NASCAR

ive found those 'requirements' to be more like, uh, guidelines. it doesn't hurt to apply since the default response for is rejection anyway !

You apply anyway, job hunting is a game where 90% of the skill checks are different flavors of [Speech] (Lie) and [Speech] (Exaggerate the truth)

as @tati said the worst that can happen is they say no

There are at least two answers to this.

First, as other people have mentioned, you apply anyway, under the assumption that they're trying to screen out people who have no background in programming at all. Usually, everything in the job posting is...not "negotiable," but more of an ideal than a hard minimum requirement. It might be a hard minimum, but let them review your application to make that call.

Second, you do "consulting work" for your friends and family. Or you buy a domain and turn it into a small business. Probably just call it a sole proprietorship, to avoid paperwork, and you don't need to be a successful business. Ta-da, you have now spent time as a professional programmer, more credibly in the first case, since someone actually gave you money for your work and can confirm that you didn't scam them.

Depending on where you live, worst case, you might also have a mid-sized bottom-feeding company that'll hire almost any applicant as cheap programming labor. It'll generally be a terrible place to work, but once you have any relevant work history, hiring managers stop caring about things like where you went to school and specific years of experience.