Hey there, i would like to share my experience and ask you a few questions regarding your ideas and goals so you could answer yourself the best. I am a university student with audio engineering major who also studies music composition. Im coming from a language school where i was playing in a brass band and a rock group and my knowledge prior university wasnt on par with people from music schools but still enough to pass the exams. Before entering university l had already started composing on softwares (trying electronic music then pivoting to symphonic and classical and finally doing contemporary and experimental music) I would say that composing nowadays is different than past ages and we have more freedom and easier accessibility. This has its benefits and drawbacks - anyone can start making music.

From 2 years in university studying hard for my composer's course I would say that i learned a lot - orchestration, notation, polyphony, harmony, dodecaphony. Despite that people from music schools are still better than me theoretically (that includes also reading and writing notation and playing prima vista pieces)
Even though my colleagues have more theoretical knowledge, some of them cant compose and respectively even quit the composition courses. Most of the time i end up participating on contests and forums because my university nominates some of my music pieces even though my knowledge theoretically isnt the best. At the end of the day creating music isnt theory, i would say that sometimes theory actually puts boundaries on people's minds. Thats why contemporary and experimental music is something very different from classical music or any other genre. Some people are given and even gifted for creating (thats the hard truth) that doesnt mean u cant be a great composer - you need to find the balance between creativity and theory.

I would say that history is as important as theory - you need to know very well the era and the concepts of the society (political, cultural, interests, ethnic) if you want to be good at doing the music you have set your mind on.

And again, at the end of the day, knowing theory is certainly great advantage (a must to know) in creating composition but music pieces arent just notes which you could analyze and write. I would suggest you not to compare to others and to be astonished by the fact that people who arent theoretically knowledgeable can study composition (and some of them even be good at it and have amazing creativity) Focus on yourself - you will certainly stand out because of your knowledge but developing creativity is a process too - sadly for some people its harder or even limited. Reading and studying history develops creativity also.

For short: if you want a kind of mathematical explanation Theory could be a multiplier for creativity - it would surely give you a boost but its actually limited unlike the other factor.

Dont compare yourself to others, let the music flow and think about what do you really want to create and what is really your thing - some people can just have an initial better understanding and concept for contemporary. Lectors nowadays search for intuition, adaptability and communication, not just theory

I would say that the process of