I dropped out after the first quarter of my senior year at UC Santa Cruz. It mostly worked out OK, but I grew weary of always having to explain to interviewers

I dropped out after the first quarter of my senior year at UC Santa Cruz. It mostly worked out OK, but I grew weary of always having to explain to interviewers why I didn't graduate. The reason was that I was offered a job that - at the time, for me - paid really well. I went back to school part-time until I completed my Physics degree. Now that I do have a degree, I find that it is for the most part ignored by potential clients. On the other hand, there are many wonderful things you can gain from a college education. But don't feel like you need it just to get a job. One of the very finest embedded developers I have ever met, Tom Cummings, last I heard worked on the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. I'm pretty sure he never even applied to college.