The conventional wisdom (i.e. big, fat lie) that you'll hear repeated when you're in high school is that you have to go straight to college out of high school o

The conventional wisdom (i.e. big, fat lie) that you'll hear repeated when you're in high school is that you have to go straight to college out of high school or you'll never do it. It's completely bogus. I rushed college and grad school. If I could do it again, I would've taken the time to get experience and find out what I was really drawn to. When you have student loans and bills, you don't have that liberty. Try some things. Talk to the guys at Dev Bootcamp, Code Academy, and Thoughtbot's apprentice.io program. You could even do Dev Bootcamp in the summer and then see if you still feel like you need to go to college. It'll also put you in an ecosystem of people that you can get guidance from. College will still be there after you graduate and after you test the waters. If anything, getting some good experiences under your belt can only help with getting admitted.