[blindhippo]

"But being in school is not something I truly want. I love creating, innovating, pushing myself with real-world challenges and projects, and the amount of satisfaction you get from pushing something out there is tremendous."

I've seen this type of sentiment before - it's quite common for people who don't go through school.

University level education (quality ones) give the student exactly the same feeling that the author is describing as enjoying. The only difference is that the pace of learning and achievement is far higher then it is in the real world in which you are subject to daily demands for return on investment and stability.

I've been through both University level education and real world work - I'd take University any day of the week. University provides an environment in which experimentation and play is encouraged - I have yet to find a work environment that does the same, even among small start-ups.

[ArtB]

Experimentation in a very narrow manner. A university is where you explore new algorithms using Fortran on an old Sun machine. However, if you are just interested in a new programming paradigm, want to write an ORM in Haskell, or design a new IoC container university is not for you. As someone with a masters degree in CS I can assure you.

[blindhippo]

Might be true for Computer Science, but what does computer science have to do with tech/innovation? ;)

Engineering programs are a great example - most provide opportunities for students to join projects outside of the core curriculum to build something cool (sun powered cars, robot competitions, etc). Even the Arts programs offer opportunities to do exciting things (and especially fine arts).

My comment was to dispute the notion that school isn't an environment where someone can push the boundaries - on the contrary, it's the very place that boundaries SHOULD be pushed (both personal and other).

[pnathan]

> However, if you are just interested in a new programming paradigm, want to write an ORM in Haskell, or design a new IoC container university is not for you. As someone with a masters degree in CS I can assure you.

As someone with a masters degree in CS I can counter-assure that University is faaaaar more open to experimentation and delving into new things than a company.