High school students are mulling over their college options right now, asking themselves, should I go to a public or private university? Is it better to be far from home or stay nearby? Do I want to attend a big or small school?

But there is another question that often goes overlooked. Is college worth it at all?

Hendrix College dropout and UnCollege founder Dale Stephens says no.

After dropping out of college his freshman year, Stephens received a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship to start UnCollege.org, a website that enables students to pursue their own intellectual interests without ever stepping foot inside a classroom.

The main problem with higher education, he said, is that students are all too willing to be told what to study and learn when they should be taking charge of their own educational interests.

Stephens’ assessment of college is a gross over-simplification of a complicated field. He doesn’t seem to realize that by going to class, doing reading and assignments and participating in class discussions, students are in fact taking charge of their educations.

“People like being told what to do, and the sad fact is the real world doesn’t work like that,” Stephens said.

“At work you might be given a deadline, you may be given a project, but you as an individual, as an employee, have to figure out how to break that project down into smaller steps,” he said. “And in school, often you’re told exactly how to do that.”

I remember my first week at GW. I was terrified of how much freedom I was given.

Unlike what Stephens says, there was no one in college to tell me “exactly how to” do anything. There was no one looking over my shoulder. Teachers, for the most part, didn’t care whether I came to class. There was no set time for lunch or extracurricular activities. I was left to live my day as I saw fit.

Students who participate in self-guided education like UnCollege are more often than not so focused on one subject, such as computer science or creative writing, that they lack exposure to other academic areas.

One of the features that makes an undergraduate education so robust is that students gain exposure to a broad-based education. Sure, you majored in chemistry, but you also have a background in history. By choosing not to go to college, you limit yourself to a select field of study when you could be exploring a variety of intellectual options.

There are plenty of reasons to criticize college today. Call foul on the rising cost of tuition. Speak out about skyrocketing student debt. If you think like Rick Santorum, blame colleges for being “indoctrination mills.”

But to dismiss college altogether is short-sighted. The country is bursting with four-year colleges, each with its own philosophy, student body and culture. So if the school where you matriculated isn’t a perfect fit, then you should probably transfer.

I’m reminded of a line in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick where Ishmael muses, “a whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.”

Melville didn’t need a college, or even a high school, degree to write his masterpiece, after all. But for most, the college experience is an opportunity for self-discovery and a place to explore and grow.

So, Stephens, before you tell us college isn’t the right solution, maybe you should try out a few others. You might just not have found the right fit.

Patrick Rochelle, a junior majoring in English, is a Hatchet columnist.