Do you hand code?
Do you know the various web programming languages?
Can you troubleshoot?

You're 18. You're a grown-up now.

I am advanced in CSS, a very small amount of C++, and a small amount of HTML.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "troubleshoot".

Depends where you are and what type of school it is. In my college, there weren't really web courses - it was primarily print. Seems to me, though, there are more and more highschool classes in design nowadays. Whatever you go in to, just expect strong competition and bulk up your studies.

How can you be "advanced" in CSS and not know much HTML? What do you use CSS for if not for styling HTML?

ive never actually coded a website, ive only coded personal profiles in certain websites that only allow the CSS portion of the page
so i know everything there is to know about CSS, but very little about HTML
i plan to learn how to HTML it up soon, i figure it cant be too hard now that I know CSS

Take a hard look at the web courses offered. If the primary focas is "Building a site in dreamweaver", "learning photoshop", then it is not a course that is geared towards professional work. If it is along the lines of HTML, CSS, XML, PHP, ASPX, Jquery (Javascript), Ajax, etc, then it could have promise. Oh you still may need to know the programs but on a whole you could very well design and execute an entire website using only programming, html, and css - no raster graphics and using nothing but a text editor. Text editor could be dreamweaver, notepad++, BBedit, etc. To be successful you have to be able to hand code. That way if a div is shooting off to left field, or there's a funky error on the page you can go to the code and figure it out (trouble shooting). Hand coding is also how you manipulate other ready built code to suit your clients needs. Even things as simple as a shopping cart - the client will always ask - well can it do ... this?

It is a rarity that you will be successful in both Graphic Design AND Web Design/Programming. They are two very different degrees. One is very visual with technical knowledge of layout, color theory, typography, and printing specs. The other is very logical thinking of how a person clicks through a website, programing functions to do the "when a person clicks this.... it does this..." There are not many graphic user interface only positions - aka the design only. And I've found working with people who only design visual, that they don't have any concept on how to make the site function and relationships between the pages.

I do both fairly well, but I can say that by doing both, I'm only a light programmer.

Keeping up with the changing technology on the web site means learning new languages or changes in languages every 18 months.

Also look up http://www.lynda.com and http://www.mediabistro.com/ondemandvideos.html

I use lynda.com on a regular basis to keep up with trends or refresh my brain on things I don't do too often on projects.

Also this is a very very very very competitive field. You need to have a top notch portfolio and working knowledge to be successful. It is painfully obvious when a person doesn't have the know how, straight out of college.

Good Luck!

Everything there is to know about CSS? That's a pretty bold statement. I've been designing (and coding) web pages for the better part of 10 years, and I wouldn't say I know anywhere near everything about CSS. Messing with profiles on MySpace doesn't give you a firm grasp of CSS. It just barely gives you a working understanding about how it works, if that.

As for HTML not being too hard, let's just say you have a lot to learn. That may sound harsh, but it's the truth.

Take some classes. At the very minimum go out and read every book on the subject that you can get your hands on. And, not one of those "Dummies" books. A real book.

With all due respect, read this.

You don't even know what you don't know right now. As mentioned above, you will need to learn proficiency, not only the basics, of HTML, CSS, JavaScript (as it applies within jQuery and AJAX at least), PhP, and database management in order to be successful in website design/development.

i had no idea there was that much more to know about CSS. i still have a hard time believing that i am THAT new to CSS, but you guys are the experts not me

youre probably right

Not to mention that CSS3 is out now, which adds a whole new set of parameters to things. Honestly, I'm not sure anyone can ever know everything there is to know about CSS. There are a bunch of obscure tags that I've never seen used, and I'm willing to bet 99% of the people out there (myself included) have no idea what they do.

CSS3 has been out for ages and im very familiar with it
if i said "everything there is to know" that was an exaggeration

You're right. It has been out a while. I'm sure all the MySpace profiles you customized helped you to become intimately familiar with all the aspects of CSS. I'm sure you're intimately familiar with azimuth, white-space, orphans, accelerator, and all the other tags out there.

please dont take offense

I'm not offended in the least. Honestly, I have plenty of business, and my customers know that I know what I'm doing, which is why they keep coming back. I'm just doing what I can to help the aspiring designers out there. Truth is that this is a very cutthroat industry. You have to be at the top of your game to even be able to play the game. I see all too often people just out of school (or still in school) who think "I'm going to be a freelancer". They have no experience and put out sub-par products. Then that devalues the profession.

I'm not trying to sound elitist, although I realize that may be how it appears. But this field is a funny one. Things happen with designers that don't happen anywhere else. Spec work,
this thread, etc.