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Y Combinator launches ‘Early Decision’ for students who want to graduate first, build later


The accelerator has introduced a new application track called Early Decision, designed for students who want to start companies but don’t want to drop out.

While it never explicitly required students to drop out, many of its most successful alumni, including Dropbox’s Drew Houston, Reddit’s Steve Huffman, and Stripe’s John and Patrick Collison, joined the program young and left school behind to build their companies. The move could broaden YC’s applicant pool to include more cautious, deliberate student founders who are committed to startup life but unwilling to sacrifice education to get there. The move also helps YC secure talent early in an increasingly competitive accelerator and seed funding landscape, giving students an option that competes with other programs like Thiel Fellowship, Neo Scholars, Founders Inc, as well as Big Tech internships and grad school pipelines.

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