How do you make it anywhere in stem without going to college? Is there any hope? I can't afford to go but I want to learn on my own. Is there anything I can study for that I could make my own way without a college degree? I'm desperate, I'm 26 and I hate being a wagefuck, I barely have any energy anymore but I am willing to give it a try. I've done programming, 3d modeling, all sorts of things as a teenager, I used to read all sorts of math books but my serious study stopped at calc 1. I want to study math but I don't know if there is much career potential there.