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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34136
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If you do go to a college, make sure it is one with a great writing program. There's nothing worse than being shackled to debt with a piece of paper that says, "sorry for your trouble, but I'm not worth a damn." Which is not to say that you should not go to college. It's just that there are good and bad professors out there. Some schools focus on technical writing, and others focus a specific genre. The one I went to had a middling poetry program and focused mostly on the literary short story, snubbing genre fiction entirely.

I think the biggest thing you get out of the right program is exposure to people who love to write. This will help form your opinion of how to write as well as give you your first writing network. If you go to the right school, this could be an asset.

All of that said, I really don't think I would have succeeded if I had started with writing. It's not an answer, but there were executive functioning skills I needed to learn in my "real job" before I had the discipline and chops for taking up writing with the intention of eventually becoming a professional. The number of people I know who got writing degrees and are writing novels for a living is 0. But I didn't go to the school for it either. If you're going to college, I advise having a back up plan; but a few people have done it without one. They also went to schools with great writing programs.

As far as resources for a person not going to school, there are a ton; but the quality varies, and you need a good source of input for personal improvements: Someone who knows what they are talking about and isn't biased in a way that will hurt your growth. And then you just need to write, read and submit as often as possible. But there's no path there. You could try podcasts and master classes; but, none of those have ever approached the quality of a good discussion I participated in.

Original score: 3