Those negative people were the only ones telling you the truth. There is no money to be made doing photography, especially fine art photography, today. There are virtually no jobs; you will have to start your own business, which is very expensive and success depends more on who you know than your photography skills. I'm in my second year teaching literature and history at a local high school. I went back to school for my MA so I could do that. My bachelors in fine art was worthless. As a high school teacher, I make more in a day than the average professional photographer makes in a week where I live. I'm sure you know, teachers are not rich.
Your proud refusal to listen to the advice YOU asked for from people who have worked in the real world in the industry is not a sign of intellect. I see the same stupidity in many of my high school kids, but most of them, fortunately, are a lot smarter than you are. There are some, like you, who come to class every day thinking that they know everything and the teachers who tell them otherwise are assholes. Some of them will end up in prison, many of the girls will end up on welfare. Such attitudes make a person unemployable. They're not just stupid, they're proud of it, just like you are.
After you've gone $25,000 in debt for a worthless degree, come back and tell us how that worked out. As some of us tried to tell you, $25k is a lot for school. My undergrad degree from Indiana University cost less than that, and it was a bachelors degree, not an associates. $25k may not seem like much, after all an average new car costs that. Try paying it off making $8 an hour, and it might as well be a million dollars. Good luck. Its all we can offer you since you've rejected the real and useful knowledge that's been freely given you.