Find solution
What do I have to do to get into Brown University?

What would you do as an 18 year old with $1m, the ability to get in at a good university and the dream of being an entrepreneur?

  • I'm from Europe and I have the ability to get in at a good university. Nothing amazing like the Ivy League or Oxford, but an above average university. I will probably study in Europe because I'm way too cheap to spend $200.000 on an education that I could get for free. I have a trustfund with approx. $1 million but I do not plan to retire before I have done anything. After all, isn't that for people without a burning passion for what they do? Besides, a million is not enough for 40+ years. I'm an entrepreneur and have started a company at 17 and I sold it for a minor amount (really, nothing amazing) recently. I am currently in doubt about what I should do when I graduate from High School in a few months; 1) Take a gap year, build a business and if it succeeds, keep working, and if if fails, back to the school bench. 2) Go to college, have fun and live my age. I can take a gap year after college or build a business. I am not totally sick of school. I'm more afraid of being bored during my gap year or achieving too little in a business than being bored in university. My future is 100% being an entrepreneur and I will not go for a job to make a living. The question at its core is the following; Is university awesome and should you go, even if you probably won't use that degree (that you got for free)? Is there a reason for stressing to grow up? Shouldn't I just enjoy my youth with little to no responsibilities?

  • Answer:

    Take a gap. Basically, go for it! Make as many mistakes as you possibly can. And make sure they are not the mistakes you could anticipate. Fail multiple times in various unexpected ways. With your age, resources, curiosity, intelligence -- as evident by a clearly phrased question -- and attitude -- as evident by your desire to be an entrepreneur -- the best you could do to yourself is to fail harder and keep trying. You'll certainly get it right in next 10 years. You'll likely get it right in the next 5 years. Heck, you could even get it right in the next one or two if your intuition allows you to avoid major pitfalls early on. I could go as far as saying that even if you lose all or most of your $1M, the experience you would gain in the meantime -- assuming you keep the right attitude -- would pay off greatly in the long run, for you personally as well as for many people around you and maybe even the whole world.

Dima Korolev at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Go to college, but take classes that interest you; this way you can become a more interesting and multi-dimensional person. Learn another language, take a gap year and go abroad or experience/do something different that you've really wanted to do (I'd want to bike around Europe). Then live very modestly and become an angel investor. Travel around the world and invest a little into many promising startups; get to know people from different places, and make lasting connections. If you're investments pay off, invest more and start working philanthropy. Make a change in the world, and enjoy life!

Michael Ioffe

I would invest the money, make a living from the returns. Then I would start thinking: What do I want to achieve? As soon as I had a sufficient answer to the first question, I would ask myself: How do I want to achieve this? Let's say you want to treat malaria stricken children i Africa. In that case it might be a good thing to study to become a doctor. If you want to help these children by changing the society, you might want to widen your network and learn communicative skills to influence other to implement a system that would transfer assets to them. It is impossible for us to tell you what specific action you should take on, since we do not know the important fact: What do you want to achieve with your life? How do you want to do it? These questions are up to you to answer, and nobody else.

Torbjörn Perttu

Go to college.  Take classes that interest you, and classes you NEED. Accounting is an important background to have for any business you own. Computer science is also good to understand logic.  Steve jobs audited a calligraphy class--which led to fonts--which led to...well, you get it.  Don't feel pressure to "invest" that money in something now.  Wait until you discover your passion. Don't invest/spend it all at once.  You don't have to graduate from college (Jobs and Gates didn't), but you can enjoy the exposure to lots of different things.  My degree was in accounting, most of my businesses have been in photography.  The accounting background (and my computer science classes (punchcards!)) was invaluable.

Bob Eveleth

Take a gap year, or two.  Build that business.  If you succeed, do the http://www.calstate.edu/newsline/Archive/01-02/020514-LB.shtml.  If you don't, go to university if you still feel it's right.  In either case, you'd have gained much more maturity.  In either case, you'd know why you're going to school, why you're there, and what it is you need to get out of it. Live modestly; live humbly.  Money buys freedom, but $1M is far to little to suffer fools.

Robert Lee

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.