It is entirely possible to learn by yourself online. I did it! But a warning: you will spend years in the weeds, focusing on things that don't matter. Good in-person advisors can help you avoid some years wasted time.
The fastest way to learn is to move to the Bay Area and work with people who have been doing this for decades. That is not a sufficient criteria (anyone can be a bad teacher), but the experience is extremely useful.
> But a warning: you will spend years in the weeds, focusing on things that don't matter.
That sums up anyone's college experience.
The hard part is telling apart what doesn't matter from what does. More often than not, what dictates which is which is the project you find yourself working on.
The fastest way to learn is to move to the Bay Area and work with people who have been doing this for decades. That is not a sufficient criteria (anyone can be a bad teacher), but the experience is extremely useful.