Does it matter what college you go for undergrad?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7713

by hirematheeth • 19 years ago

1 13 19 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What is the context of the question? Does it matter for what?

I guess I should have added "for a successful startup." Also, if you can tell me how it matters for the comp. science field in general, I would appreciate it.

hirematheeth3• 19 years ago

Hey guys,

I am 17 and I posted this because I received my admissions letters this week. I got full rides to every state college I applied but I got wait listed at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and Caltech. I really don't know how to think of this. Can I still start a successful startup? Can I still be more successful than an MIT undergrad? Is there something about these colleges that makes students there better or is it completely dependent on the student's personality, work ethics, etc.. to be successful?

Sorry if the question seems out of whack. I am probably overwhelmed right now by the admissions letters.

far33d2• 19 years ago

It won't change your ability to start a startup. It might change how strong a background in CS you get... but again, that depends on what kind of learner you are.

What states?

hirematheeth3• 19 years ago

I got into University of Maryland, Purdue, Georgia Tech, and University of Texas, Austin.

pg• 19 years ago

Larry and Sergey went to Michigan and Maryland. Woz went to Berkeley. Jobs, I think, did one semester at Reed. I don't think it matters super much in starting a startup.

Stanford is a good place to go if you want to start a startup simply because it's in the middle of Silicon Valley and thus infused with startup culture (in a way that MIT definitely isn't). But you already seem to have that down.

However, where you go to college can have a great effect on how much fun you have and how much you learn, and that is the most important thing. I'd just go wherever seems to you to have the best intellectual vibe.

zaidf• 19 years ago

I got rejected from Carnegie-Mellon and Rhode Island School of Design - both top design schools. I was pissed but honestly I never associated those rejections to my startup success. Like PG has said in past, startup is more about determination and ability to learn from failure than any specific school or skill.

If anything just laugh off any rejection you get and keep working towards your startup path.

IMorgothI122• 19 years ago

Actually one thing I would look for is something like the WARF program at university of wisconsin.

I think what you want from a University is a place that help you with your invention. If you have an idea they can help you get a patent (Unlike Andrews) and then you as the inventor can share some of the profit. Not all Universities do that and this is the one thing I would emphasize from a University. This can also help you establish a better record for jobs or startups.

http://www.warf.org/about/index.jsp?cid=26

IMorgothI122• 19 years ago

A University should provide support in nurturing the invention process or providing patent and invention support.

jmtame• 19 years ago

I would try and find a college that has at least some entrepreneurial initiative. For example, at the Univ of Illinois, they have the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Technology Entrepreneur Center, plus one of the best ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) chapters around. We had Max Levchin and Jawed Karim speak at our last conference, plus companies like Google, Amazon, EA, Microsoft, etc. are showing up.

The only reason I'm really here is to find some CS students to help me startup. But it wouldn't happen without my connection to the school's CS groups.

In the end, I doubt it matters one way or another where you go. As someone mentioned, many successful founders didn't go to ivy league schools. Jobs dropped out after 6 months at Reed. You'll decide how far you go.

soulcrusher• 19 years ago

It doesn't matter for a startup. But it does matter if you want a cushy job or want to get into a top professional school.

Does it matter what college you go for undergrad?

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