Having taught Computer Science for almost 20 years and worked in and around the field in various roles, I have come to realize that interest in the subject and determination are more often than not the best measures of success.  A friend sent me a link to the following article that echoes some of those same thoughts.
I have quite a few friends in IT with no degrees that were so interested in Computer Science in high school that they did poorly in other subjects.  They are amazing at what they do because they are so focused on what they love.  I see these same students in my class.  These students struggle in others subjects because they just do not care about anything else.
We need to do a better job of encouraging these students to keep doing it their way and realize that will be super successful.  Hopefully, they will get a degree, but if not, they have a bright future ahead regardless as the demand for their skeelz is very high.