If you have the option to go and you want to advance on your career, then there’s almost zero reasons to not go.
Yes, there are some exceptions but in most places and for most people a degree is what matters, not how many commits you do have in your side projects in github.
> If you have the option to go and you want to advance on your career, then there’s almost zero reasons to not go.
The entire point of the article was that if you have something better to do than university and good reason to believe you can actually do it you might at least consider it. Also, three to four years of foregone earnings are a powerful reason not to go to university if you’re already capable of earning a living in your chosen field. That is very far from zero reasons, especially when you consider the professional development you can fit into those years if that’s something you value.
> Yes, there are some exceptions but in most places and for most people a degree is what matters, not how many commits you do have in your side projects in github.
When you’re 40 no one but bureaucrats is going to give a crap what university you went to, compared to your actual accomplishments. If all you’ve got is side projects on GitHub no one will care whether you went to Oxford or University of Southern Florida or dropped out of high school. Actual accomplishments
Even at age 48, I see people getting on the inside track because they have degrees from name brand universities, including myself (I have a PhD from CMU). A degree from a good place signals (rightly or wrongly) that you were academically strong enough to get in and to finish.
As for career development - 3-4 years of career development "forgone" isn't really that much relative to the sum total of an entire career. One could just as easily say that when you're 40, no-one but bureaucrats is going to give a crap whether you have 19-20 years of experience or 23.
There are always exceptions - the whole "dropped out of university to found X or invent Y" thing - but 95% of people's actual accomplishments (as you so excitedly put it) are going to be a bunch of 'turned up, did pretty good' lines on a resume. All other things being equal, I'll hire the person who passed university-level calculus at a good school, thanks.
Yes, there are some exceptions but in most places and for most people a degree is what matters, not how many commits you do have in your side projects in github.