[pukka_my]

College may not make a huge difference if you are comfortable living like an adolescent when all of your friends are starting families, vacationing in Thailand, buying whatever new iObject is out this October - but it makes a huge difference if you want to do any of those things yourself. Right now I doubt you're in a position to know for sure if you ever want kids or decent furniture or to live by yourself. You may even discover that you enjoy working and want to have a career past age 35, an age which probably seems much older from your vantage than mine.

I think the HN community in general tends to underrate the value of college in developing the kind of soft skills (project management, playing well with others, critical thinking, learning how to study something new, writing & presentation skills) that make a real difference in how good an employee/manager/co-founder can be. I would never hire anyone without at least a few years college experience - even if they kick ass at one or two things, they would probably not be as prepared to develop into new roles and skills.

Also, college gives you the opportunity to engage with subjects and people outside of your current interests/peers - whether or not that has a direct impact on your career/life, it will likely make you a more empathetic, tolerant and interesting human being.