College or not.. WWYD?

[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.

That's just not true for programmers. It's a lot closer to a trade that a traditional professional career in a lot of way- skill not a degree is the barrier to entry, and if you lack the skill a degree can paper that over. A degree is great, but demonstrated work product will get him farther. Is he contributing to GitHub- if not he should be if he has the skill to do so, I'd hire code monkey based on their profile long before I'd care about a degree

New poster.

I do agree that forcing a kid to go to college in the circumstances OP describes is NOT wise.

But OP, what's the plan if he won't go to college?

Will he...keep liviing with you, his parents? Does he have full control over the really very big amount of money he's made (and if he's 18, he's legally an adult, so it's his, but...legal adulthood does not mean he is mature enough to invest some, save some, not blow it, etc.). Are you concerned that he's going to waste this money, and if so, is there someone you and he would both trust to advise him financially if he doesn't listen to you about finances? If he suddenly says, I'm legally an adult and I'm moving out, you can't stop him, so what's his plan? Is there any plan?

I want to add, too, regarding the bold in the post above: While that's all true to a point, I know at least two "code monkeys" who now are in their 40s and neither is ever going to get past a certain level of income or responsibiliity professionally because they lack degrees. One has no college degree at all and the other has a degree in a field that isn't at all computer related. Both have tons of programming experience and are apparently very good at it but they have hit the ceiling as far as employment advancement goes. Their employers don't make full-time employees of people who don't have at least some form of relevant degree. Is that right? Maybe not but it's still the case in larger corporations. I know the PP above is, as I said, correct--for certain types of employers. But others will not advance someone who simply has no degree at all, becuase their hiring rules say you need a minimum degree to be promoted after a certain point, even if you're a great programmer. It's maybe not fair but it's still true in a lot of places. Maybe your son will never work for a company iin the old-school employment way where he has a job and advances up a ladder of pay and positions, and that is FINE, but you need just to be aware that that's not necessarily a path for him. He might found his own start-up when the economy eventually improves or join a smaller company, etc. Just understand that the path you might visualize for a career may not be open to him though he may have a different path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

Not OP, but glad your son is doing so well. You sound like a great parent.

[Anonymous]

What does your son want to do? Its should be his choice since he's an adult now and capable of supporting himself.

[Anonymous]

don't forget part time degrees or online. I know people in federal IT who were programmers with diplomas in the private sector who picked up UMUC degrees and did well

[Anonymous]

Your child is actually the poster child for someone who probably SHOULD get an online degree -- and I"m a college professor! He should keep involved in the gaming field that he's involved in and keep that job AND take a course or two per semester, on his own schedule with an eye towards EVENTUALLY getting that degree.
You should look into University of Maryland's Global campus program, and have him get a degree in cybersecurity. HOnestly with his background he would probably enjoy the coursework, might possibly be able to course out of some of it or breeze through it, and might actually enjoy meeting classmates online with the same interests. Later on, if he wants to apply for something that requires recommendations he will have some academic recommenders.
He might also look into getting a degree in data analytics. Berkeley has some kind of center which offers a degree in information science. Again, this can be done online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1 I'm the PP who talked about my brother who opted to not do college because he was already making a good living programming. He was promoted into upper management without the degree at a big multinational company. However, he learned he hates management and was able to move back into a high level technical job.

[Anonymous]

Encourage him to fit in some classes at local CC and get associates. At some point he is going to want that degree. But NOT now when he is taking it in and gaining experience!

[Anonymous]

OP, if he refused, I don't think there's much you can do. And I'm one who believes *any* college degree is far better than *no* college degree. I would do 2 things: insist that he apply to 1 school at least. Tell him that's not forcing him to go, it's just forcing him to apply. (then, make it a school you ... quietly and confidentially think is a good choice and a shoe-in for acceptance/affordability) Once that's done, the application in, I would just make sure that he knows - no monetary support from you whatsoever if he's not in school. None. He better have a plan. No money coming from you. If it were my kids, I would be supporting him financially if he were in school, but no money if not.

All of this doesn't mean he won't be a success w/out college. But the way I would deal with my inevitable anxiety over no path to a college degree would be to do all I could to make his decision uncomrtable.