Zach Yadegari, a high school co-founder of the successful AI calorie app Cal AI, faced significant college rejections despite his strong GPA and ACT scores. He believes his application essay, which detailed his journey as a self-taught coder and his initial intention to forgo college, was a critical factor in his rejections. His essay reflected on the pressures of the dropout founder archetype, ultimately leading to his realization that college could enrich his learning experiences and personal growth, suggesting a desire for a more rounded education beyond solely entrepreneurial experiences.
Instead of schoolteachers, it was VCs and mentors steering me toward a direction that was still not my own.
In my rejection of the collegiate path, I had unwittingly bound myself to another framework of expectations.
Collection
[
|
...
]