I have had 'normal' schooling for the most part of my life.
Two years back, I got into web dev. Made an app or two.
Now working on others. I learnt everything about it on my own. For the first time in my life, I REALLY understood the meaning of an effective pitch and the value of expression. I taught myself to write well, to be able to communicate with the developer community, do a lot of math and well, coding. I spent time learning how to sketch too. I had so much fun studying the boring subjects - arts, writing etc. In fact, the 'boring' subjects were made boring only for lack of application!
Had I gone the 'normal' way: I don't know whether I'd have been better off but what I do know is that I could never have learnt so much.
It's really circumstantial. What works for someone may not work at all for someone else. So, there cannot be a fair comparison, so to speak.
It's really circumstantial. What works for someone may not work at all for someone else. So, there cannot be a fair comparison, so to speak.