I dropped out of HS to pursue full-time development as I was already coding all day and failing classes by not doing any homework. Not the most traditional rout

I dropped out of HS to pursue full-time development as I was already coding all day and failing classes by not doing any homework. Not the most traditional route... But it worked out. I am now lightyears ahead of my colleagues in my career, with 5+ years experience over anyone else my age. I make mid-six figures doing contract development work for startups - no college or HS degree. I tried going back to community college to brush up on my theory, but didn't enjoy it and ended up learning a lot more from interviewing at 5 or 6 big-name companies and taking home the interview questions I didn't know and studying them. There are skills and experience you pick up from independent hacking that you just don't get from a traditional educational environment. Being innovative and scrappy with your solutions is something that can provide tremendous value in a very short period of time. Of all the engineers I've met, the most innovative ones were always self-taught hackers working on many things at once, with a passion and curiosity for learning new things. The niche knowledge is what's going to get you a job. Development is just a bunch of niche problems waiting to be solved. Different engineers understand things in different ways and end up being better suited for different niches. I never set out to be an "e-commerce guy", but here I am, because it's what I realized I'm good at and what companies hire me for. Your niches are a stepping stone to specialization. Pick one that interests you and start marketing yourself in that niche. School is great. If you're in the US, it's also expensive. School is not necessary to be successful in the software world - especially the startup world. Results are what matters. Results and hard work. Good luck mate!