In my university they had this. There were always 1-2 50+ people following the lectures (math & physics). Only one of them was ever able to complete a course su

In my university they had this. There were always 1-2 50+ people following the lectures (math & physics). Only one of them was ever able to complete a course successfully, and that was with immense effort. He basically spent more effort on one course than the rest of the students spent on the entire curriculum. It was inspiring to see the drive he had, but it's not feasible to complete a whole major that way. I'm not sure if that's related to age or just that the people who apply later in life are statistically different than those who apply out of high school.