Think about starting college at 20, though. The people I have met who went back to school later in life (e.g., some years of military service first) had it tog

Think about starting college at 20, though. The people I have met who went back to school later in life (e.g., some years of military service first) had it together in a lot of ways that aren't likely for an 18 year old. * Managing adversity * Deeply engaging with issues they care about Now I understand the search for self-identity is important, and college _can_ be a place to develop that. There are other ways to develop that don't involve paying $$$ as you try to balance personal emotional and intellectual development. I think the education received for money spent isn't as high at 18 as it would be a few years later. College is wonderful for some, maybe even a lot of the posters here. But honest question, for people who have done college and graduate school: how do the first 2 years of college & graduate school compare in terms of focus, intellectual reward, depth personal relationships? I'm not saying it's 100% better later in life (graduate school), but ... I would be very interested to hear peoples' takes on this.