Hey guys.. Let me start off by saying that in august I will begin my first year of college..A little bit behind, seeing as how I am 20. Unfortunately I will be taking automotive classes this semester, but that is something to be addressed later. I have been a gamer my entire life, RPG's, MMO's, RTS, you name it, I've played it. At 16 I decided to look into programming as it was something that interested me greatly and even now I want nothing more than to make a career out of game programming. Here is my dilemma. At registration this semester I chose automotive, but recently realized that if I don't aspire to become a game programmer I will never be satisfied with myself. Now it's a little late for me to change my course schedule for the semester and I don't think I can begin Computer Science until next fall (might be able to knock out electives and the like in the spring semester though). So heres my question. After 3-4 years of school to get my degree I will be 24-25, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable that I will be applying for jobs at that age with no experience in the field. I feel that the younger applicants would most likely be chosen over me. Basically what I'm asking is, should I be worried about this? Or am I overreacting?

No, you shouldn't be worried. Personally, I think older people going into the field are going to be seen as more mature and perhaps more responsible. There is many reasons people don't get into college right away. I would suggest you to start you core classes this semester rather then automotive.

I appreciate the quick responses guys and you have made me feel much more comfortable about my situation.

To DevLiquidKnight due to my current registration I am unable to start my core classes at the moment. Not because it is too late to change classes but because I would be going into the college as a student planning to transfer, and in order to register as such I would have to schedule another appointment with an advisor which could take up to 3 weeks.
While typically this wouldn't be a problem, I have to be able to schedule my schooling around my work hours and 3 weeks from now all the desire positions in the classes will surely be taken. Otherwise I'd definately start my core classes now.

To Esmo2000, I have started programming again, C++ actually. That may change though. The college I will be transfering to has dropped C++ as a core class and switched to C. C++ is now offered as a last year specialization course. I'm assuming this is due to students having a hard time grasping C++ as a first language. So I may switch over to C, not only because it will be a core class, but because I imagine I will be able to pick up on it quickly, then learning C++ will be much easier.

I am currently reading 'Beginning C++ Game Programming' by Michael Dawson.
Do you think I should drop C++ for now, grab a new book and take up C?

On a side note: While I regret taking automotive, atleast I won't have a ton of homework and can concentrate on programming ;)

Thanks for the support guys.