There is one alternative that rarely gets mentioned: you don't NEED to cover anything. I don't know of your specific circumstances, but you might consider dropping the school completely, and instead exploring anything that you're interested in, if it is viable in your case. Life is too short to spend it on what others think you need; yes, it might take longer to get to a certain level of knowledge, but on the other hand you won't waste time trying to satisfy others, so the two will pretty much cancel out in most cases.

I followed the same route, with great results -- but I never had courage to do it until I was in my forties, spending much too much time on trying to fit into other people's ideas what I can and should do.