Should I drop out or not?
tempest67: If you drop out now, you're basically handicapping yourself for the rest of your life -- unless you get lucky.  You say you "mastered several scripting languages" in the last two years -- any CS department worth its salt will demand significantly more from you than that.  What about theory?  You say you saw a 4-year student who lacked "basic programming instinct" -- I certainly saw a lot of that as a CS TA, too, but I also saw brilliant students who made the most of their education.If you're so ahead of the game, why not try to get involved in research -- talk to professors, take more advanced courses, join ACM?  If you push, you can use college to advance your skills and connections far beyond what you could (generally) do on the "outside".