While it’d be almost impossible to prove, it’s been said that the average Harvard dropout has a higher net worth than the average Harvard graduate. When you factor in a few insanely wealthy dropouts like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, it might be right.
Of course, this is just a good example being able to lie with statistics. While the average/mean net worth of Harvard dropouts might be higher thanks to Gates and Zuckerberg, the median net worth is likely higher for those that graduated. Dropping out probably isn’t your best move.
Just get accepted
Related, Seth Godin says that simply being accepted to Harvard is good enough:
It turns out that students who apply to Harvard and get in but don’t go are just as successful and at least as happy throughout their lives as the ones who do attend. Try to imagine any other branded investment of that size that delivers as little.
This comes from an amazing 36,000 word piece from Seth a few years ago called Stop Stealing Dreams, which is free for anyone to read. His main idea is that our educational system was built for training factory workers and society has out-paced it.
His bigger point with that quote, though, is that being smart and driven (which often go hand-in-hand) is the key to a happy life. Being smart and driven is a great way to accepted to Harvard, and you can attend if you want, but if you’re a self-learner that is always striving for more you’ll succeed either way.
If you’ve never read that piece of his before, consider it your next “book” — it’s going to take a few hours to work through it but it’s well worth every minute of your time.
[…] is from a post a few weeks ago about the average salary of a Harvard drop-out. Factor in Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, and the average is quite high, but […]