Do you honestly believe that two kids with the same raw talent, one growing up in the projects and one attending private school in upstate New York, have the same chances of being future Fields Medalists? The same principle applies at a smaller scale to the availability of advanced classes in high school or at any level.

Ramanujan is considered exceptional precisely because of his background. He absolutely would have had more prominence and pushed the field much farther with the right resources at a young age.