I took an independent study ("reading") course last year.
Basically, if you're interested in a particular area of your subject and a prof is willing to supervise a course in that area, you take an independent study course with that prof.
In my case, I wanted to take a grad course, but Mac doesn't let undergrads do so (one of the many ridiculous bureaucratic problems here) explicitly; so I had to take it as an independent study course. In such a case, you don't need to know the prof too well to take such a course, since a grad course was being offered; the prof didn't have to take extra time out just for me. Grading here was the same as for the rest of the students taking the course.
Another case is when one takes such a course to finish up summer research, or to help the prof with their own research. This is also doable, since you don't need to know a prof too well to tag along with their research group. In this case, you'd probably get a good grade if you pulled your weight.
There is also the possibility of taking an independent study course tailored to your interests, but you will need to know the prof very well for this. A prof is not going to spend a semester of their time teaching a student if they have no experience with the student's abilities. In the case that you do get into such a course, again, you would get a good grade if you showed the prof that you understood what was going on, took the initiative and looked stuff up for yourself, etc.
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