College or not.. WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Try to find someone in the field who can have a Zoom meeting and explain what he is making now will seem like Chump change if he gets more formal training and qualifies for an executive position in that field.

So college is not a diversion from what he loves, it could be a fast track to get there.

Look at schools like SCAD, which mix on the job training/immersive internships throughout undergrad.

[Anonymous]

To Op - I f relevant, George Mason has a great computer science program, as well as a Gam Design major. DS was snapped up by Bethesda Software before graduating

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to find someone in the field who can have a Zoom meeting and explain what he is making now will seem like Chump change if he gets more formal training and qualifies for an executive position in that field.

So college is not a diversion from what he loves, it could be a fast track to get there.

Look at schools like SCAD, which mix on the job training/immersive internships throughout undergrad.

SCAD for a programmer? if the kid is making 300k as a high schooler coding part time, the bump from a degree will not be enough (most likely a pay cut) to make it look like chump change

[Anonymous]

Get him set up with a financial advisor. Urge him to take some business or tech classes in the meantime (no higher ed is prob not going to beneficial down the road). Don't push the 4 year college and, in reality, what can you do anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember.. the primary purpose of going to college is to get a job whose primary purpose is to provide income.

Yeah, no.

The primary purpose of going to college is to get educated. Education, in and of itself, has inherent value.

Jobs, greater income, etc, come because you are educated *and* that you want those things and work for them. Everyone knows both rich people who did not attend college and poor people who did.

If kid does not want to be educated and wants to pursue his passion for now, college will be there if and when he is ready. There will always be jobs for people with technical skills but for many tech jobs a CS degree or similar gives you background in things you can't learn didactically.

My point is that this kid already has the "Jobs, greater income, etc." that you list as outcomes of an education. Other than that, can you quantify the "inherent value" that you can get from Education?

This kid can choose to get an education at his convenience - formal or informal - to check your "inherent value" box, whatever that might be.

[Anonymous]

Everyone talking about CS needs to understand this.. This kid is not a programmer. He's a good businessman with the right combination of technical, design and business skills that knows when to leverage what opportunity. Thousands of kids (including a couple of mine) know how to do these mods without any formal computer programming training. The vast majority of them don't know how to monetize that. At the same time, there are thousands of kids that do get a formal CS degree who can run circles around this kid when it comes to creating mods but still don't end up making the money this kid does.

I'd say, leave him be. Make sure his money is saved and invested wisely. Treat him like an adult businessman and be an advisor. He has it figured out.

[Anonymous]

As a professor, I would say wait until he wants to go. In the long run he'll have better job security as well as the more intrinsic benefits of education if he completes a 4 year degree, but you don't get those benefits from college if you're not motivated. I would put your college savings on hold for later access if you have them, let him do this full-time, but encourage at least one community college class a semester to just keep him in that mode a bit--perhaps related to financial accounting/business management. He may feel out of step with his peers and decide he wants the residential college experience once he realizes what life is like without school/friends around and then it's just a gap year--and given covid, it's not a bad time to have something fruitful else to do. Encourage him first to invest in a Roth IRA and then learn enough about business to set up his taxes where he can invest more in his retirement. This will be very freeing if/when he switches gears.

[Anonymous]

I think colleges may change in the future and there might be a model that works around his business and fits him better when he is ready.

[Anonymous]

Dh is a web developer/coder. He knows many, many,many successful developers and coders with no college degree. It is definitely an industry that doesn't require a college degree. A lot of it can be self taught, and obviously your son had been successful at doing that.

[Anonymous]

Gaming is an art, not a science. You either have the talent or not. When your child decides that college is the next step, look at schools that add a business component to their art curriculum, like Tyler school of art, at Temple University.

[Anonymous]

I have no knowledge of computer science or anything like that so that my opinion fwiw. First, I am super impressed with your son. Wow! Second, I would not force a kid to go to school. My bias is mental health but my son graduated class of 2020 and was not a stellar student. He is bright but lazy. He is on the spectrum, anxious and socially immature. He got into a bunch of schools and put down a deposit. Then he decided he wasn’t ready to go. We could have forced him and said the experience would be good for him (it may have been). But we let him defer. We told him he had to take community college classes or get a job. He got a job. He isn’t lazy anymore. He is working almost full time. He is interacting with peers and the public. He is doing things outside of his comfort zone. This is not your kid - who is already a superstar - but for my kid this is huge. If he decides to go to school next year, it will be with new confidence. Or he may continue to work. It’s his choice, not ours bc he is an adult. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to find someone in the field who can have a Zoom meeting and explain what he is making now will seem like Chump change if he gets more formal training and qualifies for an executive position in that field.

So college is not a diversion from what he loves, it could be a fast track to get there.

Look at schools like SCAD, which mix on the job training/immersive internships throughout undergrad.

SCAD for a programmer? if the kid is making 300k as a high schooler coding part time, the bump from a degree will not be enough (most likely a pay cut) to make it look like chump change

PP mentioned an EXECUTIVE job, not programming.

Companies are unlikely to promote people (thinking longterm here) to leadership positions if they only have a high school diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember.. the primary purpose of going to college is to get a job whose primary purpose is to provide income.

Yeah, no.

The primary purpose of going to college is to get educated. Education, in and of itself, has inherent value.

Jobs, greater income, etc, come because you are educated *and* that you want those things and work for them. Everyone knows both rich people who did not attend college and poor people who did.

If kid does not want to be educated and wants to pursue his passion for now, college will be there if and when he is ready. There will always be jobs for people with technical skills but for many tech jobs a CS degree or similar gives you background in things you can't learn didactically.

My point is that this kid already has the "Jobs, greater income, etc." that you list as outcomes of an education. Other than that, can you quantify the "inherent value" that you can get from Education?

This kid can choose to get an education at his convenience - formal or informal - to check your "inherent value" box, whatever that might be.

Not everything of value can be quantified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to find someone in the field who can have a Zoom meeting and explain what he is making now will seem like Chump change if he gets more formal training and qualifies for an executive position in that field.

So college is not a diversion from what he loves, it could be a fast track to get there.

Look at schools like SCAD, which mix on the job training/immersive internships throughout undergrad.

SCAD for a programmer? if the kid is making 300k as a high schooler coding part time, the bump from a degree will not be enough (most likely a pay cut) to make it look like chump change

PP mentioned an EXECUTIVE job, not programming.

Companies are unlikely to promote people (thinking longterm here) to leadership positions if they only have a high school diploma.

I've dealt with systems architects with high school diplomas (including from Microsoft) - lots of tech is still about skill rather than a piece of paper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember.. the primary purpose of going to college is to get a job whose primary purpose is to provide income.

Yeah, no.

The primary purpose of going to college is to get educated. Education, in and of itself, has inherent value.

Jobs, greater income, etc, come because you are educated *and* that you want those things and work for them. Everyone knows both rich people who did not attend college and poor people who did.

If kid does not want to be educated and wants to pursue his passion for now, college will be there if and when he is ready. There will always be jobs for people with technical skills but for many tech jobs a CS degree or similar gives you background in things you can't learn didactically.

I think the pandemic has demonstrated that the primary purpose of going to college is not education but "the college experience" which includes social, emotional and intellectual development. This is why many parents complained about paying full tuition for online classes this semester.

How about going to college to get a business degree so he can manage his own business? Some of his classmates would probably become investors.

I have a friend who dropped out of college because the US government offered him a lucrative computer security position. He regrets never completing his undergrad degree because it limits him applying for other positions. But he has always been employed and he is well paid. Could you help your child set up some informational interviews with people who could offer some wisdom on this? It's a big decision and worth taking the time to gather the best advice.