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Hacking Your Education Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will
It’s no secret that college doesn’t prepare students for the real world. Student loan debt recently eclipsed credit card debt for the first time in history and now tops one trillion dollars. And the throngs of unemployed graduates chasing the same jobs makes us wonder whether there’s a better way to “make it” in today’s marketplace.
There is—and Dale Stephens is proof of that. In Hacking Your Education, Stephens speaks to a new culture of “hackademics” who think college diplomas are antiquated. Stephens shows how he and dozens of others have hacked their education, and how you can, too. You don’t need to be a genius or especially motivated to succeed outside school. The real requirements are much simpler: curiosity, confidence, and grit.
Hacking Your Education offers valuable advice to current students as well as those who decided to skip college. Stephens teaches you to create opportunities for yourself and design your curriculum—inside or outside the classroom. Whether your dream is to travel the world, build a startup, or climb the corporate ladder, Stephens proves you can do it now, rather than waiting for life to start after “graduation” day.
There is—and Dale Stephens is proof of that. In Hacking Your Education, Stephens speaks to a new culture of “hackademics” who think college diplomas are antiquated. Stephens shows how he and dozens of others have hacked their education, and how you can, too. You don’t need to be a genius or especially motivated to succeed outside school. The real requirements are much simpler: curiosity, confidence, and grit.
Hacking Your Education offers valuable advice to current students as well as those who decided to skip college. Stephens teaches you to create opportunities for yourself and design your curriculum—inside or outside the classroom. Whether your dream is to travel the world, build a startup, or climb the corporate ladder, Stephens proves you can do it now, rather than waiting for life to start after “graduation” day.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
39 people are currently reading
1088 people want to read
About the author
Dale J. Stephens
1 book6 followersAt 21, Dale Stephens founded UnCollege.org because we’re paying too much for college and learning too little. It’s no secret that college doesn’t prepare students for the real world. Student loan debt recently eclipsed credit card debt for the first time in history and now tops 1 trillion dollars. And the throngs of unemployed graduates chasing the same jobs makes us wonder whether there’s a better way to “make it” in today’s marketplace.
There is—and Dale Stephens is proof of that. In Hacking Your Education, Stephens speaks to a new culture of “hackademics” who think college diplomas are antiquated. Hackademics abandon society’s linear path to success and bend institutions to fit their own reality. Stephens shows how he and dozens of others have hacked their education, and how you can too. You don’t need to be a genius or especially motivated to succeed outside school. The real requirements are much simpler: curiosity, confidence, and grit.
Stephens is a sought-after education expert appearing on major news networks including CNN, ABC, NPR, CBS, Fox, and TechCrunch. His work has been covered by the New York Times and New York Magazine to Fast Company and Forbes.
He has spoken around the world at high-profile events, from debating Vivek Wadhwa onstage at TED 2012 to lecturing at the New York Times to speaking to C-level executives at NBC Universal. He works frequently with universities who realize their model of education must change to survive in the 21st century.
In May 2011 Stephens was selected out of hundreds of individuals around the world as a Thiel Fellow, a program recognizing the top twenty-four entrepreneurs around the world under the age of twenty. In addition to leading UnCollege, Stephens advises education and technology companies.
Rejected for being young or inexperienced, he has risen above skepticism to do what many said he couldn’t. Because he bridges the gap between teens and adults, he doesn’t just relate to both but shares their experiences, fears, and challenges. Stephens’ energetic, informative and down-to-earth presentations draw on his own experience to address generation-specific issues most relevant to people in their 10s, 20s, and 30s.
There is—and Dale Stephens is proof of that. In Hacking Your Education, Stephens speaks to a new culture of “hackademics” who think college diplomas are antiquated. Hackademics abandon society’s linear path to success and bend institutions to fit their own reality. Stephens shows how he and dozens of others have hacked their education, and how you can too. You don’t need to be a genius or especially motivated to succeed outside school. The real requirements are much simpler: curiosity, confidence, and grit.
Stephens is a sought-after education expert appearing on major news networks including CNN, ABC, NPR, CBS, Fox, and TechCrunch. His work has been covered by the New York Times and New York Magazine to Fast Company and Forbes.
He has spoken around the world at high-profile events, from debating Vivek Wadhwa onstage at TED 2012 to lecturing at the New York Times to speaking to C-level executives at NBC Universal. He works frequently with universities who realize their model of education must change to survive in the 21st century.
In May 2011 Stephens was selected out of hundreds of individuals around the world as a Thiel Fellow, a program recognizing the top twenty-four entrepreneurs around the world under the age of twenty. In addition to leading UnCollege, Stephens advises education and technology companies.
Rejected for being young or inexperienced, he has risen above skepticism to do what many said he couldn’t. Because he bridges the gap between teens and adults, he doesn’t just relate to both but shares their experiences, fears, and challenges. Stephens’ energetic, informative and down-to-earth presentations draw on his own experience to address generation-specific issues most relevant to people in their 10s, 20s, and 30s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
March 18, 2013
I can't say that I agree with every suggestion Stephens makes in this book. Cold calling influential people you don't know to ask them to get you into a conference that has already started, for example, is a strategy that ought to be handled carefully, if it isn't just an outright really bad idea.
But what I really like about Stephens's short book is how it reveals the absurdity of blindly handing your education over to institutions that may not be capable of preparing you for your particular career and life path, even if you'e lucky enough to find a school that is actually interested in preparing you for life.
Stephens's path--which involved dropping out of school at age twelve, and again dropping out of college--is not for everyone, but all young people should be as strategic in planning their own education. Even if this means (gasp!) passing on college.
But what I really like about Stephens's short book is how it reveals the absurdity of blindly handing your education over to institutions that may not be capable of preparing you for your particular career and life path, even if you'e lucky enough to find a school that is actually interested in preparing you for life.
Stephens's path--which involved dropping out of school at age twelve, and again dropping out of college--is not for everyone, but all young people should be as strategic in planning their own education. Even if this means (gasp!) passing on college.
June 6, 2014
Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will provokes the reader to think about the pervading malady that has infected many societies - that is, adopting university description as self-description. Given the unrelenting and rising pressures imposed on the youth to succeed academically, it is unsurprising that individuals forced to participate in this result-oriented rat race has come to value themselves extrinsically by the prestige of their degrees and academic accomplishments.
The author also raises the spectre of thousands of youths unknowingly mortgaging their freedom to innovate away in exchange for a degree, and how the traditional schooling system only enforces the belief on swathes of individuals that they are mediocre even when they could be so much more, a perspective shared by Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal.
Additionally, the author observes how most students in universities regard their education as a mere insurance policy rather than a form of investment, treating the degree as a mere stepping stone to a job rather than a means of improving themselves, extending the horizons of their perspectives and producing synergistic collaboration with like-minded individuals. On a related point, it is my observation that individuals do not truly realise the high opportunity costs they are invariably paying when they choose to coast along or focus inflexibly on only academics to the disregard of other important facets of education. A large part of educating oneself lies in taking personal accountability to go beyond and above the rigid and limited boundaries of the syllabus so as to extend the lower bounds of one’s potential.
And that, I believe, is the central tenet of Hacking Your Education: to effectively and responsibly hack your own education by customising an optimal syllabus for yourself that constantly engages your mind and prevents it from entering into “screensaver mode”.
Not only does the book compel you to question the utility of traditional education models by comparing it with its touted “unschooling” model (to find out more visit UnCollege), it also provides several “hacks” for you to start becoming more accountable and productive in your own learning. I will list a few:
[1] Set up a brain party: Essentially organising a collaborative learning group to share ideas as well as to challenge and support one another over a regular timeframe e.g. twice a month.
[2] To-learn lists: Keep note of the things you want to learn and compile them into a list so that there will always be something you can engage in. A corollary of having ‘to-learn’ lists is ‘to-do’ lists. While the author uses Things on Mac, I personally prefer Stickies because I could then move my notes around.
[3] Improve your sleep hygiene: Waking up every day at 6.00am because most productive work can be done between the hours of 6-9am when there are the least distractions. While not everyone may be a morning person, this is a habit followed by many productive artists and novelists of the past (see Daily Rituals: How Artists Work or an infographic of it).
[4] Accountability buddy: Exchange five to ten high-level goals with two to three friends for the week. Check with each other the following week to ensure that you have met your goals.
[5] Take a person out for coffee: Ask someone you don’t really know well out for coffee. It will teach you a lot on how not to care what other people think and how to have open conversations with anyone. Also, check out how one person made it into a project called 52 Cups of Coffee.
All in all, Hacking Your Education is a delightful and insightful read which I highly recommend to everyone, especially students.
Also posted on www.anincompletejigsaw.com.
The author also raises the spectre of thousands of youths unknowingly mortgaging their freedom to innovate away in exchange for a degree, and how the traditional schooling system only enforces the belief on swathes of individuals that they are mediocre even when they could be so much more, a perspective shared by Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal.
Additionally, the author observes how most students in universities regard their education as a mere insurance policy rather than a form of investment, treating the degree as a mere stepping stone to a job rather than a means of improving themselves, extending the horizons of their perspectives and producing synergistic collaboration with like-minded individuals. On a related point, it is my observation that individuals do not truly realise the high opportunity costs they are invariably paying when they choose to coast along or focus inflexibly on only academics to the disregard of other important facets of education. A large part of educating oneself lies in taking personal accountability to go beyond and above the rigid and limited boundaries of the syllabus so as to extend the lower bounds of one’s potential.
And that, I believe, is the central tenet of Hacking Your Education: to effectively and responsibly hack your own education by customising an optimal syllabus for yourself that constantly engages your mind and prevents it from entering into “screensaver mode”.
Not only does the book compel you to question the utility of traditional education models by comparing it with its touted “unschooling” model (to find out more visit UnCollege), it also provides several “hacks” for you to start becoming more accountable and productive in your own learning. I will list a few:
[1] Set up a brain party: Essentially organising a collaborative learning group to share ideas as well as to challenge and support one another over a regular timeframe e.g. twice a month.
[2] To-learn lists: Keep note of the things you want to learn and compile them into a list so that there will always be something you can engage in. A corollary of having ‘to-learn’ lists is ‘to-do’ lists. While the author uses Things on Mac, I personally prefer Stickies because I could then move my notes around.
[3] Improve your sleep hygiene: Waking up every day at 6.00am because most productive work can be done between the hours of 6-9am when there are the least distractions. While not everyone may be a morning person, this is a habit followed by many productive artists and novelists of the past (see Daily Rituals: How Artists Work or an infographic of it).
[4] Accountability buddy: Exchange five to ten high-level goals with two to three friends for the week. Check with each other the following week to ensure that you have met your goals.
[5] Take a person out for coffee: Ask someone you don’t really know well out for coffee. It will teach you a lot on how not to care what other people think and how to have open conversations with anyone. Also, check out how one person made it into a project called 52 Cups of Coffee.
All in all, Hacking Your Education is a delightful and insightful read which I highly recommend to everyone, especially students.
Also posted on www.anincompletejigsaw.com.
June 5, 2015
While this book is moderately inspiring I feel like it was written for a very specific niche that I am certain I do not belong to (at least not yet). There is very little in information on "hacking your education". Instead the book offers a lot of advice on networking, making friends, and (oddly) the importance of learning to code. It felt like the author was coming from a place of success and reaching out to already successful people. I'm still getting my life going and figuring things out, I can't just fly to Germany to speak at a TED conference (an actual "hack of the day" from the book). I don't have anything to say or any major achievements yet, that's why I'm reading this book.
Some of the tips and tricks were massively useful: how to write an attention grabbing email subject line, the benefits of rising early, using volunteer positions as learning opportunities, finding mentors, and using peer accountability to reach your goals. All of that was in the first half of the book. The second half focused heavily on networking and hanging out with influential people. It felt like there was an assumption that the reader had already invented the next big social media website or iPhone app and was just trying to go from there. I have nothing to say to the movers and shakers because I have not moved or shaken anything, I'm still learning. Also, I am a very introverted person (INFP) and I would feel rude just emailing strangers and trying to "hack" my way into their social circles.
I don't know how helpful this self help book can be for those of us that don't have careers yet. Honestly reading it made me feel self conscious and despondent, I had a sense of already having failed at "hacking" my education because I'm in college and I haven't done anything of note. Or lived in France. I'm off to have a little self-pitying cry fest over all of my nonexistent startups and my student loan debt, read at your own risk.
Some of the tips and tricks were massively useful: how to write an attention grabbing email subject line, the benefits of rising early, using volunteer positions as learning opportunities, finding mentors, and using peer accountability to reach your goals. All of that was in the first half of the book. The second half focused heavily on networking and hanging out with influential people. It felt like there was an assumption that the reader had already invented the next big social media website or iPhone app and was just trying to go from there. I have nothing to say to the movers and shakers because I have not moved or shaken anything, I'm still learning. Also, I am a very introverted person (INFP) and I would feel rude just emailing strangers and trying to "hack" my way into their social circles.
I don't know how helpful this self help book can be for those of us that don't have careers yet. Honestly reading it made me feel self conscious and despondent, I had a sense of already having failed at "hacking" my education because I'm in college and I haven't done anything of note. Or lived in France. I'm off to have a little self-pitying cry fest over all of my nonexistent startups and my student loan debt, read at your own risk.
March 31, 2013
This is a quick read, and is most appropriate for young students or parents of students who are considering alternative options for education. I certainly admire the author for his approach - he left school when he was young and has pursued international travel, business ventures, and online courses since - but I have to believe that many young amateurs, even having followed every advice this book suggests, would not likely have a similar, successful outcome. The author's strength is in his extroverted and adventurous personality, which no doubt lead him to wonderful mentors and experiences. In short, it takes a certain kind of person to make this type of approach successful. I did appreciate certain ideas for continuing education outside of traditional schooling ventures, and also appreciated the stories of similar hackers the author met along the way. In fact, the greatest success story is the fact that the book itself exists, a model that you should feel compelled to recreate and not simply experience.
March 4, 2015
Dočetla jsem tuhle útlou knížečku za dobu delší, než by zasloužila, ale aspoň jsem měla dost času o ní přemýšlet. Pravdou je, že je hodně uzpůsobena americkému prostředí. Jsou zkrátka věci, které u nás nefungují. Třeba létání zadarmo za nalétané kilometry. Také už asi tak moc nepomůže lidem jako já, tedy těm, kteří bez větších problémů prošli kompletním vzdělávacím cyklem (od školky po diplom). Přesto obsahuje několik zajímavých nápadů, jak rozšířit své možnosti.
Jmenují se Finty dne a opravdu je můžete použít jako cvičení na den i více. Ale třeba jen pomůžou, abyste se nad určitými věcmi zamysleli. Co dál se svým životem? Co dělám špatně? A tak.
Zkuste si třeba cvičení na trpělivost: Máte dva bonbóny. Pokud sníte jeden hned, ten druhý hoďte do koše. Nebo si je nechte oba před sebou a pokud vydržíte čtvrt hodiny si nevzít, můžete získat oba. Asi není překvapením, že značná část malých dětí toho není schopna. Co vy?
Jmenují se Finty dne a opravdu je můžete použít jako cvičení na den i více. Ale třeba jen pomůžou, abyste se nad určitými věcmi zamysleli. Co dál se svým životem? Co dělám špatně? A tak.
Zkuste si třeba cvičení na trpělivost: Máte dva bonbóny. Pokud sníte jeden hned, ten druhý hoďte do koše. Nebo si je nechte oba před sebou a pokud vydržíte čtvrt hodiny si nevzít, můžete získat oba. Asi není překvapením, že značná část malých dětí toho není schopna. Co vy?
March 15, 2013
Plan to hack "Hacking Your Education" in higher ed setting. The book is full of good ideas that can be easily adapted for developing engaged, life long learners at a university. Once you overlook some of Dale's ethically troublesome suggestions, and some of his explicit language, the book is really insightful and should be a required reading for higher ed faculty and administrators, so they are not out of a job. The author offers a unique millennial perspective on what he considers a valuable educational experience. Dale Stephens assembled a nice set of statistics, stories and resources not only for those who consider skipping college, but also for those who run higher education institutions. Recommend it.
December 11, 2014
Read it! Life-long learning is the underlying message of the book. It's not merely "ditch college". I was pleasantly surprise to read some of the things I am already doing to learn in this book including the use of social learning networks. I won't do everything the author recommend as I don't think they're right but you have to read the book to figure out which ones I may be referring to.
Overall - this book is really good.
Overall - this book is really good.
July 27, 2013
Wow I just loved this book, super fast paced, easy to read, very practical and written for 2013! I wish I'd read this book 10 years back!
If you're a college student or a life long learner or looking for ways to learn a new skill quickly or just to increase your productivity this book is for you.
If you're a college student or a life long learner or looking for ways to learn a new skill quickly or just to increase your productivity this book is for you.
June 14, 2013
Finished it in a day. Loved it! Had so much great information, tips, and gave me a lot of great ideas. I didn't realize I was an unschooler until he described some of the people he interviewed. I didn't realize I was doing some of these things already. Screw college, hack your education.
May 24, 2013
the good: yes! a different point of view, a valid point of view.
the so-so: did this need to be a book? A good length article would tell me the pertinent data.
the bad: lots of filler
the so-so: did this need to be a book? A good length article would tell me the pertinent data.
the bad: lots of filler
August 15, 2018
First: props to any author who successfully finishes a book and gets it into readers' hands. It is no doubt a massive effort to bring to life a set of organized, original ideas. That out there, I have to admit that I was underwhelmed with this book, especially given its potential.
As part of my reading this year related to work on the future of learning, I've been engaging with content seeking to expand the art of the possible in the education, learning, and work spaces. I recently finished Sal Khan's One World Schoolhouse and Ted Dintersmith's What School Could Be. Both books shared deep personal viewpoints through the lens of a journey, in Khan's case through his own education and the founding of the eponymous academy, and in Dintersmith's case through the country's classrooms and public meeting spaces. Both of those books brought cogent arguments for what the future might look like, and what people can do to get there. Stephens' work, honestly, left something to be desired.
Part of it is a style dissonance between author and reader. Stephens' casual tone and frequent, unnecessary cursing, made the book feel unserious, when dealing with what he acknowledges is one of our country's and time's biggest issues (education). But my much more substantial issue with the book is its cherry-picked examples and unreasonable recommendations. Stephens himself seems a wunderkind: clearly very smart, incredibly social, widely read, and hyper-organized, he quit grade school and has gone on to pull together an impressive set of non-traditional credentials. Plus he's written at least one more book than most people (including yours truly).
Many of his examples feel more like ways he has managed to hack his education and less like ways others might reasonably do. Making dozens of introduction (10-15 per day!), hosting weekly dinners (and never eating dinner without a group), constantly looking for who matters (about networking: "It's figuring out who you should spend time with getting to know today because they'll be leading the world tomorrow"): all these seem like potentially useful things to do. But who does these things?
I also take philosophical / ethical issue with some of his prescribed methods. Attending big lectures at universities? Probably little harm. Actively participating in those classes, as he suggests people do? Of dubious ethical foundation considering the investment other students have made for the teacher, resources, etc. Crashing conferences and sitting outside to meet people? Ok. Trying to take leftover badges from no-shows? Not cool. Guessing emails of important people? Good idea. Lying on your resume? (He doesn't explicitly condone this, but does tell a story of someone doing this, without any opprobrium.) Not something anyone should be even tacitly encouraging.
Stephens is openly advocating for free-riding. How many free-riders can the system handle before the value of that being free-ridden isn't worth riding? Stephens could just as easily advocate for a system that encourages people to share scarce resources (in particular professor time and community building activities) vs. one that encourages people to free-ride or steal as much as possible. He could make an impassioned argument for university systems like those in his (and my) state of California to redouble their efforts to provide for career ready citizens, beyond traditional higher ed pathways. But maybe that's just my crotchety mid-30s-self speaking.
Ultimately, Stephens is clear that he is arguing for choice in building unique learning pathways and experiences, not about eliminating college. I agree vehemently on this dimension of increased diversity of pathway choice. Students should think carefully about the cost-benefit trade-off for any investment in their development, formal or informal, at a school or not, close to home or far, etc. Stephens is correct that there is a kind of bubble in higher education, with costs having spiraled for decades without corresponding value accretion. (Although the bursting has not happened in the five years since the book was published, it's hard to imagine the education market not continuing its rapid pace of change.) Schools themselves should transform themselves. They should look carefully at where their dollars go, and eliminate unnecessary spending. That expensive new gym? Why? All those administrators? Really adding value to the students and thus society?
At the end of the day, Stephens is an example of what education will continue to look like for more and more kids in our country and the world. While I disagree with some of his methods, I am glad that he has taken such a strong stance for reform of a higher ed system in need of it.
One disclosure: while I've never met Stephens, I do know members of the leadership team of Year On, which is uncollege.org's successor organization. I've socialized with them and also discussed their business model with one of them. (It's a model which I think is incredibly important as part of the ecosystem of new ideas that need to slosh around in the well of higher ed...)
As part of my reading this year related to work on the future of learning, I've been engaging with content seeking to expand the art of the possible in the education, learning, and work spaces. I recently finished Sal Khan's One World Schoolhouse and Ted Dintersmith's What School Could Be. Both books shared deep personal viewpoints through the lens of a journey, in Khan's case through his own education and the founding of the eponymous academy, and in Dintersmith's case through the country's classrooms and public meeting spaces. Both of those books brought cogent arguments for what the future might look like, and what people can do to get there. Stephens' work, honestly, left something to be desired.
Part of it is a style dissonance between author and reader. Stephens' casual tone and frequent, unnecessary cursing, made the book feel unserious, when dealing with what he acknowledges is one of our country's and time's biggest issues (education). But my much more substantial issue with the book is its cherry-picked examples and unreasonable recommendations. Stephens himself seems a wunderkind: clearly very smart, incredibly social, widely read, and hyper-organized, he quit grade school and has gone on to pull together an impressive set of non-traditional credentials. Plus he's written at least one more book than most people (including yours truly).
Many of his examples feel more like ways he has managed to hack his education and less like ways others might reasonably do. Making dozens of introduction (10-15 per day!), hosting weekly dinners (and never eating dinner without a group), constantly looking for who matters (about networking: "It's figuring out who you should spend time with getting to know today because they'll be leading the world tomorrow"): all these seem like potentially useful things to do. But who does these things?
I also take philosophical / ethical issue with some of his prescribed methods. Attending big lectures at universities? Probably little harm. Actively participating in those classes, as he suggests people do? Of dubious ethical foundation considering the investment other students have made for the teacher, resources, etc. Crashing conferences and sitting outside to meet people? Ok. Trying to take leftover badges from no-shows? Not cool. Guessing emails of important people? Good idea. Lying on your resume? (He doesn't explicitly condone this, but does tell a story of someone doing this, without any opprobrium.) Not something anyone should be even tacitly encouraging.
Stephens is openly advocating for free-riding. How many free-riders can the system handle before the value of that being free-ridden isn't worth riding? Stephens could just as easily advocate for a system that encourages people to share scarce resources (in particular professor time and community building activities) vs. one that encourages people to free-ride or steal as much as possible. He could make an impassioned argument for university systems like those in his (and my) state of California to redouble their efforts to provide for career ready citizens, beyond traditional higher ed pathways. But maybe that's just my crotchety mid-30s-self speaking.
Ultimately, Stephens is clear that he is arguing for choice in building unique learning pathways and experiences, not about eliminating college. I agree vehemently on this dimension of increased diversity of pathway choice. Students should think carefully about the cost-benefit trade-off for any investment in their development, formal or informal, at a school or not, close to home or far, etc. Stephens is correct that there is a kind of bubble in higher education, with costs having spiraled for decades without corresponding value accretion. (Although the bursting has not happened in the five years since the book was published, it's hard to imagine the education market not continuing its rapid pace of change.) Schools themselves should transform themselves. They should look carefully at where their dollars go, and eliminate unnecessary spending. That expensive new gym? Why? All those administrators? Really adding value to the students and thus society?
At the end of the day, Stephens is an example of what education will continue to look like for more and more kids in our country and the world. While I disagree with some of his methods, I am glad that he has taken such a strong stance for reform of a higher ed system in need of it.
One disclosure: while I've never met Stephens, I do know members of the leadership team of Year On, which is uncollege.org's successor organization. I've socialized with them and also discussed their business model with one of them. (It's a model which I think is incredibly important as part of the ecosystem of new ideas that need to slosh around in the well of higher ed...)
November 5, 2021
Some of the advice in this book is great for those who are wanting to start up their own business or go into a mega startup but this is not very helpful for people who truly want to discontinue college or even HS and take their own path to education. There are a lot better resources out there for homeschooling and self-study than this book gives. The info in here basically teaches you how to network and some of it is good advice for both college-bound and non-college-bound youth but that's about all you get.
I rarely, if ever, give two stars but I gave this 2 stars because he actually advises people to crash college courses that others pay 100s if not 1000s of dollars to sit in on and also he advises people (primarily the youth) to crash conferences where again others pay 100s or 1000s of dollars to attend these conferences. It might seem fun to him but there are people there who do need to make an income such as professors at the universities and also those who set up the conferences or tend to the food (which yes is often free) and other smaller jobs that aren't getting their pay if people are crashing.
So, I would take the advice in this book with a very large grain of salt and be careful what you do in the future because yes, you could be breaking the law by following some of his advice.
I rarely, if ever, give two stars but I gave this 2 stars because he actually advises people to crash college courses that others pay 100s if not 1000s of dollars to sit in on and also he advises people (primarily the youth) to crash conferences where again others pay 100s or 1000s of dollars to attend these conferences. It might seem fun to him but there are people there who do need to make an income such as professors at the universities and also those who set up the conferences or tend to the food (which yes is often free) and other smaller jobs that aren't getting their pay if people are crashing.
So, I would take the advice in this book with a very large grain of salt and be careful what you do in the future because yes, you could be breaking the law by following some of his advice.
December 26, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book especially since I related so much to wanting to self direct my education which I think I naturally do even though my educational path is relatively traditional. There was a lot of great advice as well as resources and I think that every high schooler should read this book before commuting to college. Something that I kept thinking about was that many of the hack-academics had some level of privilege to be able to take on experiences with the only purpose being to learn. I know the purpose of the book is not to address inequity in education (which the author did discuss very briefly in the epilogue) but I wish he would have acknowledged that reality a bit more. I also wished that there was a chapter dedicated to students who have committed to a college degree (because of family pressure, a scholarship, etc) on how they balance making the most of their class time and taking advantage of learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
This book was very validating of my experiences in education which was a nice feeling to have. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to grow but especially to high school students.
This book was very validating of my experiences in education which was a nice feeling to have. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to grow but especially to high school students.
July 18, 2018
I sense I’ve just stepped into a wormhole and may not emerge until I’ve read 12 more books on the subject. Firstly, as an aspiring self-promoter and well-established hustler, I found that this book was a timely dose of advice for how to keep advancing when traditional avenues for promotion seem to have stalled. Secondarily, what happens when an intelligent educator reads three books back-to-back that all address, in various ways, the miserable, acute, failure that is American education today? Look for me on the blogosphere; I’m tempted to publish my reflections more formally after reading this book.
April 7, 2019
I read through this quickly and its full of good hacks. I do think you have to be willing to not play it safe to use his hacks but he has very good points about tge college system not really being all that useful as it is. What person do you know that is actually using their degree in their field of study? Or are we just sold on the fact that college is what you have to do? I don't think IMO that it is a system producing people who are skilled at jobs that are available. What will fix that? There are also good career switch questions and techniques within the pages. The most humorous thing would be that the author would think a 24 year old to be old.
August 9, 2018
It had some good ideas on how to self-educate, but a lot of the book was anecdotes about people the author had met and a whole LOT of fluff (using the same drawn out phrasing more than once in a paragraph for instance..) Regardless, if you're interested in self-directed education, the second and third chapters had the most valuable information, I found.
Either way, I'm glad I read the book; there are quite a few resources and ideas that I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
Either way, I'm glad I read the book; there are quite a few resources and ideas that I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
March 25, 2021
Hacking your education is a book that you can learn about Universities where you don´t need to get a degree for to get succeed in our life.
Just you need to increase your curiosity about the things you want to learn because you get links on the internet that you can find all the information you need.
In this book you can find some another books and links and if you want to learn everything that you want.
Just you need to increase your curiosity about the things you want to learn because you get links on the internet that you can find all the information you need.
In this book you can find some another books and links and if you want to learn everything that you want.
July 1, 2021
Lacking in real information - mostly anecdotal stories.
June 26, 2014
What can you say about a book that shows you how to get a real education for way less than the outrageous price of going to college? There were so many resources I didn't even knew existed before reading this book. You literally can get a full education through the cost of just paying for internet service at home, or if you want to go completely free, use free wi-fi spots located anywhere.
Dale Stephens is someone that more and more parents need to start raising. Parents today make their kids focus so much on getting into an amazing college that they miss out on their childhood and teen years. I know parents that make their teens spend half their summers stuck in SAT prep classes while spending thousands of dollars just because they want to give their kid an advantage. An advantage would be to use that money instead and send their kid to another and learn about living on their own instead of spending a whole month all day during the week taking SAT prep tests over and over. That's not anyone special in the future.
Dale is one of those rare special young people who grow up with a head already on their shoulders knowing what they want to do with themselves. He convinced his parents to let him live in Paris on his own when he was just 16 and he figured out how to pay for it all by himself. It's very rare to find a teenager who already knows how to navigate the world on their own. Most parents have conditioned their teens to be so dependent on them that they are not able to think for themselves in anyway except to ask for money so they can buy the material goods they want. And you want to spend thousands of dollars sending a kid like that to college?
In this book, if you are struggling with going to college, or deciding whether or not to go to college, this book will show you that connecting with people, sharing your talents, and then teaching them to other people is what having an education is all about and it doesn't make a difference where you got it. There are resources online that will connect you with some very important people in this world who make themselves available to talk with over the phone without any cost. Need to learn only one lesson and not pay for all the BS colleges make you pay for, this book will show you have to get only the education you want.
If you are really serious about getting an amazing education, read this book and then "Don't Go Back to School." Your eyes will be opened to have you can get a better education than a Harvard grad and save all that money. Another great book to read is "The Education of Millionaires."
You will probably learn more about how colleges are undercutting themselves by creating MOOC programs by reading this book then reading the list of top colleges in the the US. You will learn more about how getting an education is easier by reading this book than actually attending an expensive college, and if you checked out this book from a library and saved all the resources this book has to offer about getting a real education that will beat any IVY league degree, then you can count yourself as smarter than all those shelling out thousands of dollars by going there.
Bottom Line: Get Your hands on this book and read it. Give it to a kid in school who thinks learning doesn't have to be this way. Give it to any teenager who wants to do great things with their life and give it to the parents who think you have to make your kid spend hours doing homework everyday after school because, damn it, they aren't helping their kids one bit.
Dale Stephens is someone that more and more parents need to start raising. Parents today make their kids focus so much on getting into an amazing college that they miss out on their childhood and teen years. I know parents that make their teens spend half their summers stuck in SAT prep classes while spending thousands of dollars just because they want to give their kid an advantage. An advantage would be to use that money instead and send their kid to another and learn about living on their own instead of spending a whole month all day during the week taking SAT prep tests over and over. That's not anyone special in the future.
Dale is one of those rare special young people who grow up with a head already on their shoulders knowing what they want to do with themselves. He convinced his parents to let him live in Paris on his own when he was just 16 and he figured out how to pay for it all by himself. It's very rare to find a teenager who already knows how to navigate the world on their own. Most parents have conditioned their teens to be so dependent on them that they are not able to think for themselves in anyway except to ask for money so they can buy the material goods they want. And you want to spend thousands of dollars sending a kid like that to college?
In this book, if you are struggling with going to college, or deciding whether or not to go to college, this book will show you that connecting with people, sharing your talents, and then teaching them to other people is what having an education is all about and it doesn't make a difference where you got it. There are resources online that will connect you with some very important people in this world who make themselves available to talk with over the phone without any cost. Need to learn only one lesson and not pay for all the BS colleges make you pay for, this book will show you have to get only the education you want.
If you are really serious about getting an amazing education, read this book and then "Don't Go Back to School." Your eyes will be opened to have you can get a better education than a Harvard grad and save all that money. Another great book to read is "The Education of Millionaires."
You will probably learn more about how colleges are undercutting themselves by creating MOOC programs by reading this book then reading the list of top colleges in the the US. You will learn more about how getting an education is easier by reading this book than actually attending an expensive college, and if you checked out this book from a library and saved all the resources this book has to offer about getting a real education that will beat any IVY league degree, then you can count yourself as smarter than all those shelling out thousands of dollars by going there.
Bottom Line: Get Your hands on this book and read it. Give it to a kid in school who thinks learning doesn't have to be this way. Give it to any teenager who wants to do great things with their life and give it to the parents who think you have to make your kid spend hours doing homework everyday after school because, damn it, they aren't helping their kids one bit.
March 11, 2014
The average college student is in debt $27,250. A 50 minute college class (assume college cost of 42k per year) costs $250!!! Yikes. Why does a college education cost more than a house? Student Debt now eclipses credit card debt. 50% of these students don't graduate and take on significant debt without a degree to show for it. 54% of young people between 18-24 are unemployed. So Stephens asks: Why go to College?
Stephens dropped out of school at age 12 and began "unschooling" not homeschooling. He is one of those creative/techy guys who lives in Silicon Valley and has already started 3 companies and then sold them before he turned 30. Stephens makes a good point that a college degree has become devalued and no longer guarantees a job. Of course, Stephens conceeds that if you want to go into a field like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Teaching..etc...then get yourself to college because a degree is required. But if you are uncertain what you want to do or are more business minded--you can hack your education on your own.
So how can you hack your education? Stephens has some creative suggestions:
1) Ask important people out for coffee (much like the girl who wrote the book 52 cups of coffee and met with celebrites, senators, etc). If you can't get a hold of these people--try to guess their e-mail address with different iterations of their name (BillGates@, BGates@, WilliamGates@) you would be suprised how often it works and how frequently they accept your offer (My Yahoo address would be really easy to guess). A $500 dollar coffee budget will buy you a lot of education.
2) Get use to rejection. Ask people on the street for $100 dollars again and again until you are use to getting rejected.
3) Be ready to put off enjoying nice cars, clothes, homes..live on Ramen Noodles.
4) Save up $500 dollars and travel. Buy a one way ticket somewhere. Learn the language. Go to Couchsurfers.org and live cheaply. To Survive in a foreign culture is a great education.
5) Go find College professors and ask if you can sit in on lectures--audit classes for free.
6) The paper resume is archaic. Everyone should have their own website and be linkedin.
7) Write a blog. Practice writing everyday.
8) Don't be afraid to cold call, text, or e-mail someone. You have to put something catchy in the subject line or it will be deleted
9) Figure out what type of learner you are. There are 4 types: visual, aural, read/write, and kineshetic. The book as a simple test. I'm a read/write and visual learner. I like to read books about things and see diagrams. Now I know why I struggled to learn Swahilli from our teacher. We had no text-book or written words. I struggled to pick up the oral lectures.
4 stars. If you are 18-24 and not sure what you want to do or are entrepreneurial minded....look into hacking our education.
Do I need to rethink my children's 529 plan??
Stephens dropped out of school at age 12 and began "unschooling" not homeschooling. He is one of those creative/techy guys who lives in Silicon Valley and has already started 3 companies and then sold them before he turned 30. Stephens makes a good point that a college degree has become devalued and no longer guarantees a job. Of course, Stephens conceeds that if you want to go into a field like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Teaching..etc...then get yourself to college because a degree is required. But if you are uncertain what you want to do or are more business minded--you can hack your education on your own.
So how can you hack your education? Stephens has some creative suggestions:
1) Ask important people out for coffee (much like the girl who wrote the book 52 cups of coffee and met with celebrites, senators, etc). If you can't get a hold of these people--try to guess their e-mail address with different iterations of their name (BillGates@, BGates@, WilliamGates@) you would be suprised how often it works and how frequently they accept your offer (My Yahoo address would be really easy to guess). A $500 dollar coffee budget will buy you a lot of education.
2) Get use to rejection. Ask people on the street for $100 dollars again and again until you are use to getting rejected.
3) Be ready to put off enjoying nice cars, clothes, homes..live on Ramen Noodles.
4) Save up $500 dollars and travel. Buy a one way ticket somewhere. Learn the language. Go to Couchsurfers.org and live cheaply. To Survive in a foreign culture is a great education.
5) Go find College professors and ask if you can sit in on lectures--audit classes for free.
6) The paper resume is archaic. Everyone should have their own website and be linkedin.
7) Write a blog. Practice writing everyday.
8) Don't be afraid to cold call, text, or e-mail someone. You have to put something catchy in the subject line or it will be deleted
9) Figure out what type of learner you are. There are 4 types: visual, aural, read/write, and kineshetic. The book as a simple test. I'm a read/write and visual learner. I like to read books about things and see diagrams. Now I know why I struggled to learn Swahilli from our teacher. We had no text-book or written words. I struggled to pick up the oral lectures.
4 stars. If you are 18-24 and not sure what you want to do or are entrepreneurial minded....look into hacking our education.
Do I need to rethink my children's 529 plan??
Read
September 23, 2013Front Cover: Author founded uncollege.org.
Pg i: College problems include higher costs, vague credentials, grim job prospects and crippling debt.
Pg xi: What's this about a boyfriend?
Pg xiii: Class costs $250 per hour. Comes out to 27k in debt. 44.4% of grads under 25 are unemployed or working outside a degree.
Pg 7: Resource "Debt-free U" by Zac Bissonnette, College is free in Finland even for international students. Maybe Deanna needs to find a friend that lives in Finland.
Pg 8: Nonlicensed professions may not be a good investment to be in college.
Pg 9: Universities exist to make money not train. He connects homeschooling and unschooling.
Pg 16: Go to college only if you know what you want to do.
Pg 17: One word activity from Sandee Kastrul of I.C. Stars. One mission in life, five gifts you have, ten occupations that use them, five ways to fortify those occupations. Nice try; but there must be a better way. Words from the Bible reading of the day perhaps?
Pg 73: New careers don 't require degrees nor created careers.
Pg 74: Good idea volunteering to see if you may like the job. Deanna as a farmers wife, honey farm on farmers market day, teaching at the Korah.
Pg 54: He tells how to get a personal website. Sounds easy when he says it.
Pg 80: He tells how to start a blog.
Pg 87: Resource; www.collegeboard.com. I go to events OK; basketball at Northwest University.
Pgt 129: When you don't have a college degree, you don't apply for jobs. Your are referred through your network. If you want a job don't just send a resume. Look up the people you will be working for and find who you both know.
Pg 138: Start a salon; I don't like the word salon since I'm a barber but he has a good idea. Use facebook event to create a learning group. Are you getting this? Better read the book.
Pg 147: Here is a guy that used couch Surfing just like one Betty's friends. Resource; www.couchsurfing.org.
Pg 149: I used to crash classed at Western with Mike and also Betty.
Pg 150: Here is something that is popular with young people: Incubators. Kind of a Kinkco for startups. How would missions/church startups fit in here? Resource: www.hackerspaces.org. How about a dress shop for Deanna? She was a dress makers helper and likes fashion sites. Is this something oujr new Governor knows about?
Pg 159: Resource book: "The $100 Startup".
Pg 160: The average cost of attending the cheapest, instate, public university is $17,131. What could you do with that?
Pg 174: There has always been exceptional people and people with connections. These people don't need college and may be a waste of time.
Pg 181: There is a bubble in Education and it's on the brink of bursting.
Pg i: College problems include higher costs, vague credentials, grim job prospects and crippling debt.
Pg xi: What's this about a boyfriend?
Pg xiii: Class costs $250 per hour. Comes out to 27k in debt. 44.4% of grads under 25 are unemployed or working outside a degree.
Pg 7: Resource "Debt-free U" by Zac Bissonnette, College is free in Finland even for international students. Maybe Deanna needs to find a friend that lives in Finland.
Pg 8: Nonlicensed professions may not be a good investment to be in college.
Pg 9: Universities exist to make money not train. He connects homeschooling and unschooling.
Pg 16: Go to college only if you know what you want to do.
Pg 17: One word activity from Sandee Kastrul of I.C. Stars. One mission in life, five gifts you have, ten occupations that use them, five ways to fortify those occupations. Nice try; but there must be a better way. Words from the Bible reading of the day perhaps?
Pg 73: New careers don 't require degrees nor created careers.
Pg 74: Good idea volunteering to see if you may like the job. Deanna as a farmers wife, honey farm on farmers market day, teaching at the Korah.
Pg 54: He tells how to get a personal website. Sounds easy when he says it.
Pg 80: He tells how to start a blog.
Pg 87: Resource; www.collegeboard.com. I go to events OK; basketball at Northwest University.
Pgt 129: When you don't have a college degree, you don't apply for jobs. Your are referred through your network. If you want a job don't just send a resume. Look up the people you will be working for and find who you both know.
Pg 138: Start a salon; I don't like the word salon since I'm a barber but he has a good idea. Use facebook event to create a learning group. Are you getting this? Better read the book.
Pg 147: Here is a guy that used couch Surfing just like one Betty's friends. Resource; www.couchsurfing.org.
Pg 149: I used to crash classed at Western with Mike and also Betty.
Pg 150: Here is something that is popular with young people: Incubators. Kind of a Kinkco for startups. How would missions/church startups fit in here? Resource: www.hackerspaces.org. How about a dress shop for Deanna? She was a dress makers helper and likes fashion sites. Is this something oujr new Governor knows about?
Pg 159: Resource book: "The $100 Startup".
Pg 160: The average cost of attending the cheapest, instate, public university is $17,131. What could you do with that?
Pg 174: There has always been exceptional people and people with connections. These people don't need college and may be a waste of time.
Pg 181: There is a bubble in Education and it's on the brink of bursting.
March 31, 2024
Dope book. I am still going to finish some college, but I appreciate the advise to always be student and self study.
May 2, 2013
I really wanted to give this four-stars, but I couldn't. Why, because this book lacks professionalism. You can write a book, include a piece of yourself, and still include yourself without foul language. Granted, this occurred only once every nine or ten pages. But in a professional world, that just isn't acceptable.
Alright, now that I have got my big gripe out of the way, I can go on to extoll the things that I loved about the book.
1 - Creating your own future. He is all about people getting hands on with what they want in life. There is no greater advice that anyone could give. Do you want to do something? Great, research it, learn it, do it, live it. No one else will do this for you.
2 - Love Education. That is right, love it. The educational system we have now might not fulfill those needs, but there are tons of other great ways to get enlightenment. He delves with tons of ways that we can develop our minds by interacting with technology and those around us.
3 - Resources. He has a ton of great places that you can go to to further your love of education. From simple ones like the library to more underground programing groups that only cater to females in the New York City area, he demonstrates how to figure out what you need to do to get the learning experiences that you want.
4 - Daily Hacks. He puts out goals for people to follow to help improve their daily living. I always like to see what other people are doing so that I can compare my own goals to them, so this was an added bonus. If you don't do anything to improve your life right now, then he gives some ideas to start doing it now.
If you are about to start college, this is a must read. If you are a parent wondering what is the best thing for your kids going through the educational system, this is a must read. If you want to know how you can better your own personal education, this is a must read.
Alright, now that I have got my big gripe out of the way, I can go on to extoll the things that I loved about the book.
1 - Creating your own future. He is all about people getting hands on with what they want in life. There is no greater advice that anyone could give. Do you want to do something? Great, research it, learn it, do it, live it. No one else will do this for you.
2 - Love Education. That is right, love it. The educational system we have now might not fulfill those needs, but there are tons of other great ways to get enlightenment. He delves with tons of ways that we can develop our minds by interacting with technology and those around us.
3 - Resources. He has a ton of great places that you can go to to further your love of education. From simple ones like the library to more underground programing groups that only cater to females in the New York City area, he demonstrates how to figure out what you need to do to get the learning experiences that you want.
4 - Daily Hacks. He puts out goals for people to follow to help improve their daily living. I always like to see what other people are doing so that I can compare my own goals to them, so this was an added bonus. If you don't do anything to improve your life right now, then he gives some ideas to start doing it now.
If you are about to start college, this is a must read. If you are a parent wondering what is the best thing for your kids going through the educational system, this is a must read. If you want to know how you can better your own personal education, this is a must read.
April 6, 2013
“For those who have absolutely no idea of their interests, a four-year institution is a waste of money and time.” Dale J. Stephens
This quote is from the twenty-one year old college dropout and author on the book. He is also founder of the website and movement, UnCollege. Stephens insists he is not advocating that young people don’t go to college, but is suggesting students only go to college if they know what they want to study and why. Seems reasonable enough. Yet Stephens argument and advice for hacking your education lacks credibility. Yes he is a college dropout and hacked his education, but he is also a Thiel Fellow, a recipient of a $100,000 award through a program for college dropouts. The $100,000 award allowed Stephens to explore what he wanted to do, hack is education as part of a two-year program to “skip college and focus on their work, their research, and their self-education” [thielfellowship.org]. Though after reading more on the Thiel website, it appears that entrepreneurship is the focus. And Stephens did take the entrepreneurship route by founding UnCollege and writing his book.
The Message in Hacking Your Education
However, there is message within the book and website that is worth examining, both for higher education institutions and parents. The main message when delving further and reading between the lines, is how differently these kids think—how education [even employment] methods, norms and traditions don’t align with their values and desires.
You can read the entire post on my blog at Online Learning Insights, http://wp.me/p1N30w-1W2
This quote is from the twenty-one year old college dropout and author on the book. He is also founder of the website and movement, UnCollege. Stephens insists he is not advocating that young people don’t go to college, but is suggesting students only go to college if they know what they want to study and why. Seems reasonable enough. Yet Stephens argument and advice for hacking your education lacks credibility. Yes he is a college dropout and hacked his education, but he is also a Thiel Fellow, a recipient of a $100,000 award through a program for college dropouts. The $100,000 award allowed Stephens to explore what he wanted to do, hack is education as part of a two-year program to “skip college and focus on their work, their research, and their self-education” [thielfellowship.org]. Though after reading more on the Thiel website, it appears that entrepreneurship is the focus. And Stephens did take the entrepreneurship route by founding UnCollege and writing his book.
The Message in Hacking Your Education
However, there is message within the book and website that is worth examining, both for higher education institutions and parents. The main message when delving further and reading between the lines, is how differently these kids think—how education [even employment] methods, norms and traditions don’t align with their values and desires.
You can read the entire post on my blog at Online Learning Insights, http://wp.me/p1N30w-1W2
March 30, 2016
I'm going to praise the life out of this book. I read this book when I was at a cross roads in life and started to question the education system. Now I see my questions were valid. College is bullshit. I'm planning to drop out get a job as a computer programmer, but I have to say even though this book has taught college is bullshit. I don't think college is a waste of time. A lot of the things that Dale Stephens teaches you that you can do in this book, you can do while you're in college, and that is where the true beauty of the book comes from. This isn't a book advocating that college sucks and that we should all teach ourselves. This is a book teaching you that college isn't all its cracked up to be and there are alternatives, and Dale isn't just pulling shit out of his ass either. This guy has facts with sources, and real life examples of people who've succeeded and struggled with life not being college. Honestly what more could you ask for. If you're going to college read this book. If you're not sure about college read this book. If you've already graduated college have an open mind.. and read this book. You will not regret it.
August 7, 2015
Superb. Some places needed a better editing job where a word was added or omitted accidentally, but the actual content of this book is fantastic despite a few technical errors.
First of all, this book is not meant to be an explicit encouragement to ditch college. It's simply to show people that there are other options out there that may, despite what our parents and teachers want us to think, be more effective than sitting through classes. As an aspiring high school teacher, I literally do need a degree to legally teach in public schools, but this book is still very encouraging to those of us who really do NEED college. This book is about getting the most out of whatever you have, whether for you that means sitting through classes or being bold enough to jump straight into a job, internship, or apprenticeship. This book gave me the courage to email an influential person to discuss a project I've been contemplating for a while and made me realize the importance of the efforts I make outside of my classes. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in education or self-edification in general.
First of all, this book is not meant to be an explicit encouragement to ditch college. It's simply to show people that there are other options out there that may, despite what our parents and teachers want us to think, be more effective than sitting through classes. As an aspiring high school teacher, I literally do need a degree to legally teach in public schools, but this book is still very encouraging to those of us who really do NEED college. This book is about getting the most out of whatever you have, whether for you that means sitting through classes or being bold enough to jump straight into a job, internship, or apprenticeship. This book gave me the courage to email an influential person to discuss a project I've been contemplating for a while and made me realize the importance of the efforts I make outside of my classes. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in education or self-edification in general.
April 18, 2013
This was a worthwhile read. Mainly geared for folks who haven't started families, though. I definitely agree that when you are young, you should not limit your opportunities or believe that college is the "end all, be all". My outlook on college when I graduated was more like, "now the real work begins". I just wish that I would have taken more classes during the semesters and graduated a little earlier so I could do my real work.
Contrary to what parts of this book say, I do believe that some college experience is a bonus, even if it's only a few years at a community college. Although you can learn just about anything using a library and the internet, some formal schooling can beef up your resume. After all, not everyone is going to create their own industries when they venture out on their own.
The points that folks should definitely take from this book are:
1) Use the public library system.
2) Never stop learning
3) Have courage to try new things - even if it means picking up and moving to a foreign country to get a job and experience a new culture.
Contrary to what parts of this book say, I do believe that some college experience is a bonus, even if it's only a few years at a community college. Although you can learn just about anything using a library and the internet, some formal schooling can beef up your resume. After all, not everyone is going to create their own industries when they venture out on their own.
The points that folks should definitely take from this book are:
1) Use the public library system.
2) Never stop learning
3) Have courage to try new things - even if it means picking up and moving to a foreign country to get a job and experience a new culture.
July 6, 2013
This was a spur of the moment pick up in the vein of The Teenage Liberation Handbook. As my last few classes of college at NMC play out and I start thinking about this coming year where I am going to be really out of school and maybe not return, it was a godsend. College is only what you make it -- it doesn't owe you anything. Going to class isn't going to get you a job, making connections is. It puts you in a place with a lot of interesting professors and motivated people in a new community. It stressed the importance of making these connections no matter where you are. With the new market young people can't afford to depend on others for jobs and income, they have to be able to guarantee them themselves. By creating a public portfolio, having weekly goals and an accountability partner, and by talking to people (because that always leads to more connections). Be resourceful. Be dependable. Don't take no. Don't slow down.
July 21, 2014
Obviously I'm in the minority of readers, but this was disappointing and kind of dumb.
I got really excited, seeing this book, because it's what I'd love to do.
Except this book is about HOW to Uncollege, not how to get a job out of it. I know I CAN uncollege… it wouldn't be hard for me. But how do I get a job out of not going to college? I mean, is 'getting a job' really a BAD reason for going to college? Um, no.
Oh right, you can get a job if you make an app that someone happens to like and gives you more money than your parents combined. Note To Self: Create amazing app to get rich.
Or write a blog about Apple products and speak at conventions about Apple products and then Apple will surely hire me.
I'd call that luck. Not the answer/method for everyone.
I am so confused at the great reviews.
I got really excited, seeing this book, because it's what I'd love to do.
Except this book is about HOW to Uncollege, not how to get a job out of it. I know I CAN uncollege… it wouldn't be hard for me. But how do I get a job out of not going to college? I mean, is 'getting a job' really a BAD reason for going to college? Um, no.
Oh right, you can get a job if you make an app that someone happens to like and gives you more money than your parents combined. Note To Self: Create amazing app to get rich.
Or write a blog about Apple products and speak at conventions about Apple products and then Apple will surely hire me.
I'd call that luck. Not the answer/method for everyone.
I am so confused at the great reviews.
May 19, 2015
I love it for being something that came out at the exactly right time for me, when I dropped out of university.
But I've got the same complaints with this book that I have with many books also in this category.
San Francisco/Silicon Valley is a hell of a lot different to the rest of the world. Or to be more general, not everywhere is the USA.
Furthermore, you always get told the success stories. Never mind what were the colossal mistakes, just make it look like people get it right all the time.
I really want to believe this could work for anyone, but sadly most stories are failures. Something that is easy to forget.
I think we'd all do well to throw a big handful of salt on this one.
But I've got the same complaints with this book that I have with many books also in this category.
San Francisco/Silicon Valley is a hell of a lot different to the rest of the world. Or to be more general, not everywhere is the USA.
Furthermore, you always get told the success stories. Never mind what were the colossal mistakes, just make it look like people get it right all the time.
I really want to believe this could work for anyone, but sadly most stories are failures. Something that is easy to forget.
I think we'd all do well to throw a big handful of salt on this one.
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