Doing web dev is too watered down with people that went to ITT tech, so that's out of the question. Would it be possible to get some work while I go to school programming C or some kind of real graphic programming work involving C/C++?
If you're at a uni, you'll get hired easily if you have good enough marks to *grabs scholarship*. I do VTK work in sepples in a physics team, and it's as close to freelance as it could be. No hours, no schedule, and "when it's done" is a perfectly valid release date. I posted about it on Taro's blog recently. Check out your uni's internship programs.
No one sane is going to hire a guy with no experience if they can't easily train you and supervise you as you work, especially for the kind of work that needs C or C++.
The vast majority of undergrad C++ programmers I've met are terrible!, so this is quite justified.