- I never took any kind of course in C or C++, and yet I earn a living programming in C/C++ fulltime.
- In college, it seemed like the first year or even two were spent bringing everybody up to speed. That is--some people were struggling with new concepts while others were bored.
The point of this second observation is that if you jump into a class with a bunch of strangers from different backgrounds, you will probably either be struggling to catch up or bored.
Grab a book. Take an on-line, self-paced course. Just start coding.