We live in the information age. There is a ton of content available for free. My 1st elk hunt I saw a few elk very far away, but heard several bulls close. I had no idea what I was doing from the calling perspective. I was applying turkey hunting logic to Elk encounters.....LOL. At that point in time there was not nearly the podcasts and information available for free, and I knew I needed help on Elk behavior/calling. I live in the east and didn't have the opportunity to spend extra time in the field to figure it out. I decided to buy some of Elknuts content. That was a gamechanger for me and from there on have had shooting opportunities on most of my hunts. His content is excellent, but he shares a lot of it for free as well on podcasts now. Cliff Gray has tons of great information available on his youtube channel for free. I don't doubt the schools could be a good organized way to go through most of the important stuff. How much time do you have and do you enjoy finding nuggets on your own?
If time is not a critical issue and you are willing to put in the effort to listening and researching, reading articles, map scouting, and then have a strong will to push yourself in the field, good chance you'll be able to shorten the learning curve. I would argue the DIY option (class or no class either way) is so much sweeter than if you go guided as well. Even if it's not as big of animal as you might get on a guided hunt. After you get a few hunts DIY under your belt, you might even decide to go guided depending on the situation. The stuff you will learn DIY will even likely help you pick out an outfitter better.
Some of this comes down to personal philosophy & personality. Some people get frustrated easily and would rather pay more to increase success chances, and there is nothing wrong with that. When your truck breaks down or you have some home maintenance issue, do you take it to a mechanic or call a professional? Or do you check youtube and see if you can fix it first? Either approach has it's pro's and cons..... I would suggest it's a parallel to this subject. If you have that DIY spirit, go that route first. If you don't have that in your blood, then might be beneficial to go guided if you have the means to afford it.