Yes, for many people they will not become as strong without classes even in CS.
By starting code so young, I had years of experience before college, serious enough to work part time developing on commercial products.
I was cocky, thought CS 101 was a joke, and it mostly was. But it didn’t take long before vast areas of theory and practice I wasn’t even aware of became part of the classes.
At the end of an undergrad degree you don’t master all these new concepts, but you do become aware of them, you practice them enough to know where to dig later in your career.
I just see it as very unlikely that most jobs will make it easy to establish this same broad foundation, and it’s a powerful thing.
Surely for a few people it may not make a difference, but even for geniuses who turn out to have wildly successful careers, who’s to say it wouldn’t have enabled more insights or productivity?
