Do online courses such as Edx and Coursera help with college admissions?

Applying to College
1

I’ve heard that taking online courses of college-level such as Edx and Coursera doesn’t give you college credits. However, in terms of college admissions and application, is it beneficial for a student to take the online courses to show your commitment to the study that you will pursue in the college?

Since there are courses that has answers online, how do colleges look into such courses. (in terms of selective universities)
Would it be worth taking few courses if you are complete with your SAT scores?

2

Take them if they interest you and if you have time. MOOCs are like books. They take time, give you enjoyment and can make you more well rounded, but that’s it. Universities won’t care what books you read or what MOOCs you enrolled in.

3

For admissions? no benefit.

If you are done with standardized testing use that time to do something that is genuinely part of who you are:

4

Are you interested in taking the courses or are you looking for things to add to your application? They only help if you have space on your application where you can include them.

Look at the applications for the schools where you will be applying. The Common App allows for 10 activities. Will the MOOC be one of your 10 most important or significant activities? Will the course be something that you want to incorporate into an essay or personal statement?

5

This is one of the best admissions articles there are out there. It acknowledged what so many on CC refuse to…luck.

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Thanks for letting me know the genuine truth

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It might be good if, for example, you take courses in a world language different from the one you take in high school or the courses support your larger interests and/or prospective major.

You can talk about these things in your personal essays if they fit into what you’re writing about. For example, my daughter will major in linguistics so taking some self-study coursework in teaching English as a second language or the history of language are interesting to her and something she did mention in one of her essays to support discussion of her passions.

In my opinion, it’s no different from other hobbies that you could discuss in your essays if it makes sense to do so (hiking/camping, traveling, cooking, writing, etc.). Just don’t give them more weight than they deserve.

And, really, only do them if they’re interesting to you and to learn simply for learning’s sake.

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