When I went through WOFT in 1968 I was an old man at the age of 22 with an Associates degree. There were many that went from "high school to flight school" and were PIC's (pilot-in-command) at the ripe old age of 18. The same can be done today. There is a strenuous "weeding out" that takes place once they get into the program. After I returned from Viet Nam I became a TAC officer at the Primary Helicopter School at Ft Wolters, TX and saw many of them "wash-out" before they even got to the cockpit. It's quite easy to pick out the ones who do not have the temperament or ability to function in the cockpit in a combat environment.
I helped process a few OCS and WOFT candidates in the 80's and saw that, technically, a lot of people qualified to apply, however very few were competitive enough to be selected.
Interestingly enough, competitive candidates almost always 'had the look'...which is hard to explain but you know it when you see it.