In places like MIT, you have the "firehose" effect in which lots of material is thrown at you and you try to get through it, somehow. People with more experience with the subjects tend to do better, but it's still a lot of work, mostly done without the guidance of the professor or lecturer. But this sort of thing may not apply very well to music (unless the student is highly trained). Even if the student is able to bring pieces to an acceptable level of proficiency, the technique used may be suboptimal and possibly harmful.
So the upshot of all this is that I really need regular lessons from a teacher at this stage of my learning. This may be difficult because my teacher won't be available regularly. She's still getting over the surgery, plus she now has a cabin on Mt. Shasta she and her partner spend time at.
Edit: modified subject
