(!) Help, Please...I am new here as well!

Hello fellow monkeys on Wall Street Oasis,

I have been a visitor to these forums for quite some time. I spent numerous amount of Google searches looking for answers on here for the road into banking as a whole.

I am 29, turning 30 next year, only with an Associate's degree to my name. I have been accepted to San Diego State University a few years back, but unable to afford tuition (student loans are out of the question, in the appeal process) so I plan on working full-time to save money up (also pay bills and such, keep a roof over my head).

I have wanted to go into trading, as I know getting into Investment Banking is out of the question (non-target, decent GPA, etc)., what I have on my resume is working for Qualcomm and a few defense contractors in the past.

My question is, if I finish my undergraduate degree online, is it worth the effort? OR should I attend a local satellite/evening program to finish my degree? I am a Computational Statistics major currently at SDSU.

I have looked at Indiana's East University Mathematics program online, the other would be online finance degree related at XYZ school. I also spoke with the guy who runs admissions at USC's Masters of Financial Engineering program, he told me that good GRE + last two years of GPA and either finance, accounting, or mathematics degree for the program.

Thoughts, opinions, is appreciated. I am thinking of saving up about 20-30k in cash to move to NYC, Chicago, or CT for internship opportunities.

Thanks!