[munbun]

College also serves as a buffer, giving you dedicated time and space grow.

The self-taught route is a viable path but if growth is what you want, the early stages requires more work than most realize.

[gwbas1c]

More importantly: A lot of tech jobs get A LOT of applicants. Often the college degree requirement is simply a quick-and-easy filter. You might have an awesome resume, but without the degree, whoever's reading the giant stack of applications is just going to move on to the next one.