Beyond putting budding entrepreneurs in the public eye, however, the “dropout fad” has also changed the tone within the start-up sphere.

“I think obviously that there’s a danger in overly romanticizing this kind of lifestyle,” Lutsky said. “The reality is that it’s very difficult work. If you come out here to work on a company...that is pretty much all me and my co-founder do.”

As college students see an increasing number of their peers leave academia to start businesses, the reality of the situation is often warped.

A March article in “The Atlantic” mentions research on Chicago Public School students, saying that students often do not apply to selective colleges because of the misconceptions they have about opportunities outside of higher education.

“I think this was not the best time to start because it’s marked with a lot of idealism, and not so much realistic, pragmatic expectations,” Yu said, reflecting on his entrance into entrepreneurship.

“DROPOUT”

“It’s not like I’m dropping out forever,” Zwick said with an emphasis on “forever.” “It’s more like I’m taking a few gap years.”

Each of the former students mentioned stated that Harvard’s policy on leaves of absence is generous. The policy allows any student to take a five-year leave once they’ve been enrolled at the college for a semester. None of them ruled out the possibility of returning completely.

“I talked to a lot of entrepreneurs from other universities in Boston where you can’t take more than a term of light course load or else you have to decide to permanently leave,” Lutsky said.

And, of course, the term “dropout” often comes with a stigma that many would choose to steer away from.

“I don’t like the word ‘dropout’ because I didn’t drop out,” Capodilupo said. “It’s got a lot of funny connotations to it. Some people are like, ‘You’re too good for school?’ and other people get angry when you say it, like, ‘Oh, how could you possibly drop out of Harvard?’”

Gupta also avoided the term ‘dropout.’

“In the grand scheme of things I will be back in academia,” he said. “Whether it’s now or 10 years from now, it will happen.”

—Staff Writer Manny I. Fox Morone can be reached at mmorone@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @mannyfoxmorone.