<p>For those who aren't familiar with MIT's OpenCourseWare, it is a free database of online course materials such as lecture videos, assignments, exams, etc. You cannot receive any official credits from the courses since there is no certification/documentation on whether are not you "completed" the course.</p>
<p>Say you list the classes (for instance under College classes), how do you expect an adcom to evaluate what you did/learned? It’s like self-studying an AP but not taking the exam or getting any credit/verification from your HS.</p>
<p>I know you wouldn’t be able to list it as a class. My questions is if there would be another way to list it since I realize you don’t have any verification. (extracurriculars, writing section, additional comments section, etc.?)</p>
<p>Where you put it is a moot point—there’s no way to verify what you did or didn’t do, so adcoms will not be able to evaluate it. And IMO it would make you look worse rather than better.</p>
<p>I totally disagree with entomom. You might as well mention the courses you took in an “additional info” section. It’s not going to mean a lot to an adcom but it certainly can’t hurt. Shows you were motivated to learn outside of the classroom.</p>
<p>I still disagree. If you invested a significant amount of time learning in a structured course from a highly-respected education program one of the finest educational institutions in the world, it’s worth mentioning. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine an admissions officer reading “Completed courses A, B, and C in MIT OpenCourseWare” and thinking less highly off the applicant. Then again, I’m not an admissions officer.</p>
For 8.01, 8.02, and 18.01 there are corresponding AP exams.
If you learn a subject through OpenCourseWare, and then do something that shows mastery of the material like:
a) taking and doing well in a class for which the self-studied class was a prerequisite, and do well in that class.
b) get a job that uses the knowledge from that class in the work, and get a great recommendation.</p>
<p>Unless it had any impact on something that you did subsequently because of what you learned in those courses or led to the development of a special interest/passion, I don’t see the point of mentioning it. So, yes, if you can write an essay about these courses that explain or show something about you, then it makes sense. To compare, let’s say you read 500 books, you’d have to somehow relate the reading to something that makes a point about yourself.</p>
<p>OP, I think what the posters are trying to tell you is that anyone can put that they took the MIT courses on their applications, whether they actually did so or not…and that adcoms generally consider everything on an application that is not verifiable with a very large grain of salt.</p>
<p>It would be more beneficial for you to take equivalent classes at a local college or community college and do well in them.</p>
<p>If you can write about those classes in an essay, that could help you. I spend a lot of time on Project Euler, which is completely unverifiable, but I wrote about it in my essay for UW computer science.</p>