I've had mixed experiences with formal education. Most of what I know was self-taught, but collage did expose me to things that are hard to pick up on your own, and it's good for meeting people. Ether way, making and completing personal projects on your own and building up a portfolio is important.

Vet art uni/classes beforehand, I took film classes at a community collage that I feel I got a lot out of. But when I transferred to a state uni for game design, they more or less lied about what they offered at my campus. It was a glorified web design class, and was a total waste of time & money.