Is college the only way to success? - 1

I would just like to know your opinions, and if you believe college is the only way to be successful? We're all born knowing and believing that college is very important in order to be successful; But do you believe this is true? The reason for asking such a question is because I've been thinking about dropping out of college and pursuing my dream as an entrepreneur. Here's my story,

I'm a 19 year old guy, about to turn 20 soon and I've been self employed for quite awhile now. I consider what I do as a 'business'. I design websites for my clients and I'm earning equally if not more than I would in a part time job; depending on how well I market my business. I'm also writing an ebook at the moment about my success and my dreams in hopes of inspiring others, and I do believe this book will be a success.

On top of that, I'm attending college twice a week and I'm in the process of publishing my first iPhone application which I also believe will be a success. I'm a very optimistic guy, and I'm a true believer that it's not about how good the product or the service is, but how well you can market it.

I've also been really interested in the stock market and I been saving about 80 percent of all my earnings as I plan to use most on investments. I have pretty high standards and a big goal I plan to achieve, now the question is. I know it's a risk i'm willing to take, but is college really the only way?

Everyone's definition of success is different. For some people success is being able to pay their bills and have a little bit of money left for themselves. For others, it's living in a mansion and retiring early.

Do what makes you happy.

Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas mavericks) didn't go to college. He worked as a computer franchiser. He learned from experience. So no. College isn't the only wat to to be successful. College will definetly give you a slight of hand tho. It will also look good on a resume… Hope this helps!

No college is not the only way. Having a plan is a good start (which it looks like you have). What you might consider is supplementing your real life experience with a few college classes that you can pick and choose (for example, knowing some basic accounting will help you identify if you are getting ripped off by your accountant, a marketing class or two might teach you different ways to market, a management class or two will give you some of the knowledge required to run your own operation). Obviously, this would eliminate classes like history, literature etc. Which may or may not even be relevant to you.

First, consider what the first respondent said. Second, college isn't necessary to become financially successful, provided other skills -- namely, skills that generate good income, aggressive saving, and, over some time, employment of accumulated savings in accord with business acumen.

Most people do better going to college because they do not possess the trifecta:

1. Decent job/work ethic 2. SAVING 3. Exploiting opportunities, based on real business sense.

I mean, it's really crucial to have all three elements, especially business acumen.

If not, make sure to enter a college program that provides good employment prospects and low tuition.

Finally, please disabuse yourself of the notion you'll get far investing in stocks. Trust me on it. The stock market is a casino, simple and plain. It is roundly manipulated. At best it returns like 7% on an annual basis, assuming a very long holding period. I wouldn't even buy into that line of promotion, for reasons I'll forbear getting into.