Allen is pretty smart, everyone should listen to what he says
I'll say, holy crap he should be writing books..or least a blog.
I'm pretty dumb but at least I have a blog to share it with the world 
If there's one thing I've learned this past several months..being a pro photographer is like becoming a lawyer. Everyday you're studying, practicing and even when you're up there you're still working hard to keep competent with your competition. You have the guys who are doing the low end for 30k a year. You have the guys who are making hundred million dollar salaries in the high end..if not billions..you have the in between. That's a lot what like this is, a trade, a practice. A degree is very valuable..it will get you in the door, but do you need it? That's the thing about photography these days - an unregulated field and you can teach yourself without needing an instructor or studio master...but will those people not help?
Oh hell yeah they will. It'll be an insanely valuable experience...if you do it properly.
I hacked it, I'm not an expert, I get by, I'm not even a year in though but damn the things I have learned about this business....
Anyway.
OP:
I advise you do whatever you want or feel like it, who am I to decide if it's valuable or not to you. I have no idea who you are. I hope this thread helped you out though. Another thing too - what kind of photographer will you be? Put a studio photographer who does fetish and fashion for playboy and Victoria secret in a wedding or in a family portrait session...different specialty, different business. Narrow down what specialty you like, freelance till you figure it out, then decide..if you are an all in one guy, or maybe you just like running multiple businesses...
I sell high end fine art of the aurora. That's a really unique niche. I've only met 3 people between the ages of 20-60 who ever did this full time; solely this..in the high end fine art market to the scale that I do it. I move 15-35 prints a month. I sell internationally. I sell in Austria, in Poland, in England, in France, in Switzerland, I sell in the United States, I sell to Alberta, Alaska, Halifax (i can't remember which province that is...). That's a lot of prints. A ton of work and about 70% of it isn't photography related. I network with fine art gallery owners, hosts, museum curators and managers, retail owners, I deal out consignments, I talk to newspapers, I talk to radio shows, I get my name out there, I fill out proposals, I complete pitches, I chat with tourists, I chat with travels, I become friends with people who see me through my art, or see something through that art, I seek representation, I look for better printers, faster printers, cheaper printers, better quality printers, high end printers, I market and advertise and I target, I donate to charities, I regularly check up on every retail, every gallery for upcoming news or events, or what has sold and what hasn't, I track that, I keep a log of what does sell, what isn't appealing, what has sold...actually I take that last part back because I've lost track of where I put that book and along with that the figures too ....all of this is what being a professional fine art photographer is..though a lot of the time you're dual with retail too and seldom stock, though that really depends on your market.
Recently I started doing family portraits, portraits and maternity, personal portraits and let me tell you right now - DAMN I'm a newbie. My first 5 shoots I bet the client could have done a better job with a cellphone camera. A portrait photographer's business is completely different from a fine art photographer's business. These businesses are completely different; involving totally different hats. Totally different photography, totally different businesses and albeit refreshing to have a change...a different specialty which I don't have the same degree of experience in. I'm still a pro photographer, but it's like changing jobs all the same. Takes a bit to get used to the gear shift if you know what I mean..understand where things are filed, learn the ropes, remember the extensions. Both involve less photography than you would hope, sadly, depending on how you do it...I'm still learning, I think that's why everyone on this website is reading it actually.
Now why did I do that? I seem to be doing all right with my niche...why take on something completely different? You need to keep it fresh. Call it "continuing competency" or whatever. For me I needed a break from the above, I wanted to try something new to see what it was like, to see if maybe I'd enjoy it more..that's the beauty of it, there's nothing binding you in stone to one specialty; the skills are interchangeable. Like Allen was talking about on page 2 (top of the page); coming out of your comfort zone. Learning to see light and understand it on different levels..etc. Whatever you decide to do, school or not, it has to be doing just that...force you, or force yourself if you have the discipline to - go outside your comfort zone and TEST that knowledge to the limit. Experiment! There's the fun..you can do absolutely damn well near anything - achieve any vision, go to the very top in just one shot....can really put you through the door faster than anything would.
Find a niche is my advice. Learn how to become the best in that niche..and if you get bored of it, try out commercial..try out families, try out boudoir and erotic. The great thing about learning a trade like law, or plumbing, or electric or carpentry or photography or art or whatever or any career - you don't have to rock at it to get business. You just have to figure out how to get business. Theres a guy a couple of threads down who's pricing himself out a 100$ a day for his work...insane photographer, amazing photography skills, great lighting control.....I thought he was trolling or pulling someone's leg when he said he was only charging 100$ a day. Damn. Well I've been there too. You learn and move on. Give him a few months and I'm sure he'll work his way into the mid range, if not the hi-end market once he understands how to properly run his business to support itself.
Find something you can specialize in. Learn as much as you can. Intern if necessary, practice frequently...find something that you enjoy doing, and whatever you go about learning to become that is a worthwhile experience in my opinion. Be it a degree, or as an assistant to a mentor, or whatever...find something you can be called the king at..and don't let it get to your head like I do sometimes. (shameless plug: i do it for the print sales 
)
There are a lot of other areas in photography that you can make a very good living besides weddings. Some actually may be a lot more lucrative and a lot more stable.
