A computer science degree from a good school will guarantee you a good job. It doesn't matter if you're even a good programmer, you'll get a good job based solely on your degree.<p>That's not even a really good reason to go to college.<p>Are you EXTREMELY self motivated? Will you spend weeks reading incredibly boring Computer Science textbooks without anyone telling you to? Will you devote a few months to discrete mathematics so you can really understand computational complexity? Are you going to learn how computers work all the way from the silicon to the scripting languages? Will you seek out others every day to bounce ideas off of. Will you pester people smarter than you until they can't stand you?<p>If you're willing to do all, or most, of that. Then don't go to college. Otherwise, go and have fun. College isn't just about academics you know.<p>Is all of that stuff completely necessary? No, but learning and understanding the fundamentals is a great way to become a great developer.