Another perspective: this need not be a binary 1/0 decision. At my school it's common to take a year off school to work and gain some real-world experience. I d

Another perspective: this need not be a binary 1/0 decision. At my school it's common to take a year off school to work and gain some real-world experience. I did after my third year of engineering and I'm very glad for having done so. Why don't you view it that way? Then you can return to school if/when it doesn't work out, and still get the awesome experience and hopefully some $$$.