I can sympathise greatly with many people in this situation and since i've basically been there and done that i hope you don't mind if i throw my bit in.
I left school after my sixth year (I'm Scottish) with 6 A Highers and two A CSYS (Sixth year studies a peculiarly Scottish thing) knowing that i wanted to be a pilot. I was planning to go for some of the sponsorship programs but i had also applied to university. A month after i left school September the 11th removed the option of any sponsorship. (That is not meant to sound as callous as it does, sorry) So i went to university. I had applied to university to study law because, basically, i was forced into it by my teachers (don't let them fool you, they want you to go, it makes them look good) and my family. Because i did well at school they basically told me that i would be lazy and selling myself short if i did something less than law or medicine etc. Since i knew i didn't want to be a doctor i chose law.
I went to university and i hated it; truly, truly hated it. I can honestly say that my time at university was the unhappiest of my life. Because of that i took a year out after my first university year and worked full time. This really helped me screw my head on the right way and within a year i was promoted twice and basically became a depute manager. I also did some flying during this time but didn't have the money to really commit to training.
Reaslising that there was no way that sponsorship was going to be an option i decided that for all i hated it i was going to need my degree, so rather than start again i decided to go back and get it over with. I know a law degree isn't the most relevant to flying but i'd started so i was determined to finish. Problem. The university changed the course structure in the year i was out and this meant i couldn't rejoin where i'd left off. Instead i'd need to do part time study for a year and then rejoin. Cue more work and some more flying. After that year i went back full time and have continued to hate it since. I am actually sitting writing this with my books open in front of me to study. I have now been at university for five years and have one left. Thanks to my decision to stop and the decision to change the course structure it will now take me 6 six years to finish a four year course. I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of becoming a lawyer and as soon as i graduate i intend to devote evrything to getting my rear end in a RHS.
The point that i'm trying to make is that if university isn't for you you will loathe it. However, that gap on your cv does need to be filled somehow. I don't expect that my broken-up degree will look great but i hope that i can justify my time not at university sufficiently and show that i have used it to develop as a person. Also in today's job market nothing is guaranteed as a pilot and if i need to repay money from training then that degree is going to help. I wouldn't ever lie about my time at university as i don't think i need to. I think everybody will sometimes make a decision that they regret but it's better not to sit about moaning about it and to have the ability to meet it head-on and just fight your way through it. (To which end i should get on with studying) And anytime you need a boost i recommend taking a break and going flying- seems to make everything worthwhile.
One final point - university isn't all bad, i made some great friends and met the missus there. She's a solicitor and knows how crap law is. My aim in life is now to show her how much better the view is out of a pilot's office window!
