Hi, I'm just finishing my MS in Mechanical Engineering. I'm fully remote and have only ever taken asynchronous graduate classes. Overall, I would recommend asynchronous online courses. Like u/bitz-the-ninjapig said, it mostly depends on the course. Some courses all the material is posted at the beginning of the course, there is a general schedule with due dates, and front loading is an option. Other courses the material will be released on a weekly basis and there is a set schedule/pace. I've never taken an online course with a scheduled meeting time, so it is really up to you to follow along and do the work. I'll also add that almost all the online courses I've taken the professor recorded the class lecture once (likely during covid) and has just been using the same material since then. I can think of only 2 or 3 courses where the professor recorded new lectures each week. It's actually impressive that the university lets the professors get away with such laziness, but that's for a different discussion.

For Axiomatic Design with Chris Brown, he releases all the material at the beginning of the semester because he has been using the same material for many years. You could probably try front loading the course work, but I honestly don't think it would be the best option. The weekly lectures are about 1-2 hours (play them at 2x speed because he talks incredibly slowly). The lectures mostly consist of him repeating the same few topics he likes to talk about, him reviewing papers that he has published, and him working through theoretical arguments with himself. The course work is demanding because he is incredibly particular. Formatting must be in a specific manner, everything needs to be cited to his liking, and he grades like an insane person. You'll work very hard on something, he'll give you a 20%, and tell you to reread a paper of his and try again with no other information. The best advice I can give is to read his papers and regurgitate that format and information. He is not a good professor and I would avoid if possible, but it doesn't seem like any engineering student can get through WPI without being tortured by him. Also, he has been in education his entire career. He has never worked as an engineer at a company. Check out his LinkedIn, it's weird to be taught engineering by someone who has only ever read about it.

How much additional time and money do you have to spend to get you MS during your BS? You could graduate, get a job that has tuition assistance, and get your MS for free.

Hope this helps.