I'm about a year away from finishing an apprenticeship on a power station. For an extra two years of being a student I've gained five years industrial experience, and have a decently paid job lined up (85th-90th percentile). I enjoy the work, it pays well, however, I hate the job. The beaurocracy, all the meaningless work and people with meaningless jobs just getting in the way, the ball breaking, etc.

I've been approached by three professors/readers from different universities each now asking to do a PhD with them. I must admit, I'm tempted. I've never been able to purely study before (always had to work part time, or go the apprenticeship route, even in high school). What was it like phdanons? What was the worst and best of it? Would you recommend?