if you can do it, why not?

a college degree will, at the very worst, only open up opportunities that you do not take.

go for it!

 

I know this doesn't answer your question, but it is interesting.

"There is almost no CEO, who hasn't got at least a bachelor degree.
Most also have MBAs or JDs.

There is this list, but it doesn't say who dropped out in the middle:
JOSEPH R. SANTO, "Where the Fortune 50 CEOs Went to College", Time,
Aug. 15, 2006, <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1227055,00.html>

Another source might be:
Colleges attended by CEOs hired at Fortune 1000 firms in 2004, 2005
<http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-04-07-ceo-colleges.htm>
(but it doesn't rate the top-100, nor does it say if these people have
acutally graduated).

The only CEO of the top-50, whose education is listed as n/a is Martin
J Sullivan, the CEO of AIG, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't
find where (or whether) he went to college. However, if he hasn't gone
to college (which I doubt, I think that his full biography is just
unavailable online) he is the only one of those top-50. I have checked
for the other 49, and they all *graduated* from college.

Martin J. Sullivan
<http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/12/I8BE.html>
Forbes also do not know anything about his education. I have emailed
AIG, and if they'll get back to me, I'll tell you for sure.

Bill Gates might have made it to the list, too, but he's not the CEO
of Microsoft (he famousely dropped out of college). Steve Ballmer, the
CEO, has a college degree from Harvard.

To check the other 99 (except for Sullivan) and make sure that they've
graduated from college, I took the current Fortune-100 list at
Wikipedia (List of Fortune 500,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fortune_500>), clicked on each
company's article, from there got myself to the CEO (or in cases that
the CEO was not mentioned in the article, looked him or her up), and
checked his or her educational achievements (usually by looking up
their names on Google with the term "CEO" and "college OR
university").

To summarise: 99 CEOs have a college degree, most of them have also
attended graduate school (in fact, those who haven't could be counted
on one hand). One CEO *might* not have a college degree, because none
is mentioned in any of his biographies. However, there is very little
biographical material on this specific CEO, so it is also possible
that he has graduated from college, but it is not mentioned on his
online biographies.

I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it. My search strategy
was mentioned in my answer."

 

Take your time and get the experience. Who cares if you graduate at 27. I've been in my industry for 4 years, and I'm now 23. On Monday I was accepted to Indiana Univ. I'll be leaving this fall gonna try to work part time in my field and I'll probably be there till I'm 26-27 years old But when I'm done I'll have my degree, and a sh*t load more experience than my classmates

I know people who plan on going to Grad skool right after college, and when they're finally done; yes they'll have a degree, but zero experience. My current job is a Technical Recruiter. And as someone who puts people to work for a living I can tell you first hand

Experience > Degree

Yes some jobs require a degree, but I guarantee a person with 10 years experience VS a person 2-3 years experience with a degree, the 10 year person will get the job 99% of the time. I deal with some people who's highest level of education is trade school, but they make 100k because of heavy experience.

 

I think PDX nailed it, what does your chosen career require? However, if you ever change your mind the 4 year degree will open some more doors. Honestly, 4 years is not such a long time. I normally tell people to stick it out and get the degree. Call it job insurance.

Does it guarantee anything? Heck no. But it gives you one advantage over every other guy who doesn't have the degree.

My past few jobs should have required a PhD (R&D management) but fortunately I've done okay with just a couple of BS's. So who am I to talk?

 

the experience is better than a degree right now, but that will probably change a few years down the road for you.

also, college is great. for example, i'm leaving to go to asia for 3 weeks with a bunch of my friends to go to another one of our friend's wedding. international student who lived on our floor. also, last year, i got to go to spain for a wedding cuz my friend met a girl while studying abroad.

i don't really care about my job...it's everything outside of it that's important to me...much of which is due to my 4 years at school.

 

Investing in yourself and the sacrifices you make today will lead to your success tomorrow.

I'm just about to turn 22 but have worked every summer and most christmas's since I've been 16. I go full time to the universtiy of texas. I'm majoring in economics and minoring in mandarin chinese. This was not the easiest path for me but you have to pay to play.

The "half of CEO's don't have college degrees" things is HORSE $HIT. The vast, vast, vast majority, over 99.5% of people in CEO, Chairman of the Board, CFO, etc. positions have at least a BS and over 90% have more school than that. Many of them have 3 or more degrees.

People who have only gone to school will say it's more valuable.. those who have only experience say it's more valuable. The bottom line is you need both.

Let me give you a little hint.. some experience* you can ONLY get in college. College IS experience. It's just a different form of experience, a type that is much more pronounced and respected in the form of a degree than your average job experience.

I currently work for national oilwell varco. There is NO question to me what is more difficult, school or work. Trying to make good grades at a top university is VERY difficult. Every job I've ever had, including the one I have now which pays a little under 40k annually, is 100 times easier than the stress/pressure/demands of school. It's also important to realize I have high standards of myself and learning chinese is not what the average student undertakes. I know a few people that make 'OK' grades who don't work "very" hard, but they are physical education majors, kines majors, etc.

I've had a lot of work experience and school experience. The main asset I've gained from work isn't the $$ it's the contacts. I have several potential employment opportunities once I graduate because of what I've accomplished outside of the classroom. It's a balance that takes a lot of time/personal sacrifices.

It depends on your goals. If you 32k a year is good money now I think after college, if you stay on track for a money driven major and not art/history, your opinion on 32k a year may change. 32k a year is what I plan on making roughly when I'm 25 off playing around with stocks [profit post tax].

I already have 5 grand in the market and I'm about to double it. Take some action and whatever you do don't get stuck in a rut.

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

Just depends on your goals really. I'm going to UT because eventually i want to design electronics, which wouldn't be possible without an electrical engineering degree. I also like the money, even as an intern. I'm not saying that you won't make as much without a degree, because there are certainly cases where people without degree's make much more than the one's with one. But living in silicon valley, it becomes very apparent how important a degree is to survive in this city.

 

I think that a degree is ultimately worth more.

That said, I got the best of both worlds: a college degree AND experience. My engineering degree was done in a co-op program, so I was supposed to graduate with two years of work experience. Since I took a full year off in the middle AND worked part-time while I was taking classes, I actually graduated with nearly FOUR years of excellent experience in two major fields (aerospace and oil & gas).

Two years after I graduated, I was the number two engineer in one of the divisions of a publicly traded, multi-multi-million dollar manufacturer ($600M+ last year).

If you already have experience, go get a degree. When you finish, you'll be worth more money AND you'll probably have an easier time finding work.

 

loser....