For me, this was more the case in graduate school than as an undergraduate. While I did like my department (mathematics), my advisor, and the other students in

For me, this was more the case in graduate school than as an undergraduate. While I did like my department (mathematics), my advisor, and the other students in my class, the majority of my undergraduate studies really did end up being direct completion of coursework (with the occasional group project). The social "coming into your own" aspect of university was there, but I'm not sure it's worth the price that we seem to attach to it. Maybe this is just the reality for state schools. On the other hand, post-calculus/diffyq mathematics can be a difficult subject to grok on your own, without at least some face time with a subject matter expert to refocus. I can't predict with confidence if I really could have MOOC'd my way into graduate school. I thinking that it is unlikely. This is probably also true for the traditional physical engineering disciplines (electrical, mechanical, civil, aero, etc.)