I have little doubt that one of the biggest advantages of going to college is that you get to do a whole number of radically different things. You can join (and

I have little doubt that one of the biggest advantages of going to college is that you get to do a whole number of radically different things. You can join (and administer) a half dozen clubs, take really hard and interesting classes, and meet people who you probably wouldn't otherwise meet. You can stay up all night studying and write long papers on strange things, and then step outside your door and play frisbee. Above and beyond the particular funding, as far as I can tell, you never get those types of opportunities again either. I hate to paint a bleak picture(1), but afterwards you may end up working 8 hours every day, doing approximately the same thing every day, with people who are 'colleagues' or 'work friends' (who don't want to get outside and play some frisbee), where there is little sense of community, interaction, challenge, or variety. (The majority of people do Blub all day, and not just programmers) You'll be forced to submit to bizarre and draconian management practices where it is tacitly assumed that you are not an adult, and can not be trusted to act like one. You will have less autonomy than you ever did in college. So yes, god yes, go to college. Don't put yourself in too much debt, but certainly go. But please, don't go to college because it is the right path. Go because it is an interesting path. If there is another more interesting path, take it. 1.) a lie, desolation is my middle name