Agreed, and that's not even limited to tech. I'm in the commercial real estate world, which practically revolves around apprenticeships, and the system works amazingly well. It also rewards competence over credentials, commitment to improvement over connections.
Trying to make the world better (with initial guidance) and solving real life problems is the best teacher of all.
College training for me, or for all the apprentices I've had over the years, was of minimal importance beyond learning the discipline of a rigorous approach. I could have started after sophomore year, and arguably done better (without having to have spent 2 more years at school, and 2 more years at a tech startup as an employee, and with 1/2 the student debt and bad cafeteria food).
Trying to make the world better (with initial guidance) and solving real life problems is the best teacher of all.
College training for me, or for all the apprentices I've had over the years, was of minimal importance beyond learning the discipline of a rigorous approach. I could have started after sophomore year, and arguably done better (without having to have spent 2 more years at school, and 2 more years at a tech startup as an employee, and with 1/2 the student debt and bad cafeteria food).