tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24495557.post4998929437394373405..comments2007-03-20T08:53:57.850-05:00Dan Shanoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15304453655738315133noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24495557.post-80525863939119292502007-03-19T23:07:00.000-05:002007-03-19T23:07:00.000-05:002007-03-19T23:07:00.000-05:00Leave school early and make a ton of money? Where do I sign?<BR/><BR/>However, this decision is a lot easier if it is to become a pro athlete. I could shred my knee, or lose an arm in a horrific sailboat accident, and my career as an athlete would be over in a heartbeat. <BR/><BR/>But if this was journalism or chemistry we are talking about, yes, I might stay in school. I loved my friends, and had lots of great experiences. I just entered the working world a month ago after graduating last year. <BR/><BR/>From the ages of 18 to 23.5 I had no responsibility, except for school, and it was the greatest time in my life. The working world is nice and all, but waking up 5 days a week at 6:45am isn't the most pleasurable experience.<BR/><BR/>All that said though, I am a greedy bastard and would prefer the "TONS" of money.Marcus Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17020660877653524405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24495557.post-69757652550754764152007-03-19T14:57:00.000-05:002007-03-19T14:57:00.000-05:002007-03-19T14:57:00.000-05:00I graduated from a technical/engineering school (GaTech! Go Jackets!) in the late 90s, and saw many people, mostly from the computer science areas, drop out to work for various dot com startups, due to salaries that far outpaced what had previously been seen. You could even say I bailed on grad school to go work (stopping at an MS, versus PhD).<BR/><BR/>Short answer - no, I wouldn't begrudge someone for striking while the iron is hot, if they're like most who attend college with the goal of getting a better job upon graduation than they'd otherwise have available. It's simply a matter of one's goals, and what he or she feels is the best avenue for achieving them.Steve Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03370246866069199463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24495557.post-11819419037349374932007-03-19T11:52:00.000-05:002007-03-19T11:52:00.000-05:002007-03-19T11:52:00.000-05:00I attended UNC-Chapel Hill, and have been making this argument ever since I went there. I graduated in 2005, covering the NCAA Championship team for the school paper, and as much as it annoyed all my friends, I told them over and over it made NO SENSE for any of the juniors (Felton, May, McCants) or Marvin Williams to stay at UNC.<BR/><BR/>The hypothetical argument I proposed was that if I, an aspiring journalist, had reason to believe the top 30 print media organizations (SI, The New York Times, etc.) would pay me a guaranteed minimum of $1 million for three years while I learned on the job, I would have dropped out of Carolina in a second, great experiences and friends be damned. There's simply no way you can reasonably pass up that kind of opportunity. I never question the decision for these guys when it's clear they're going in the first.The Brooklyn Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948928776452062001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24495557.post-2396102583561327532007-03-19T11:37:00.000-05:002007-03-19T11:37:00.000-05:002007-03-19T11:37:00.000-05:00Entrepreneurship is the one avenue where a degree isn't required, and the home runs of starting your own business are similar to the big payouts pro athletes get. Michael Dell dropped out of college to start Dell, and Bill Gates dropped out to run Microsoft full time. And if my kid could achieve half of what they did you bet I'd let him leave school early!SCKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10249350799362998255noreply@blogger.com