My initial reaction was that I agreed with you - but then I considered that an awful lot has changed in the 20+ years since I graduated with a CS degree (and indeed I dropped out from the latter stages of a PhD to co-found a startup).
I have an 11 year old son and his school has started to talk about University (mostly as vieled threats of - if he keeps his attitude to homework up he won't get into a good University etc.). By I do keep asking myself what the value of a degree is - I enjoyed the course I did immensely but I have to say that I've never regretted dropping out of the PhD I was doing, so why should this not apply to a first degree?
I suspect that, on balance, that if my son was 19 and got this offer I would say "go for it" - the experience, the opportunity and the exposure you would get is likely to be worth far more than any purely academic qualification.
What if it turns out you're a lousy entrepreneur and still want to solve hard problems? Without a degree, you're forced to be an entrepreneur. They won't employ you to work on interesting problems without any kind of formal education. Not having a PhD isn't quite the same.
It is all about risk/reward - I would assume that nobody hands out $100K without a large degree of due diligence. So by crossing that hurdle you probably have gained enough of a reputation that would equal (or exceed) the value of a CS degree.
I would also guess that most universities would allow you to put your course of hold for a year or two - keeping your options open.
I would also dispute the question about whether you need a degree (or even a higher degree) to work on "hard problems" - to me, basic aptitude, ability to self learn and sheer drive are far more important than academic qualifications of any kind. The only area where higher degrees are an absolute requirement being a few exceptionally picky employers and academia itself.
I really want to agree with you as I don't have a degree. Still I don't see why dropping out of school or being under 21 should be a precondition for a grant. That reeks of politicking.
Comments
My initial reaction was that I agreed with you - but then I considered that an awful lot has changed in the 20+ years since I graduated with a CS degree (and indeed I dropped out from the latter stages of a PhD to co-found a startup).
I have an 11 year old son and his school has started to talk about University (mostly as vieled threats of - if he keeps his attitude to homework up he won't get into a good University etc.). By I do keep asking myself what the value of a degree is - I enjoyed the course I did immensely but I have to say that I've never regretted dropping out of the PhD I was doing, so why should this not apply to a first degree?
I suspect that, on balance, that if my son was 19 and got this offer I would say "go for it" - the experience, the opportunity and the exposure you would get is likely to be worth far more than any purely academic qualification.
What if it turns out you're a lousy entrepreneur and still want to solve hard problems? Without a degree, you're forced to be an entrepreneur. They won't employ you to work on interesting problems without any kind of formal education. Not having a PhD isn't quite the same.
It is all about risk/reward - I would assume that nobody hands out $100K without a large degree of due diligence. So by crossing that hurdle you probably have gained enough of a reputation that would equal (or exceed) the value of a CS degree.
I would also guess that most universities would allow you to put your course of hold for a year or two - keeping your options open.
I would also dispute the question about whether you need a degree (or even a higher degree) to work on "hard problems" - to me, basic aptitude, ability to self learn and sheer drive are far more important than academic qualifications of any kind. The only area where higher degrees are an absolute requirement being a few exceptionally picky employers and academia itself.
I really want to agree with you as I don't have a degree. Still I don't see why dropping out of school or being under 21 should be a precondition for a grant. That reeks of politicking.