Ask HN: Where did you go to college?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2002513

by jmarbach • 16 years ago

12 22 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Today I was denied from my first choice school and I'm anxious to send out my regular decision applications soon. I am interested in studying business, but more specifically entrepreneurship or marketing.

Where did you choose go to college, and why?

moge• 16 years ago

I went to film school for 1 semester then studied performance art for a semester before dropping out. Less than 2 years later raised 750k for my first startup.

Formal education can be very important; being an autodidact is just as important.

spooneybarger• 16 years ago

Simon's Rock College of Bard.

I was incredibly bored in high school and it is a school designed for bright kids who aren't doing well in high school due to boredom. If I hadn't gotten out when I did, I was on a fast track to a state school w/ lecture classes, more boredom and probably dropping out...

Mz2• 16 years ago

I think at last count I had taken classes from about 9 different colleges. I have an associate's, 2 completely unrelated certificates, and am a few classes short of a bachelor's (and have been "a few classes short" for a few years).

The reason: "Classic Military Wife Syndrome". :-D

mrlyc• 16 years ago

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. It turned out to be a complete dud. I went there to do Communications and Electronic Engineering in 1981 because it was famous (our own MIT) and hard to get into and I was very disappointed. Like two other institutions I have encountered, the good people were vastly outnumbered by the bad ones. I kept having the feeling that we were being taught engineering by a bunch of failed engineers who couldn't hack it in the real world. That turned out to be true when I worked with some of them later on. They were bright enough for rote memory and battling fellow academics but they had no real feeling for what they were doing.

One of my biggest regrets is that I had an opportunity to move to another uni, less famous but still accredited, after my first year (Freshman) and I didn't take it. I eventually dropped out in third year (Junior).

brudgers• 16 years ago

I went to a variety of in-state schools. My advice to people selecting a school for an undergraduate degree is to decide the sort of environment you want to live in for the next four years, then select a school in that type of environment.

There's a Manhattan in New York and in Kansas. Each is the best choice for some people.

Mz2• 16 years ago

There's a Manhattan in New York and in Kansas. Each is the best choice for some people.

Manhattan Kansas rocks (or did when I was there). :)

zafka• 16 years ago

University of Mo., ROlla: It sounded cool. University of Wi, Whitewater: Had family nearby Praire State college: Convenient. Indian River Community College: Convenient. Florida Atlantic College: Convenient-Computer Engineering degree at age 36.

desigooner• 16 years ago

Rutgers

calebmpeterson• 16 years ago

Got both my B.S. Degrees at a state university in TX; they offered me a good scholarship and it was far enough from home. As a programmer/engineer I have to say that school is less important than what you do with yourself while in school - particularly if you want to go the entrepenuer route.

Of course for some professions (lawyer or doctor?) if you have your sights set on a particular employer you'd probably better cater to any favored alma mater(s) that employer has.

Bottom line is study what you love and work hard at it; you'll get good/better as you go. Take schooling seriously but not too seriously.

long• 16 years ago

Harvard. I applied back when they had early action, got in, and then didn't apply anywhere else.

I went primarily for the name, which in retrospect was not a good reason, but I ended up learning a lot anyway.

awakeasleep• 16 years ago

Loyola Chicago because I didn't want to apply to college and my parents chose it.

curt• 16 years ago

Get an engineering degree, then get an MBA. But if you are set on business, I got my MBA (mostly entrepreneurship and marketing) right out of undergrad at Indiana University so I kind of enjoyed the undergrad life while in grad school and it was great. It's a top ten business program and Bloomington, IN is a great town.

One of the countries largest biotech firms offered to pay for my MBA (I was extremely talented in the biological sciences) at a few different schools, I got to pick. All the schools were about the same rank but IU had a brand new building, a top ranked entrepreneurship and marketing program, and really hot girls. I had a blast and learned quite a lot, though compared to getting an engineering degree the MBA program was a breeze, so I got to enjoy the college lifestyle I didn't have during undergrad.

You should take a look at IU Bloomington.

AverageHNUser• 16 years ago

I went to a low-caliber school because I lacked the intelligence to successfully attain the grades, test scores, and extracurricular achievements necessary to gain admission to a superior school. Now that I am either out of school or at a college whose competition is even weaker than that of my high school, I imagine that my failures were completely by choice, that I am smart but just lazy. Though I have zero facts to back up these delusions, I am at least free from the constant stream of academic measurement that says otherwise. Nevertheless, I still look down on those who either did not go to college or attended schools I view as inferior to even my lowly alma mater.

weston• 16 years ago

If you are looking at Entrepreneurship and/or Marketing, do what I did and attend the University of Houston.

UH has the #1 Entrepreneurship program in the country (http://bit.ly/feQIsL) and the #1 Sales program in the country (http://bit.ly/gTaHte).

There are TONS of companies that recruit here as well for jobs and internships. Entrepreneurship program rankings from Entrepreneur Magazine (http://bit.ly/3jZHv0).

I went there because I wanted to be in a big city and I hate the cold. No snow in Houston :-D

Edit: I double-majored in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. It was only 3 extra courses for both degrees.

arrowoftime• 16 years ago

Stanford. B.S. Physics, M.S. Aerospace Engineering. I went there for a combination of weather, prestige, good science/engineering, and weather.

It's a good place.

fezzl• 16 years ago

National University of Singapore Law School.

torbica• 16 years ago

Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Very nice place to live and some very inspiring courses in software engineering and entrepreneurship.

ajude• 16 years ago

London School of Economics. The opportunities on offer for grad school were really good. Great peers, amazing public lectures, awesome job opportunities, the school is slowly developing a start-up/entrepreneurship culture via societies and the careers service. Lastly, the campus is based right in the heart of the city.

I had an awesome year and I still have regrets about not doing more extra-curriculars/freelance/taking up opportunities.

eduardo_f• 16 years ago

Technical University of Madrid. I love the city but the university is generally out of sync with reality and passing is very hard, let alone getting good grades. Illinois Institute of Technology. I love Chicago too, but it's cold!

guynamedloren• 16 years ago

Two days left at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. General Engineering (aka Enterprise Systems Engineering). Worst decision of my life. Thank goodness I'm graduating early, thus only wasting 3.5 years of my life as opposed to the typical 4 or 5 years.

buzzzlight• 16 years ago

Hey I went to UIUC for Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the best 4 years (and decision) of my life :-) Of course, it was 95-99 so some of the headiest, fastest paced years in the history of mankind. God I miss the 90s. I feel bad for kids who had to grow up in the 2000s, but am hopeful that they will work harder than we did to make the world a better place.

kongqiu• 16 years ago

Baylor University. I got a full ride scholarship, and it's a good school for undergraduates (if you're motivated).

Ask HN: Where did you go to college?

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