[cantremember]

I hear what you're saying, but I feel the issue is that I'm not really learning the engineering basics or methodologies in my CS program. Basically, the program is geared to churn out mediocre Java developers, and it does a pretty good job of that.

It's incredibly frustrating to work on abstract coding projects only to have them reviewed by the TA and then thrown away. I'd much prefer to be working on real world stuff with impact, where I could learn by doing. And when I consider the amount of time in classes, it just seems incredibly inefficient compared to what I could be doing on my own or with the help of a bootcamp.

[agibsonccc]

I dropped out of college as well. I was near my senior year and only did so because I was better off doing web freelancing (as in I liked earning money and doing sales over my last year of school and didn't want to drop what I was doing).

I didn't do it just "because". I seriously wouldn't recommend dropping out despite me doing it myself.

College helps you with reasoning that you wouldn't otherwise have. I'm using a lot of my formal CS skills now more than I ever have ( I mainly work in the deeper end of things as far as engineering goes vs more traditional web dev/ruby on rails or what have you) . It's a good skillset to have regardless of what you do though.

College teaches you how to learn and if you're lucky the fundamentals. It's not there to churn out engineers despite lots of colleges saying that they do. You learn a lot on the job.

You can be self taught and do relatively well in CS, but be open to criticism and improvement.

At the time I did it I thought I was hot stuff being a freelancer. You learn very quickly that there's a lot of people smarter than you and that there's always something to learn.

I'm going to just warn you to tread lightly and always be open to learning from whoever you can.

[sillysaurus2]

You misunderstand the world. The world largely doesn't care about skill or talent. It cares about credentials.

You've also thrown away your chance at meeting cofounders, because now your social circles are going to consist of workers who are largely not willing to give up their salaried jobs to take a chance, or they're in so much debt that they won't be able to even if they want to.

If you wanted to apply to YC with a cofounder, then they'll understand "we met in college." They won't understand "we worked together for 3 months at a random job." Relationships forged in college are much stronger than relationships found at work, so it's inherently risky to bet that you and your coworker won't get into a founder squabble and tank the company unless you've known eachother for years.

Good luck to you.

[Cardeck1]

Well yes, YC likes the "we met in college" and I see your point but it doesn't mean it's flawless. Stronger relationships? Yes, the only way? No. There is always a risk when it comes to startups. Just accepting that scenario only is stupid and misses a lot of potential out there.

If you believe that only a certain pattern can truly change the world you are mistaken. In fact, that is the crucial mistake every incubator is doing. True innovation almost always comes from unexpected places.

[argonaut]

This is just conjecture. It's a pretty big claim to make: that YC prefers people who met in college over people who worked together. From my experience working at a YC company and meeting the people in the network, I haven't discerned a disproportionate number of people who met in college vs. work that can't be simply explained by age.

[heliodor]

while the job of your college may be to churn out mediocre Java developers for big corporations, the job of bootcamps is to churn out mediocre Ruby developers for startups. Same thing. Good colleges teach you theory, which is much more important than the vocational aspects.

If you're not learning the engineering basics or methodologies in your CS program, then you need a better college, not a coding bootcamp.

[toadi]

Well what he said still stands: "ou have the discipline and endurance to finish things, even or especially if they don't appeal to you all the way."