Quite well actually. With an aim for artificial intelligence, I started in the computer science set of courses, hated what it was in terms of mathematical algorithms, shifted to the psychology set of courses and wound up in cognitive modelling with lisp and neural networks. Of course, as with any independent learner, I then focused on my own business, programming web-oriented business solutions for small and medium business. I still program the odd neural network solution now and then.
All of that said, apparently it was a very odd and very unusual university experience. Completely unstructured, and no one else in the same "stream" of courses. Obviously I had no appreciation for how unusual that is. But as an entrepreneur, that's been true for ages.
University got me through the years of friends and family telling me to "get a real job" and to "get a degree to fall back on". With six-months left to get my degree, I left the world of academia behind me forever, to focus on my successful business, which worked out splendidly.
So yes, I see it as two-and-a-half years wasted in that I'd have rather spent it developing my business full-time; but I didn't know that before hand, so I see it as the limbo-time to realize that I don't fall back on things, I fall forward, and that my own business is infinitely more stable than any real job, and it's a much better lifestyle too.
How did it work out for me? It got me what I wanted, when I wanted it, the way I wanted it. So, perfectly.