<p>So for those of you who don't know, there is this website called edX (<a href="https://www.edx.org/%5B/url%5D">https://www.edx.org/</a>). You can take online courses from Harvard and MIT and they are called Harvardx and MITx, respectively. At the end of the course, you receive a certificate from them. For the Fall 2012 Semester, the certificates are free. But for the other semesters, you're going to have to pay a fee for them. Do these certificates really mean much and will they be useful for your college application?</p>
<p>Only if you feel that you could handle it alongside your typical schoolwork.</p>
<p>After googling it, I’m wondering are they worth anything? Can you get any sort of credit from them or is it just for personal knowledge?</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get credit for them, but I’m not sure whether they mean anything for your college application.</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer to your question. </p>
<p>But I’m taking introduction to solid state chemistry
what about you?</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m taking that too because I want to major in chemistry and everything else is about computer science. But I might take the intro course to computer science. I’m not 100% sure yet.</p>
<p>I’ve recently received a reply from an MIT admissions counselor. He said that courses (MOOCs) completed on these websites can be placed in the “additional coursework” section. Exact wording of email "We think that edX, Coursera, Udacity, etc. can be great options for advanced, talented students. We would be excited to see students who have successfully completed these advanced, rigorous courses.</p>
<p>At present, the freshman application does not have a separate field or area for such courses. The courses could be listed in the Part 2 in the Self-reported Coursework section or in the Optional text box."</p>
<p>Hope this helps. There is not much information out there because these sites are very new</p>
<p>Do you think that the admissions counselor would say “no it’s pointless” in the email? It seems of dubious veracity to me, especially since you have to pay and there is no process to be selected. Do what you want with it.</p>
<p>I doubt it’ll be seen as anything that great, maybe an indicator of interests, but little more.</p>
<p>nah don’t pay for it. try to find a course offered in this Spring that you’re interested in to get a free certificate. or look at the courses in coursera; the certificates are free!</p>
<p>Certificates aside, the courses are wonderful. I’m taking Justice and Intro to Bio on edX, and the professors are just plain funny and awesome.</p>
<p>edX is great! I’m taking the Intro to Bio course. I hated Bio in high school, but I’m actually rather enjoying the course. I’m taking the Elements of Structures course that starts up in April as well.
I don’t really care about the certificate though.</p>
<p>TO be honest, I’m taking AP Economics in VHS (i do get college credit and my guidance counselor signed me up for it) and there is virtually no way my professor can know if its me taking the course or if its someone else. Everything is passed in online, homework, book notes, tests are also online, everything. One could literally have someone else take the tests, or pass in another student’s work and the teacher wouldn’t even suspect anything. Same for these EDx courses, and their “certificate”. I don’t see any difference from a certificate from VHS (they give a bunch of high school classes and middle school too) and EDx. However, i think that EDx is a great way to show initiative to colleges, nothing in this world exists unless its documented. EX. You could learn programming by yourself, but unless you pass a standardized test or the AP Test for programming, no one will give you credit for it.</p>
<p>This question was two and a half years old. </p>