Yes, I'd hire someone without a degree. Some of the people who have impressed me the most thus far in my career have had no formal education. In the security in

Yes, I'd hire someone without a degree. Some of the people who have impressed me the most thus far in my career have had no formal education. In the security industry especially (primarily where I work), it is not uncommon to see incredible work done by those who dropped out of, or simply never attended university. This is true even in cryptography (though it's rarer). This doesn't mean it's necessarily a winning bet to drop out of college. It depends on what you want to do. If you have solid skills and want to drop out to start a company, great, go ahead. History has shown many people beyond just Gates or Zuckerberg who succeeded that way. In general, the more hands on the work, the less a degree matters if you have other ways to prove your skills. Research is harder to just break into.