<p>Just caught this thread. Best of both worlds- he has the degree for later jobs, is pursuing his dreams and making money doing so. Glad it all ended well. I was voting for finishing school- so hard to go back for the BS/BA, more years required if one waits awhile. What a relief for you. </p>
<p>We’re now hoping son heads to grad school after working a couple of years. This time he won’t tell us until he has accepted offers. I wonder what will happen with his HS friend who chose to work while deferring law school. At least they both had strong bachelors degrees completed. Long work hours for twenty somethings without family is fine, but later priorities change. Your son’s work experience will help with the next job, or he’ll grow with the company.</p>
<p>My son had an internship after his sophomore year doing programming for a pretty well-known software company. At the end of the summer, he and some of the other interns were offered FT jobs on the spot with starting salaries higher than my husband or I would ever make. Nobody took them up on the offer, since it seems short-sighted to not get your degree when you’re that close to it. And the jobs will still be there in two years. But these companies are desperate for workers and don’t think twice about asking 20 year olds to quit school to work for them.</p>
<p>What students in this situation should consider if presented with such an offer is to check their schools’ withdrawal and readmission policies. If it is relatively simple, then it could very well be advantageous to treat such an offer as an extended open-ended co-op job, returning to school to finish the degree when the job is no longer interesting or the company goes into decline.</p>
<p>Of course, the student needs to avoid taking up a more expensive lifestyle during the “extended open-ended co-op job” in order to avoid problems transitioning back into a student lifestyle to finish the degree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Remember that there are economic and industry cycles affecting the job markets. If job prospects are good now, there may be good opportunities for an “extended open-ended co-op job” now; if there is a downturn two years from now, the student who went back to school would likely graduate unemployed, while the student in the “extended open-ended co-op job” would be returning to school as the company folded (after having saved up some money from the job), riding out the downturn in school. In the latter case, even if the economy is still down at graduation, the greater work experience would be helpful when searching for a job in a poor job market.</p>
<p>Friend of mine had a chance to do this with a small Seattle startup in in the early 80s. </p>
<p>He stayed in school instead. Company did extremely well. They make operating systems and office products, though they have been eclipsed by a small fruit company in recent years.</p>
<p>He did extremely well anyway, but what could have been?</p>
<p>Thanks for updating. I am glad it is working out for him. One thing I have repeatly told both my kids, 19 and 12yo, is to not be afraid to take a chance and advantage of opportunities. Obviously, one has to evaluate the risks, but what better time to try something thatn when you are young. I always took the safe route and wish I had done more.</p>
<p>I think it’s one thing for a kid to quit school if he’s the next Mark Zuckerberg - has a revolutionary idea and the drive to make it happen. It’s another to quit school because some startup (and there are plenty of them) has offered him a job in order to fill a seat right now. And that’s what’s going on with talented young programmers. Sure, they’d make ridiculously good money for a 21 year old, but they’re basically just getting a jumpstart on working the daily grind. Chances are really high that they won’t become mega-millionaires from stock options. </p>
<p>I think if they’re that much in demand, there’s bound to be some job out there for them two years from now. Why should they cheat themselves out of the college experience?</p>
<p>Startups that do not become successful in that way often fail or become uninteresting to work at… in which case the student can just return to school and finish his/her bachelor’s degree, treating the job as if it were an extended co-op job or internship (i.e. valuable experience that will be to his/her advantage when looking for the next job).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Assuming that the college has relatively simple withdrawal and readmission policies, it is not necessarily cheating oneself out of the college experience, any more than the co-op jobs available at many schools (and which are integral to the college experience at places like Northeastern and Drexel).</p>
<p>Eight semesters of school, with a year or two of good work experience in between, is not likely to be looked at unfavorably when looking for a job at graduation.</p>