I had a little college but never graduated. Everything I do as a developer has been self taught. I would do the school thing to get the grades but spend as mu

I had a little college but never graduated. Everything I do as a developer has been self taught. I would do the school thing to get the grades but spend as much time as possible outside of school. Work on projects which will get people to take notice of what you are doing. Participate in open source projects. Perhaps start a business you can do on the side. One of the things I found most interesting about my school were the projects that the schools researchers were working on which they could spin off as businesses. These researchers were willing to take students as interns and even eventual hires. Many (most?) of this work is an interesting mix of tech and medical / natural / whatever sciences which went beyond my imagination. You might look for these sorts of opportunities at your prospective schools and start networking early. Offer to do grunt work (somebody has to do it) as a volunteer and work your way up from there.