Let's imagine there was a 20 year old who dropped out of CS and spent the next 2 years reading Knuth and entered the work force at 22. Can you see any way that student would not be succesful?
I know someone who did something very similar (but in math) and jumped into a grad math program at age 17.
I know someone who did something very similar (but in math) and jumped into a grad math program at age 17.