College for me was a mix of self-learning (writing LISP interpreters and video games) and being forced to learn nifty new stuff through coursework. I wound up

College for me was a mix of self-learning (writing LISP interpreters and video games) and being forced to learn nifty new stuff through coursework. I wound up dropping out after 3 years. I don't regret it because I've kept up the self-learning (being an ACM member, reading lots of papers on a continual basis, not budgeting books on CS and engineering). I think you can afford to drop out of college, but you cannot afford to drop out of learning. I've seen too many senior engineers wind up sidelined because they concentrated on just what they were good at in their job. I don't mean be a butterfly, or attempt to learn every month's new cool stuff. But get exposure to lots of levels of many good systems. Read the Unix source code. Read a compiler or two. Learn Prolog or Haskell. Write a network stack. Learn about database implementation, and Self, and modern graphics, and build systems. Learn everything you can from the stuff around you that is of good quality. I'm earning more money than I would have believed possible, at a job I think I would do for free, if I could. It's a privilege to work with really good people.