yeah - agree on all points.
A lot of projects that fall through to here - come from newbies that get in over their head - really need a mentor, but in many cases, working over the shoulder on their own project would help them learn and experience a lot.
Remote does work - if the student knows what they want, or are doing.
In my case for example - I’m semi-retired, and would be happy spending half a day each week holding hands for fuel costs, or a bit more if you’re trying to develop a commercial product!