I never received a bachelor's degree so that's why I'm on this path. I can agree with you on the Master's degree thing, but Master's degree programs also have many more scam degrees in their class than a BA or BS. I think Computer Science is safe from this (as are most hard science/tech degrees).

It's brutal so far and I'm not even in the hard stuff yet. I think making the time to balance everything has been the most significant challenge.

You don't have the time or the money. I have a theory that is the point of gaining certification. A degree is nothing more than proof that you're willing to endure bullshit and willing to pay for it as well. It's part of a flawed legacy system, but there's a game being played and whether you want to play or not, you're playing.

I ultimately want to get to the point where it is no longer necessary to do this.

I will say that at my particular school, the beginning and middle classes look the most cumbersome/challenging. The late classes look legit. Stuff that I'd be genuinely interested in like AI, mobile development, and even an elective course to use a raspberry pi to control stuff at your home.

You will be concatenating strings and reading arrays until your eyes bleed.

To quote a famous computer science guy, "The most important skill of any developer is the ability to efficiently use Google".