also, you can start a startup whenever, and have the rest of your life to live the 'startup life' (i.e. worksleepworksleepworksleep until/while good things happen :)), but only 4 years of college.

i would argue that tagging coeds and having a social life also helps you later as a founder to get along with the non-engineers, who often bond over drinking and talking about tagging coeds :) (not to mention the recent spate of articles about parallels between dating and startups..)

and taking time off is good (i took a year off but still lived with my college friends) but the longer you take off, the more coming back sucks, because all your friends have graduated.