Depends what you want from life. I was in a similar situation to you and ended up going to university to do a tough, in demand degree that would open a lot of doors. Benefit of doing that is that my earning potential is a lot higher than it was pre-university and I should have a good career to keep me going whilst training. It most certainly is not for everyone though.
It is my opinion that if more aspiring pilots got themselves on the career ladder (and that doesn't have to come from a degree) prior to training, fewer would stoop to the levels we often see in order to get a flying job.
There are positives and negatives to be found in most routes to be honest and it's all about what you want to gain. I know the impatience to get to where you want to be, but really there is more to life and there is certainly a lot of growing up to be done from school leaving age.
Edited to say: As pudoc points out, university fees have become (in England at least) very large. Had the current offer been on the table I would not have bothered with university - it's about tripled in price for the coming year's intake. That said, the repayment schedule is arguably better than before.
Last edited by BerksFlyer; 30th Apr 2012 at 21:30.