<p>Oh, you certainly have a point there [so you’re implying that REU/summer research isn’t that worthwhile?]. You said that 3 recs are needed for REUs - but I know of quite a few that require less. UWashington’s Physics and Math REUs, frex, only need 2</p>
<p>But certainly, one can still skip those classes and just go for office hours [and still get to know the professor well. I suppose the best approach is to go to office hours, and tell the professor that you prefer self-study and don’t learn well from lectures. The response should then determine future behavior].</p>