My dad did very well at one point when I was still a youngster, and I have fond memories at eight of "helping" him renovate a property by gleefully taking his instructions to heart and using a hammer to take down old plaster and drywall from an investment property in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s when it was a very distressed neighborhood and not the more upscale and renowned neighborhood it is today.  

If college is your choice, and since you’re not fond of it, I would consider a local school where you can commute and work/ learn RE.