idea.

 

[humananalytics]

Personally, I found this research study quite insightful: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/jones-ben/htm/Age and High Growth Entrepreneurship.pdf


TLDR;

• Majority of top 1% high growth business/start-up founders come from people with high end careers/high earning careers prior to starting their business
• Age where businesses seem to achieve the highest growth is with founders who are 40-50 years old

I've found other studies that suggest similar - the peak age for entrepreneurship tends to be around 40. This doesn't mean you need college, but it suggests that patience (not procrastination) and taking time to develop as a person is not such a bad thing.

Anecdotally, and I'm in NYC for reference, I've found most start-up founders here come from very traditional backgrounds. Ivy league college -> prestigious law/bank/consulting firm -> maybe ivy league MBA/JD -> startup-founder, raising huge capital in seed funding/series A. Keep in mind, these are the unicorn type start-ups that you do when you really want to make it big. They aren't necessary to be fastlane. Also, I work in the biotech space, my clients here are all 40-50 year old start-up founders, which makes sense since they all at least have MD/PHDs (sometimes both, and even MBAs). My last client raised 70M Series A, pre-revenue by about 6 years. Prior to founding this business, she was C-Suite exec earning 2M/year. Even in the West Coast, where people pretend to be more open-minded, majority of VCs and the firms they start are all from Stanford (Stanford's graduating MBA class raised 1B last year).

• This route does take a lot of patience, and I'm not saying its optimal, but it is the most common one I've found for the hyper success start-ups. Majority of billionaire unicorn founders have this type of background.

Honestly - I think college is the right call for most people as long as it is in something practical, the cost is reasonable, and there isn't a great alternative.

 

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[AFMKelvin]

I'm currently unemployed chilling at the house playing daddy daycare to my 8 month old son and loving it. Not sure what this has to do with the overall discussion of the original post.

So you're neither a millionaire nor have a fastlane business. That should give you the answer wether college degrees make you a millionaire or give you a fastlane business.

 

[Sethamus]

So the purpose of this thread was not to prove whether or not going to college or skipping will make you rich faster and give you a fast lane business. I was noticing a trend where going to college was being included in the script ideology. Hopefully for someone on the fence they will read all of the responses in here and see that my hunch was right and the important part is having a well laid out plan.
College or not, a shitty plan or quitting good opportunities like free college/uni because you no longer want to live the script is not the smartest move most of the time. Quitting the script is more of a mindset and the beliefs that keep you in the herd mentality. College is an educational tool that you can use, if done with good intentions, to learn valuable skills and also get a good job IF you need to afterwards.

 

[James Klymus]

Around here, the reason college is bashed so much is because we understand that college isn't what sets you up to be free.

There's nuance to this discussion, and that's why I think it's so contentious.

Sure, you can go to school, get in a lot of debt/pay a lot of money, and go get a job that pays the bills. But the point of MJ's work, as I see it, Is to give you the tools to actually set you free (as free as you can be in our free range society).

College just doesn't teach you that. It's not in their interest to do that. They want to milk out your education as long as they can (4-5 years undergrad, gen eds that you've taken for 13 years prior, graduate school and higher degrees), And make you become a stable tax/debt paying citizen, because the federally (tax payer) backed student loans system requires it to not collapse. Any mass deviation from that is dangerous.

Obviously, some people absolutely need school. Doctors, lawyers, you probably already know who needs a degree.

And if you go to school like most people, and live on loans for 4-5 years, you come out with 5-6 figure debt numbers as a 22 year old kid. Pair that with a consumption mind set that is perpetuated throughout society (the new grad who buys a $40,000 car to celebrate his new job), And you're on the hamster wheel of paying bills from consumption without production.

Not only that, but the obvious political biases, indoctrination, blatant marxism, and the echo chambers that dont allow free thinking, I think college sucks for most people. They don't have your best interest in mind. I absolutely am biased, by the way. I dropped out and have been working on making my way to freedom ever since.

Heck, most of my friends who have 4 year degrees aren't even in the career field they studied in college. They're at jobs they could have gotten a year out of high school.

Compare that to trade school, where you learn relevant skills to the career you choose, as well as get in the trenches as an apprentice, all for a small fraction of money and time that a college education costs.

If you personally found value in your education, good I'm glad. I don't think its the best path for most people though.

 

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[Kevin88660]

It depends on the circumstances.

If someone has been hustling since high school and found an opportunity to start a good business or project to do it is probably a good choice.

Just hating classes and examination is not a good excuse to quit school and declare yourself an entrepreneur.

While there are many super capable 18 years olds but that is really a minority. Most people get mature after four years in college and two years working for a job, before they become “mentally fit” for business which is far more challenging.

 

[Sethamus]

Are you currently a millionaire? Are you fastlane?

I'm currently unemployed chilling at the house playing daddy daycare to my 8 month old son and loving it. Not sure what this has to do with the overall discussion of the original post.

 

[fastlanedoll]

This question is far too complex to be answered yes/no
It depends on the person.

 

[Sethamus]

So you're neither a millionaire nor have a fastlane business. That should give you the answer wether college degrees make you a millionaire or give you a fastlane business.

I mean, this is the perfect example by what I was talking about....

After some time I made the decision to move to the city and start new. So here I am working as a valet at a hotel working for seven dollars an hour plus tips renting an apartment. Since I moved here I'm stuck in a rut. I'm 26 with no skills whatsoever. I see other people my age making more than 50k a month because they followed the script and went to college. I dropped out of college to follow the path of being an entrepreneur but so far things have not worked out. I'm also in debt from credits cards.

Are you a millionaire yet?

 

[wade1mil]

Skipping college won't make you rich...just as going to college won't make you smart. Both are possible, but neither are likely.

 

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[Ocean Man]

Sethamus, I think it honestly depends.

Life isn't the same for anyone.

If you have something going on, if have some business or side-hustle going on that is doing well and college is just sucking up your time. Then go ahead and go do that business or side-hustle.

You have to obviously smart about it... It's like asking the question, "When should I quit my job to work on my business? Should I just go full-time on my business and immediately quit my job to pursue my business that doesn't have have one customer?"

It's all about decisions. Do you feel like your business is providing a better ROI than school? If not, then stay at school (if school provides a better ROI)?

Do I believe that skipping college automatically makes you a fastlaner? No.

If you're not in college/university and you don't have anything going on, being lazy, not learning outside of school... then what the hell are you doing?

I believe in educating yourself outside of school and being a continuous life-long learner. Reading new books, learning about new subjects, and continuously growing.

Skipping school might make you fastlane if you've got something great going on, but if you're not doing anything at all, not learning... then you're just wasting your time.

But I also don't agree that everyone should go to school.

I hope you're able to understand where I'm coming from. I believe people should stop discrediting college completely. College is good for some people, doctors, lawyers, etc... But at the same time, there's a lot of things wrong with colleges and a lot of people shouldn't be going.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

(Here are my rambling thoughts about attending university/college. You don't have to read this.)
I feel like many people attend college, not because they want to but, because that's what they're told they're supposed to do or that's the norm.

For example, the script:
- Graduate from elementary school,
- Graduate from middle/junior school,
- Graduate from High School (get your permit during your time here),
What's next?
Well the typically, the next thing our friends, government, and family members would tell us is to go to college or university. It doesn't matter if you know what you want to do or why you're going to college/university.

Just go because everyone else is going.

How many times have you heard this scenario?

Person B: Now that you've graduated High School, it's time for you to enroll into college/university.
Person A: (Responds with):

• I don't know what I want to do.
• I don't know what classes I'd even want to take.
• I'm not even sure what I'd like to major in.
• I don't have enough money.

Person B: (Responds with):

• That's okay, just go. Nobody really knows what they want to do in college, just go and take random classes.
• Take out a loan, everybody else does it.
• If you don't, then you're going to get behind everyone else.
• You're not going to get a good paying job.

Why do we have to play, keeping up with the Kardashians with everyone else. Why do I have to spend thousands of dollars on classes that I don't even know if I'm interested in taking. Why do I have to attend college/university if I'm aimless? Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean I have to either. In what world does giving a 19 year old a $50,000 loan seem acceptable? Especially if they don't even know what they want to do.

I'm sick and tired of keeping up with the Kardashians and everyone else.

Let me think for myself.

Why do I have to listen to other people about what the best path in life is? How does another person know that university/college will be the best thing for me?

Life isn't so cookie cutter.

At this point, I'm rambling but I'm trying to get my thoughts written down. I feel like people don't think for themselves. They expect to follow some plan, maybe the governments plan or the family's plan on how they should live their own life.

That's why you see so many people attending college/university. Not because they know what they want to do. But because they've been told that they should do that and everyone else is doing that. And if you're not doing it then you're going to fail. This BS indoctrination.

​

I'm not necessarily against school, I believe the people such as doctors, lawyers, etc... should go there to learn. But not everybody should go.

Actually, next month is my first quarter. I'm going back after 3-4 years out of college. I've had a lot of time thinking it over and figured out what I wanted to do.

I have a purpose.

I have a goal.

I know that getting my degree in a specific field will not only be a good ROI, but will help in other faucets of my life.

I don't want to necessarily discourage people from going to university/college. Instead, I want to encourage people to be free-thinkers. Think for yourself and about your goals. Find out what you want to do and if college/university is the right avenue to help you achieve that goal/dream.

I'll end this long ramble with a quote,

“There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think.”
— Francisco d'Anconia

 

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[socaldude]

I personally graduated from college.

The idea that you won’t be successful without getting that special piece of paper is exactly the paradigm academia wants you to believe. It’s also full of assumptions and biases.

The idea that you need academia to manipulate your mind for you is contrary to Fastlane ideas imo. I can’t manipulate and mold my own mind? I need someone to hold my hand for me and wipe my a$$ while their at it?

In Des Kapital by Karl Marx. Marx says the government needs to save people’s minds, a precious capital resource from the ruling class. Isn’t this a similar model by academia? You will fail if you don’t let us teach you.

Most people at 18 simply don’t have the discipline, knowledge or ambition to start a high revenue business. But it doesn’t mean it can’t be you. The plan is not to be normal anyways.

For years, academia has gotten away with promoting itself as some kind of ally of the US economy. Meanwhile the US economy quickly changes. They will go as far as to lie and still say college is worth millions in wages. Anything to get more money thrown at them. Huge problems with this model.

 

[farmer79]

For some reason this is an emotional subject where people often get defensive on both sides. People who didn’t go often seen defensive and are quick and vocal to prove/insist that they were the smart ones because they saw through the charade that is higher education, and the people who went look down at the people who didn’t as slackers and lacking motivation and the basic intelligence necessary to get a degree.

If we strip college or university education of the emotion, parents dreams, and teachers pressure and look at it for what it is: a commodity, I think we can get closer to the truth of whether it is a good idea or not.

Their are times some commodities are very valuable and times they are very cheap. Gold was $242 an ounce 20 years ago now it is $2000. Corn was under $2 a bushel in 2005 over $8 a few years later and today in the $3’s. Adjusted for inflation corn is practically free. These commodities had different values at different times reflecting the supply and demand there was for them in the moment.

Up until maybe 1980 or even later a bachelors degree represented excellent value. Few people had them and they were priced very reasonably add in the fun/enjoyable experience of college and it was a complete no brainer. Not going to university in 1982 made very little sense. But slowly schools realized they were selling this golden ticket far too cheaply and coupled with the student loan program from the government things began to change. Suddenly you weren’t a student to be educated, you were a conduit to transfer student loans from the government to the university. They didn’t care if they chewed you up and spit you out and left your life ruined by non dischargeable student loan debt. You had served your purpose. So somewhere around 2000 I would say as a pure commodity a bachelors degree went from a dramatically underpriced commodity to a dramatically overpriced commodity. They were like the internet stock bubble of 1999. It seemed that it happened almost overnight. I didnt know of anyone who trouble with student loans to where everyone had trouble with student loans. However the Educational institutions had managed to transform themselves into more of a De Beers rather than an Exxon. Where through clever marketing you are made to feel like 4-6 years of your life and hundreds of thousands dollar are a necessary sacrifice for success, much like a certain percentage of your annual wage is necessary for an engagement ring. In the meantime their are millions of diamonds sitting in Debeers drawers off the market so they create the illusion of scarcity. In reality the market is already flooded. Not only has a bachelors degree gotten incredibly expensive the market is flooded giving them (exceptions exist of course) very little differentiating value when applying for a job.

So the question is as a commodity what is a degree worth? That is a question only the individual can answer as there are some variables from person to person, but I would say as a broad generalization they take too long for what you learn and are far too expensive. In addition with so many amazing online tools the information is for the most part freely available. So you are really paying merely for verification that you have learned something. The experience and conacts you gain are harder to put a price on but that can also be done on your own. Again exceptions apply if you have a free ride to Harvard you are insane not to go, if you are paying full retail at an unknown private school you are equally insane.

 

[Chx]

As a high school junior, the college shitstorm is coming to me at full blast. I'm starting to see how much of a Scripted dogma it really is.

Nowadays, all my friends and peers talk about is college admissions. They talk about which teachers write the best letter of recommendation. They ask people to join their bullshit nonprofit that only looks nice and charitable on paper. Worst of all is when people lie and cheat and sabotage each other to hurt the competition at top colleges. College admissions is poison under the guise of self-improvement.

This is SCRIPT through and through. Signing your life and free will away to others' perception of what is best (what will get you in college).

With that said I do believe there are some benefits to college:
1. Social experience
2. A STEM degree will make me a better problem solver
3. Network of students
4. Degree

Is this worth 240k? Absolutely not.

There's a program that gives you a full ride to a state school (you can choose from Houston, Alabama, Florida, and some others) if you have good enough test scores. I'm most likely going to take this opportunity.

College can be worth it. Just don't sign your life away -- either through debt or by sucking up to others for 6 years.

 

[Kak]

The government absorbing all of the student loans is what made this expensive. They will lend to anyone, for any major, irrespective of the ability to pay it back.

Free market or even portfolio lending for college would have higher interest rates and lower availability across the board. Which, believe it or not, would be a VERY good thing. These are not collateralized loans. There is no reason the interest rates should be as low as asset based lending like a home or car.

If you were a banker that might have to hold the debt unless another banker wanted to buy it... What would you say if someone came to you with a request for 50k to get a degree in aboriginal dance theory? You would say no.

On the other hand... If they came to you wanting to be an engineer, you might give them the money at an interest rate that makes sense for you given the risk.

The same can be said for doctor, lawyer, or businessperson.

A free market on the financing side of this will go a long way into shaping people into what the economy is demanding most and driving down the cost of tuition. This would make everything more efficient and it would happen without force.

The problem is getting from here to there. We are already addicted to cheap and abundant money. There would be SEVERE withdrawal symptoms... But everything would normalize under the new market conditions eventually.

If I was the banker, I would also make it performance based. Like insurance companies make your insurance rates based on your driving record. If you prove yourself to be an A student, you are lower risk and could refinance at a lower rate.

The 15 Things They Didn't Teach Me In Business School - Ep 48 by Kill Bigger Radio with Kyle Keegan • A podcast on Anchor I recorded this yesterday, I didn't address the loan problem... But I did talk about what business school left out.

 

[socaldude]

There’s two types of minds in this world.

There are the minds that are “taught” all of their knowledge and insights.

Then there are the minds that literally “create” new knowledge and insights.

To be a success you need to be the second. Society and academia tricks you into the first and that the second doesn’t exist.

But don’t fall for the trap that you think you are “creating” new knowledge when in fact you are just recycling the shit you were taught.

If you figure this out it will literally change your life.

 

[JByers210]

Dropped out my first semester a few years ago. Went all in.

Starting to hit five figures a month at 21.

No debt and I was/am young enough to go through all the trial and error without a family or other responsibilities.

If I had to do it all over again... would drop out quicker.

Edit: For anyone that's deciding about college...the best advice I read on the forum was a quote from KAK I came across... if you don't believe in your decision... how can you expect anyone else to? Once I committed it didn't matter what anyone thought.

 

[Sethamus]

It's more that needlessly going to college / university is following the script. If there's something you want to do at Uni and you actually get something out of it then go for it. Nothing wrong with that for me.

What is the script? Working 40 yrs at $60k and investing a 401k? You do not have to go to college for that.

If I went back to college it would be for my same degree or whatever I need to work in a VC to learn those skills and buy a business in 2-5 years out of college. That surely isn't part of the script.

What for the kids that do not know what they want to do and have very limited skills graduating from high school? What is more forgiving, going to college (hopefully with a plan) or starting a business they randomly read about?
I believe 100% you can get rich in the fast lane and never go to college. What about the ones that fail those first two or three businesses and have nothing to fall back on besides a $15/hr or less job?

 

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[NT2]

Over the last 6 months I have read a lot of comments condemning college and associating it with the slow lane mentality. Why is this?

I understand the hate for college debt and the increasing cost of education. Is it the systems fault though for these kids to take out huge loans on shitty degrees with no future planned or their own fault with maybe some help from their parents?

My education helped put me where I am today and without it I probably wouldn't be where I am or even the fast lane mindset. I learned responsibility without the high cost of losing a business, effective communication, general problem solving, and countless more. I partied with the best of them, and actually learned early that alcohol and calculus doesn't mix well Monday- Thursday lol. However I had a plan and intentionally chose engineering for the career options and typically higher income. I chose the petroleum industry, specifically field based, so I could earn much more and work less days than a typical 9-5 job. Some of this was probably my upbringing and my parents do earn a lot of credit in this, but they are 100% slow lane and that is fine. I surely do not hate them for this and seeing their missed opportunities for businesses that they backed out on set a fire under me to be different.

For the "seasoned " members of this forum. What is your advice for all of the young new entrepreneurs joining the forum?

Most businesses are not profitable right away. It can take years to find your right niche and figure out how to serve it. In the meantime, I don't see anything wrong with a regular job. As long as you realize you'll have to use your spare time and money getting something else going. Most decent jobs require a degree. Not because you can't do the job without it, but as a way of weeding people out. The college experience (pre Covid anyway) is also valuable for making those early professional connections. Everyone has to figure out their own path.

 

[Deleted74925]

My dad has never made more than 30k annually. He has worked as a janitor/trashman/handyman for 30 years. I went to college to "get a skill" as he always told me to. I chose a financial math degree because I wanted to get a job. And that was successful.

There's no black and white answer, but here are my thoughts:

Advantages:
- A better resume, which helps to get that entry-level job. GPA made up for lack of experience for me.
- Mentors - I was motivated by other hard-working students and by professors. I was not there to party but to get a job.
- Free money. In my case, I got a lot of financial aid and so college was a great deal. I went to community college for the first two years and had it 100% paid for.
- Friends/social connections/sports/fun

Disadvantages:
- A dependent, spoon-feed-me-this mindset. My state college prided itself on it's cafeteria food. I'd eat dinner every day that would cost $25/plate if I were to buy it elsewhere and I didn't have a job! I was earning $0 but taking out thousands. I never learned to save and still have trouble not spending money.
- Focuses on the grades instead of the actual value delivered! Instead of "how useful is this thing that you built", the question is "how well did you do all of the homework questions exactly as I told you to?"
- Opportunity cost - How many useless homework assignments did I waste hundreds of hours on when I could have been working on a business? Thousands! I was required to take "General Education" requirements - like Sociology and Humor Studies - absolutely worthless classes that consumed my life.
- Comfort and insolution. I had never really failed. The worst that happened to me was that I would get a bad grade on a course. Compare this to being an entrepreneur where making a mistake can mean bankrupcy, deleting your entire web server, getting ripped off or scammed, etc.

 

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[sparechange]

I think the thing about skipping college is more about time, you basically trade a few years to get a degree that is almost useless, MJ mentioned in the books after completing his degrees he was a bum scrubbing toilets.

You can get any crappy job even without a degree or highschool and hustle on a business in the free time you have. All of us are here because we own/or are starting a business, TIME is much better spent working on our own business.

Call me crazy but some people have it backwards on the forum, there are people out in the world that have made 6 or 7 figures in the first few years starting a business.

What is a better use of time............?

4 years in school (while losing money)

or WORST case scenario FAILING at a business(s) for 4 years? Maybe I'm nuts but that's my opinion.

Needing money to start a business is a stupid myth, you can support yourself with a crappy job to pay rent and food, live like a monk in the process and grind out a startup. Let's run some math, I'll even use Vancouver which is one of the most expensive cities on the planet (moving to another place would save money)

Minimum wage here is $14.60, a fulltime job nets about $2kish after taxes. You can rent a crappy small room around town for lets say $650 (which I'm paying now) Food expenses let's say $400.

So that's about $950 a month you can ''save'' ok well, you need to deduct transportation I guess and some other small things maybe. Let's just pretend you are left with $500 a month, now you can squeeze out a budget and maybe starve for a bit on ramen noodles if you are an extremist, and come up with a few grand after months of saving. Does ANYONE really need more than a couple grand to start a business?

Even if you are running E commerce (my space) Ordering products at most will be roughly a few hundred bucks, a shopify store for about $40 bucks a month, some advertising costs etc You are under $1k. In my example above it would take only 2 months to save up. Keep in mind my example is being in Vancouver, cost of living is much cheaper in other parts of Canada and afaik the US is way cheaper than here.

If someone can't make a business work on a couple grand, they will not make it work with 10 grand, or 20 grand and so on. Another extremist example which I don't recommenced although there are some nutjobs out there even fiance a business on credit cards/loans.

So in my opinion, yes screw college, the only thing it's useful for barring you don't desire a career in law/medical fields is all the boozed up college mud wrestling bikini contests and crazy parties that cost 5-6 figures in loans, to which you end up working at Starbucks anyways to pay it all off, which you could of just worked at after highschool.

Using the minimum wage example again, if you lived at home (age 19 or so) and worked fulltime and part-time on a business while working at Starbucks, you could make and save mid 5 figures in the same 4 years.

Who would be better off? Someone with mid 5 figures in the bank with business experience?

Or the person that spent 4 years in college *hoping* to get a semi decent job that will most likely give them depression, chain them in with a semi decent salary and benefits breeding comfort and mediocrity, just yesterday someone made a post they are to tired after work to even do some things required for starting up a biz. Doesn't sound like a winning formula to me, and unlike the kid that saved 5 figures from working at Starbucks, the college attendee is going to be BROKE and in DEBT at the end of 4 years.

 

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[Tom H.]

Maybe college makes sense for some people I don't know. I have to echo what @socaldude said, modern academia is essentially an indoctrination camp.

I always struggled in elementary/high school, yet everyone told me to go to college anyway, because I'm smart, I have really high test scores, etc. Of course, I struggled in college too. My experience was that school trains you to be compliant and your level of compliance is the #1 thing you get judged on. I'm too smart for that b.s. and I hope that most other people wise up to it too.

If you're an average person, maybe there is some benefit to going to college, but how could it possibly be fastlane? What is fast about spending four years jumping through hoops, learning at someone else's pace, just so you can get the outside validation of dubious accreditation, so you can ask for permission to get a job?

If your goal is to be a professional mathematician, physicist, computer scientist or other hardcore academic, then fine, find a good college that isn't swamped with degeneracy and pursue your career, I have no argument against paths like that, there's a lot of PhDs in hard sciences that deserve respect... but that is definitely not a fastlane path.

Edit: isn't swamped*