As an upper year student, I found a discipline I want to delve myself into the research field. i've been contacting labs, starting building a nice atmosphere with professors, lab assistants. However, I'm concerned I lack of opportunity to excel the performance (# of credits.)

Here's my background:

As a former transfer student, I have quite irrelevant elective credits that sum up my current undergraduate studies which results no room to take capstone project courses and so I could not have a chance to do ROP (I had to take courses to fill my program requirement after admission), and even if i take courses which count as an extra credits, my academic performance does not written in my transcript. (They will be just printed as EXTRA - which demotivates me - why put my energy and resource to get just EXTRA on my transcript AND to JUST PASS the course?)

Also as an international student who doesn't want to lose PGWP after graduation, I cannot take a risk of being a part time student so I always have been putting one or two extra irrelevant courses as a credit filler.

Also there are already competitive peers in labs who have done not only ROPs but capstone project courses and got As in both. But I have none till now.

I have a zeal, I put my energy like them, but this is a default cuz everyone in the labs put their efforts a lot like me, probably they put more energy than I do.

If anyone had situated like this and went to grad school (accepted to school wanted to go to), I want your advice not to get behind anymore. I want your advice. What did you do? How did you do that? How effective was that?

I'm concerned if the 2nd degree takes a lot of time and become redundant, but non-degree student gets behind when it comes to course registration.

What should I do? Should I do 2nd degree or just take courses as a non degree student?