For me it was a combination of different reasons. First, for someone with my cultural background, the idea of <i>not</i> going to college didn't even occur to me. Second, there were appealing cultural aspects - living away from my parents for the first time in my life, etc. Third, at the time I didn't appreciate the value of formal education, but I certainly appreciated the value of <i>learning</i>, so I used the time to work on my own projects.<p>I basically lived on my own schedule - I could be reading a totally unrelated book while everyone else studied for the finals. I made a point of being proud of it too, kind of silly in retrospect, but it worked for me at the time.