Penn students are playing hooky — but instead of wreaking havoc like Ferris Bueller, they’re ditching the classroom for the workforce.
Many students have decided to take a leave of absence to pursue job opportunities or start their own businesses, Director of Career Services Patricia Rose said.
Though Career Services has no concrete statistics regarding the number of students taking such sabbaticals, Rose explained that taking a leave of absence “can be a good strategy depending on the individual student and his or her circumstances.”
One example is that of Coursekit, a start-up learning management system company launched by three students who dropped out of Penn before donning their caps and gowns.
Last May, Coursekit CEO Joseph Cohen left Wharton to develop his company with just his sophomore year under his belt. Cohen was joined by Coursekit web developers Dan Getelman — a former Daily Pennsylvanian web developer who completed his junior year in Wharton and the Engineering school — as well as Jim Grandpre, who had completed his sophomore year in Engineering, and Hunter Horsley, who finished his sophomore year at Wharton last May.
“I wanted to put all my time into the company and build it into a real business,” Cohen said. “Opportunities come and go and they don’t linger. We think we’re onto something big — and that means someone else will discover it.”
“It would be silly if someone had said to Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg that they should stay in school,” Rose added. “There are certain start-ups that are time-sensitive, and we wish [the Coursekit founders] well.”
In fact, entrepreneur Peter Thiel has started the “20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship,” doling out $100,000 scholarships to 20 individuals under 20 years old who opt out of college to “pursue innovative scientific and technical projects, learn entrepreneurship, and begin to build the technology companies of tomorrow” for a two-year tenure.
After completing his freshman year at Wharton last May, Wesley Zhao decided to take a leave from Penn to pursue his start-up tech company “AvantCard,” an exchangable giftcard website that “gives users the opportunity to exchange any giftcard for the same value.”
“It feels good after 13 years of school to not be in school for a year,” Zhao said, who plans to return next fall. “But I guarantee I will get my degree. I believe there’s a lot of value in education.”
While Cohen and Zhao have left Penn to pursue their own businesses, other students have left to secure internships and jobs with already established firms and start-ups.
Alice Lee, who completed her sophomore year in Wharton last May, is currently working for Foursquare, a start-up social networking mobile application, for the semester. “I applied to the internship program on a whim,” said Lee, who will return to Penn in the spring. “It’s very interesting to apply my skills in an actual way outside of school.”
Like Lee, would-be College sophomore Aaron Wilson has left Penn to work for an established tech start-up, but has definite plans to return to school. Wilson is working for MyRegistry.com through the year as the director of user experience and will continue his involvement with the company when he returns to campus next year.
Though Wilson, Lee and Zhao have definite plans to earn their undergraduate degrees, Cohen is not as sure. “I wasn’t ever in school because of the degree,” Cohen explained. “The way I see it is if I don’t return I just get two less years.”
Yet, Cohen remains extremely grateful for his time at Penn. “I feel like I got a lot out of Penn and think it’s the greatest thing in the world and the greatest thing that happened to me,” Cohen added. “If not for Penn, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’m doing now.”
Each student said that although they enjoy their time in the work force, they miss many aspects of undergraduate life.
“I really miss the relationships,” Wilson said. “As much as school is about getting an education, one of the things I value most about Penn is the people.”
“I had to quit clubs and activities I was involved in and [turn down the option of] being on boards,” Lee added. “It was sad because I worked hard for those positions and would miss working with the people.”
A sprint football player and a polevaulter, Zhao said he misses his involvement in his sports teams. Zhao also mentioned he will especially miss those “late-night Wawa runs.”
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