Erm... is free education available in your country? I mean in my area base education (9 or 12 classes) is free, and you can also get two higher levels ("medium" education (can join after 9th grade, looks like college equivalent, but I'm not sure) and university (can join right after 11th grade or after finishing "medium" education level)) - if you have good grades. In some areas that's easy, in other areas it's tough. If you have bad grades you can pay for getting education.

You should add a third option: It depends.

Which 'school' are we talking about ? Middle School ? High School ? College ? Grad school ? Medical School ? Obviously the answers will depend greatly on how far you are. Can your schooling simply be suspended until your idea is implemented at which time you can choose to return to school ?

How much confidence do you have that your idea will be successful ? Some ideas are more likely to fly than others.

My personal opinion: The worst possible case (I always consider this first, as I think it is more likely than the best possible case, and must be considered more because if it happens, you're really screwed) is that your idea fails, what would you do then ? Could you go back to school ? Would you have enough money left ? time left ?

I also personally don't give schools too much credit, school is mostly worthless. It only starts to acquire some menial value in later years. Still it does teach you some important things, in fact it can even give you better ideas than you currently have, sometimes simply by listening to the opinions of different professors, students, and then having a realization. I also think most schools are specifically designed to brainwash students. This is very bad, especially for someone who wants to have revolutionary ideas, to think out of the box, etc. Still, if you do go through school you will be guaranteed a minimum wage job as either a janitor or packing groceries (after middle school or high school), telephone operator or lab assistant (after college), accountant or programmer or IT (after grad school), nurse or medic or assistant (after medical school). Some people like to be certain they will be able to earn a living by going through schools, others know they have something good and make much more money by dropping out and putting everything they got into their idea. Either way things could turn bad, but it's actually more likely to turn bad if you drop out and your idea fails, you must be prepared.

I dont think it would be a grand idea to ditch school and start something revolutionary unless you have loads of cash to fall back on and also push your idea to reality. I guess there is more than just academics you get from school, stuff like getting along with people of diofferent calibers, thinking in a somewhat not so random way.....generally i'd say it shapes your civility which in turn probably gets you a great job......am trailing off here.

When you're in school, every idea sounds "revolutionary" and every startup sounds like a sure thing. You're easily suckered. Don't be.

Like H_TeXMeX_H, I want a maybe option. But lacking that I voted "yes." One thing I hadn't considered before reading this thread was ErV's point about the variation in schooling oportunities between countries. So there are a lot of variables to consider.

That said, there is some merit to the idea of staying in school and letting your "great idea" age a bit while you (hopefully) become more wise and develop a broader perspective and maybe even some skills. But you also need to consider that, depending on you rsituation, you can always go back to school after trying (and maybe wildly succeeding, although more likely badly failing) you idea. And there are at least some people for whom getting more "real world" experience has a positive effect on their later schooling. And if you don't seize the moment maybe somebody else will. I don't think I would count on patents saving you.

So a definite maybe.

Plus, given some reasonable argument for the contrary view, I like giving the contrary answer.

Stay in school, im in the engineering area of study and have 2 projects im working on that i believe to be revolutionary ideas. The best thing i can do for these projects is to stay in school because that gives me access to professors who are wise and knowledgeable, machinery to build prototypes, software to conduct design and analysis, and classes which teach me the ways of design and allow me to improve my projects.

Get where this is going now?