> Those headed for the top get lured away before going that far with formalized training I am by no means someone "heading for the top" and maybe this was just

> Those headed for the top get lured away before going that far with formalized training I am by no means someone "heading for the top" and maybe this was just an oddity. But for me PhD was one of the most unstructured things I have ever done. There was little that could be called "formalized training". For most part you was left to your own devices. There were long to medium term milestones that needed to be hit. But that was about it. If you needed to learn something new for your work, you just did it on your own using whatever learning methods suited you. Sometimes there were classes that could help. But for the most part, by the time you are actually in to your research, there wouldn't be many classes that are suitable for you anyway. At least one of my lab mates lived the autodidact's dream ;) [Even me to some extent, now that I think about it] "Formality" was required only when writing out research. (This was technical field; you need the precision) Anyway just a note.