It's not that self-learning can't be good. It's just that it has no intrinsic trial-by-fire, so there's no way to tell the good from the bad, outright. If you

It's not that self-learning can't be good. It's just that it has no intrinsic trial-by-fire, so there's no way to tell the good from the bad, outright. If you took a class, then you got a grade. If you were in a job, then you had the potential to get fired. If you're self-learning, there's no one way to get punished for not learning well. There's no way to measure what you've done. I personally know some successful self-taught programmers. But I only know they're good because I know them well. If I had to pick a stranger I'd want a reference or a GPA.