4) Focus on the teacher, not the topic
In my experience, you learn more from great teachers than from great syllabuses. I had too many classes taught by droning bores. I didn't show up, even when I was sitting in the chair. I didn't learn much.
When I think about the classes that shaped me the most, I think about my Marxist Canadian history class, taught by a socialist ideologue. There is not a lot of demand for Canadian history outside of Canada, whatever version you learn, so I can't imagine a situation where I'd apply any of the facts I learned. But the professor was a master at engaging us students in vigorous, often passionate debate. I learned to think, and to challenge some of the basic assumptions I had about my own society.
I tell my own students to pick eight or nine classes based on the syllabus, to go to them all, and then keep the four or five classes with the most engaging professors.