Welcome to Harvard. When Are You Leaving?

So you’re at Harvard. God only knows what you did to get in, but now that you’re here, when are you dropping out?

The longer you wait, of course, the more time your potential startup competitors have to capture the burgeoning artificial intelligence market. The more time they have to define it and consign you to the “permanent underclass.”

Dramatic as it may seem, this mentality is hardly foreign to Harvard’s startup culture.

Since at least 2010, around 235 undergraduates have taken a leave of absence each year, compared to MIT’s roughly 100. This makes sense in light of Harvard’s uniquely generous leave of absence policy, which allows students to take an indefinite pause from their Harvard academic career and return whenever they want to.

It also makes sense considering the place startups have in Harvard’s mythos. From Bill Gates dropping out after three semesters to found Microsoft to Mark E. Zuckerberg leaving after his sophomore year to build Facebook, legends of students going out, taking a risk, and changing the world have been immortalized in the student body’s consciousness.

Everybody wants to rule (or at least change) the world, and startups are a popular way to do so. Still, what’s the rush?

It’s concerning that this fast-track-to-success mentality has so deeply embedded itself in our student body’s consciousness. Despite the fact that Harvard’s flexible leave policy allows students time to explore, try, and fail — very much in line with Harvard’s academic mission — deciding to take a leave of absence has huge consequences and should be treated as such.

Students ought to think critically about what leaving for one or two semesters, let alone indefinitely, means for their lives. They should carefully consider the value of taking diverse courses, making lifelong connections, engaging fully in House life, and gradually shaping their professional interests.

Harvard students’ startups can make the world a better place, but it comes at a cost. Founders may one day make impactful ethical and economic decisions — decisions best informed by a background in the liberal arts and proper social development. Harvard trains future leaders, and it is worrying that some leaders leave with their training incomplete.

Given the fast-moving world of tech and AI, dropout founders with an idea may be driven by a fear of missing the boat. But some research suggests that startups are more successful when founders are middle-aged and have industry experience. For the sake of your own success, life experience is worth it.

We’re young. Who here is sure of themselves, let alone sure of how exactly they want to change the world? There’s no rush to know it all or do it all, and certainly no rush to run off and do it all years before finishing your education. The world is your oyster — but unlike an oyster, it need not be swallowed all at once.

A good startup idea is not necessarily a good reason to leave every other opportunity behind. You’re at Harvard. Make the most of it.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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