[sanswork]

I dropped out of school when I was 16 and went into the normal workforce at 18(for an IT consultancy) after a failed start up.

Dropping out worked for me but it wasn't easy instead of university I spent those years on the very bottom of the ladder making contacts and getting a network going so that I could move up without the degrees and stuff.

I have enough professional experience now that the lack of a degree isn't going to hurt me going forward but I do feel like I missed out of the college experience.

I'd say you can make it without a degree but you have to be pretty good at networking to get your name and face in front of people that can help you out. If you're not comfortable out there selling yourself making lots of contacts with people who might know someone who knows someone get the degree and let it do the selling for you.