I've done really well for myself with 2 1/3 years of a degree (in Chinese!) I started off dropping out of Chicago for money reasons, and lucked into a sysadmin/programming job with the University. I was able to move laterally until I found something that fit me better than my original gig; I stuck it out for a few years until the private sector started returning my calls.
I am largely self-taught, which has its advantages and the obvious disadvantages, particularly as how I am the sort of learner who needs the social aspects of classroom interaction to really pick stuff up fast. But I discovered that taking jobs with people who are much smarter than you, and then taking the time to help them with shit work, is almost as good a learning environment as a classroom.
I've bounced around a lot; but not since the first couple of jobs has anybody asked about my incomplete degree. It's a results orientated business; I know that there are jobs that I won't be able to get -- and, to be honest, that I wouldn't be good at -- because of my lack of a formal CS education; but the jobs that I get, I work hard, learn new stuff, and get shit done.
But I've worked on really cool stuff, learnt a lot about digital video, started a company, and now am comfortably employed in a position where I can use the social and technical skills that I've developed to really make a difference.
EDIT: One important thing you need to figure out is how you learn best. Some people clone a github project and just learn Lambda Prolog by reading source; some peruse books; I've meet some wizardly hackers who seem to know every possible thing already. As I said above, I need to talk about stuff to really get it to stick, but that's me. Know how you learn and put yourself in a position to maximize your opportunity to learn, because everybody is dumber and less knowledgable than someone else.
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tl;dr: You can make a go of it.
I've done really well for myself with 2 1/3 years of a degree (in Chinese!) I started off dropping out of Chicago for money reasons, and lucked into a sysadmin/programming job with the University. I was able to move laterally until I found something that fit me better than my original gig; I stuck it out for a few years until the private sector started returning my calls.
I am largely self-taught, which has its advantages and the obvious disadvantages, particularly as how I am the sort of learner who needs the social aspects of classroom interaction to really pick stuff up fast. But I discovered that taking jobs with people who are much smarter than you, and then taking the time to help them with shit work, is almost as good a learning environment as a classroom.
I've bounced around a lot; but not since the first couple of jobs has anybody asked about my incomplete degree. It's a results orientated business; I know that there are jobs that I won't be able to get -- and, to be honest, that I wouldn't be good at -- because of my lack of a formal CS education; but the jobs that I get, I work hard, learn new stuff, and get shit done.
But I've worked on really cool stuff, learnt a lot about digital video, started a company, and now am comfortably employed in a position where I can use the social and technical skills that I've developed to really make a difference.
EDIT: One important thing you need to figure out is how you learn best. Some people clone a github project and just learn Lambda Prolog by reading source; some peruse books; I've meet some wizardly hackers who seem to know every possible thing already. As I said above, I need to talk about stuff to really get it to stick, but that's me. Know how you learn and put yourself in a position to maximize your opportunity to learn, because everybody is dumber and less knowledgable than someone else.