need some advice
last week i had lunch with one of my coworkers who is currently enrolled in the master's program at unm. he got me talking quite a bit about the software i'm working on and some of the research that i would like to be doing.

he eventually asked why i didn't get into grad school and pursue some of my research ideas. we talked about this a little bit before going back to work, but the idea has stayed with me since last week.

so i'm hoping that the vast unwashed mass of college hippies that is my blog readership can help me out with a few questions and impart some advice:


i'm very interested in making more room in my life to purse some research ideas. i'm not convinced college can provide this. i would have access to other stundents and professors, but if i can afford to quit my job and go to college, i can afford to quit my job and not go to college too.

so from my perspective, by going to college, i could possibly find a job and housing; plus have more direct access to other people to work with. taking out a student loan is absolutely, entirely out of the question, so i'd also have to find scholarships.

but i could also skip enrolling in college, start e-mailing professors and hanging out on campus/in-class without enrolling, and find some other way to deal with housing and making money.

which is to say i could do the same kind of networking i would get by going to college much more cheaply than the cost of actually enrolling in said college.

it is worth mentioning that i don't have an undergrad degree. i've been told this might make it hard for me to get into a master's program. i'm not a big believer in rules, but it might be worth knowing how much it will take to break that one. similarly, the goal is *not* to actually get a master's degree. i could care less about actually finishing a degree program. i'm looking for an effective way to do research. the most likely outcome is to productize the result.