We aint fighting Little Miss but it is an interesting discussion. Anyone can troll a forum by dismissing out of hand one option or another.
For the record I hated Uni too, living in a damp house in a miserable cold city with 5 scrounging drugged up media studies bums wasn't really for me, though I often wonder how I would have fared in Aeronautical Engineering had I gone to a different uni (one that didnt fail IMechE accreditation without telling us would have been nice).
Aberstwyth on the other hand was incomparable, and I spent a very happy 4.5 years there. Its not a question of University good/bad but finding the right course in the right place. Either that or working for a living whilst building your hours.
I guess the real difference is whether you can wait to fufil your dream, personally I saw that the airlines were, if anything, reluctant to take on people with my level of maturity (at the time) so I took the degree path. If you're committed enough, and mature enough at 18 then go for it, if not then get pissed, laid and enlightened (only ever in that order) for a few years.