I'm just a few years out of university, and less than 10 years ahead of you age wise.
What did you do at this point in your life? What would you do the same and what would you do differently?
I knew I wanted to go to college, but wasn't sure for what, exactly. But I knew I wasn't cut out for the trades or labor. My dad was an engineer, and I liked solving problems, so I eventually decided to give that a try (I changed halfway through to a peripheral, non-engineering degree). When I was a senior, I took all the AP classes I could to get college credit. Then did a bit of research and looked for colleges that had my intended major, a good reputation and good placement rates (ie how many graduates have a job in their field of study 6 mos after graduation). I had a list of only 5 or 6 colleges that met my criteria and I was confident I would get into. I applied early to them, and many offered me partial scholarships.
I decided to go to an out-of-state college that had a 96% placement rate and which offered me a significant scholarship. Those were the best 4 years of my life. My parents were able to chip in a little bit, but I still ended up with loans. My husband attended the same college, and he also had loans.
If you are confident in the industry you are going into and your ability to finish/like it, don't be too afraid of student loans. My husband and I graduated with a combined student loan debt of over $150k (yikes!!), but we both graduated with multiple job offers in our field, and within a year we were making $130k combined, and this year we make $190k combined. This debt load is entirely manageable because we both chose majors with a very high return on investment. $150k of debt for engineers is a LOT different than $150k for a history major. Obviously, you should be smarter than we were and actively do whatever you can to reduce the amount of debt you have to take on, but don't write it off altogether. If you use university how it's supposed to be used, as a gateway/training for an industry where you can command a much higher salary than you could without the degree, then paying for a degree makes sense. Just do some basic cost-benefit analysis.
I am personally glad that I focused solely on school for 4 years, but I also know some people who worked to offset costs and took a smaller course load - they graduated between 6-8 years. That could also potentially be an option, or even working for a year and entering college a year later. There are zillions of options between "don't go to college" and "go to college for 4 years and only work after you graduate". Most people don't think critically about it and only see those two options.
What would you recommend I do so as to not waste time and money? Any other advice is appreciated!
Once you settle on an industry you want to break into, you need to come up with a game plan of HOW to break into it. You can research job postings and see the requirements. Some industries require a bachelors degree, some require apprenticeship, some want to see internships, etc. Just do some poking around to see what you'd need to do to get in. Then make a game plan for how to achieve those qualifications.
A LOT of life is about networking and who you know. Don't brush off the importance of building up your network and building social skills and Emotional Intelligence to get ahead. Talk to people you know about what you want to do, and try to build relationships with them where they want to help you. They can help build connections to your desired industry. I'll give you an example. My non-engineering degree typically only pays around $45k, generally. But I was roommates with an engineer who had an internship with a major corporation. The next year, he pulled some strings with the recruiters and got me an internship, too, even though they typically didn't look for people with my major. That internship resulted in a job offer, and then out of the gate after graduating, I was making $60k, well above many of my peers. Now, just a few years later, I'm making $80k. That internship would never have happened without my friend putting in a good word for me. So actively look for and surround yourself with motivated, responsible, supportive people who can also give you a boost if you need it.
It's not inspirational, but I think some of the best advice I've gotten was you DON'T have to LOVE your job. Your job doesn't have to be 100% amazing and fulfilling and what you are passionate about. You already depend on it for paying the bills, adding in that your job has to also personally fulfill your passions is just too much pressure for a single job. It's silly if you think about it, not to mention unreasonable to expect this. So if you accept that a job can just be generally satisfactory, you're competent at it, and you are getting a fair wage, then use the money to pursue your passions OUTSIDE of work.
So right now, I have a corporate job. I can't say shipping code and facilitating team development is my passion, I could really care less. BUT, this job enables me to pursue my passions in the evenings and weekends with plenty left over, enough for me to retire early and pursue them full-time (with no pressure to monetize) in just a few short years. The key is that while I may not be in love with my job, I am responsible and competent at my tasks. What I am actually passionate about is writing, but I am content to do it in the evenings and weekends. But I don't have to put pressure on that passion to make me enough money to live on because I've separated those two realms of my life (passion and money). It is much less stressful, this way, in my opinion.
Also, your 20's will be the most flexible, cheapest decade of your life. Take advantage of the fact that you don't have many responsibilities or obligations (in the form of children, a house, spouse, etc) and live as cheaply as possible. The older you get, the more you typically have to add to your plate, which means $$. Try to put off those choices for as long as possible. Another example, my husband and I are renting in our below-market rate apartment for as long as possible (watching many of our friends and peers buying houses and all the costs associated with that), delaying upgrading our crappy, single car (a 2001 chevy prism) for at least another 2 years, we don't have pets (and I desperately want a corgi lol), and we are delaying having children. Not because we don't WANT any of those things, but we are simply planning for them and delaying that gratification until we can properly afford it, and because keeping those things off our plates now allows us to focus on saving our way to freedom and keep our living expenses much lower than many of our friends.
We actually recently helped our friend and his fiancee put together a budget. They have a house, 2 huge dogs, 2 new cars, and want to have kids in the next few years. Just by adding in those few things, they are easily spending twice what we spend in a month, on half the salary that we have. This means that they will have to work for a long time, whereas my husband and I will be free within a decade.