CS is a brand-new discipline, which means it's in the process of generating a lot of shallow observations right now [1]. In another generation or two, some brilliant synthesizer will come along and produce a real theory. For now though, most of the stuff you learn as a CS undergrad (other than a few senior-level theory courses) should be obvious if you know how to program.
If you do go back, pick another discipline and study it like a computer scientist on vacation. Pick ONE powerful software package (python might be good, or maybe (sic) Mathematica) and use it to do ALL your assignments. Focus on simulation and visualization. You get to learn something real, and you get to do cool software work at the same time.
[1] Graph theory is almost 100 years old now, and we're starting to see the discipline collapse into a hard core. You still need a lot of loose terminology to get started, but after that there's a clear progression through the different concepts.
Nope, it wasn't the CS that was the problem. I got good grades in my CS courses, and did even learn some new stuff. But yes, most of an undergrad CS program is pretty straightforward once you learn to code. The things that really tripped me up were the general ed courses, math courses, and any course that required a lot of non-coding homework. Basically, the way school worked was just not the way I worked.
By leaving college I was able to get rid of a humongous stressor in my life, and this new mental freedom let me pursue my interests and study what I liked. Now I've figured out how to actually sit down and study, and I could actually take an interest in all the GenEd courses that pissed me off so much in the past. I bet now I could go back and actually finish an undergrad degree with good grades... but now I need it even less than before; I've learned how to study on my own. If for some perverse reason I do end up going back, I'll probably study math. That's one area that I'm still figuring out how to self-study.
CS is a brand-new discipline, which means it's in the process of generating a lot of shallow observations right now [1]. In another generation or two, some brilliant synthesizer will come along and produce a real theory. For now though, most of the stuff you learn as a CS undergrad (other than a few senior-level theory courses) should be obvious if you know how to program.
If you do go back, pick another discipline and study it like a computer scientist on vacation. Pick ONE powerful software package (python might be good, or maybe (sic) Mathematica) and use it to do ALL your assignments. Focus on simulation and visualization. You get to learn something real, and you get to do cool software work at the same time.
[1] Graph theory is almost 100 years old now, and we're starting to see the discipline collapse into a hard core. You still need a lot of loose terminology to get started, but after that there's a clear progression through the different concepts.