The doctoral learning experience presents unique challenges and opportunities due to how disengaged it is from the classical education approach of classroom learning. The autonomous education allows students to manage their own time and workload around other commitments in their lives. However, it also puts more responsibility for self-control and self-motivation on their shoulders. The key to academic success is being honest about one’s goals and priorities, quickly adapting to circumstances, and communicating openly with every other stakeholder in the education process. The regular classroom learning experience is one that most people face from the very beginning of education. While bringing certain benefits to the student, such as face-to-face engagement, socialization opportunities, and outside motivation, these modes of education also bring some obstacles that autonomous doctorate learning does not have. According to Douglas, Douglas, McClelland, and Davies (2015), these include the lecturer’s personality influencing the quality of the course, too much dependence on the physical resources of the university, such as printers, canteen, or parking, and negative interaction with other staff. However, depending on the university, the benefits may outweigh the drawbacks, as students have reported increased satisfaction from positive communication with their tutors, engaging in active and involving coursework, and receiving such skills as public speaking. Some tutors also praise classroom learning, because “[…] it offers [students] a safe, up-close, real-time glimpse of the workings of a trained mind, the mind of an expert […]” (Shpancer, 2004). It appears that the experience typical for pre-doctorate learning is worthwhile in building rapport, engaging with experts, and learning useful skills. Doctorate learning provides its own set of advantages and drawbacks. According to Jazvac-Martek, Chen, and McAlpine (2011), the drawbacks include lack of time, lack of motivation, feelings of isolation, discouragement, writer’s block, lack of required resources, emotional and logistical issues, and inattentiveness of the supervisors. These issues arise from the fact that doctorate students are adults with other commitments that they need to balance with their academic work, as well as the need to self-motivate and self-manage with little outside help in order to produce a dissertation and defend it. The positive effects of the autonomous learning include increased flexibility, utilization of useful software, and reduced costs (Lee, 2016). The self-sufficiency itself may also be a learning experience. McCombs and Whisler (1989) assert that the effectiveness of autonomous learning is greatly affected by such factors as curiosity, interest, anxiety, or fear. The tutors could manage these factors, but students must take stock of their emotional states as well. Byrd (2016) suggests that doctoral studies are positively affected by the sense of belonging to a community and interpersonal relationship. These findings are further supported by Lange, Pillay, and Chikoko (2011), who suggest that engaging with a cohort group as well as the supervisors can increase satisfaction and give tangible learning benefits. Callary, Werthner, and Tru