This is one of those cases where it might be useful to list out all the pros and cons of taking the 8 courses in question, and then thinking hard about which benefits could be achieved by other means.
Key benefits of taking a course (vs. Independent study) beyond the signaling effect might include:
precommitting to learning a certain body of knowledge
curation of that body of knowledge by an experienced third party
additional learning and insight from partnerships / teamwork / office hours
But these depend on the courses and your personality. The precommitment might be unnecessary due to your personal work habits, the curation might be misaligned with what you are interested in learning, and the other students or TAs may not have useful insights that you can’t figure out in your own.
This is one of those cases where it might be useful to list out all the pros and cons of taking the 8 courses in question, and then thinking hard about which benefits could be achieved by other means.
Key benefits of taking a course (vs. Independent study) beyond the signaling effect might include:
precommitting to learning a certain body of knowledge
curation of that body of knowledge by an experienced third party
additional learning and insight from partnerships / teamwork / office hours
But these depend on the courses and your personality. The precommitment might be unnecessary due to your personal work habits, the curation might be misaligned with what you are interested in learning, and the other students or TAs may not have useful insights that you can’t figure out in your own.
Hope that helps.