[gmku]

Trust me on this, as someone in the journalism business--a serious paper or magazine won't look at you without a college degree, if you're interested in working for them or even as a regular freelancer. If they have a choice between the college grad and a non-grad, they're going with the grad. Editors want writers who've been to college, and for more than just the writing/journalism education; they want writers they know have a broad knowledge base, and have been exposed to the arts and humanities and sciences by experts so they can write intelligently about a lot of things. Unless you think you're the next Lester Bangs, you won't get very far without a degree from a good school.