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Joined: 26 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: MIT's OpenCourseWare for math classes?
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14 Jul 2010, 13:48
MIT's open courses are really cool and really useful. Unfortunately, I don't think that will cut it for an admissions officer. They want you to demonstrate capability in calculus, and to do that you need need to get a grade. I'd imagine this is particularly true if you're looking at PhD programs as they are almost certainly more rigorous than an MBA.
Exactly how much an online course would help you I don't know. It is certainly better than doing nothing, but not the same as a university course. Remember, the admissions officer is looking for capability: the talent pool in an online class at DeVry is going to be less than an at XYZ University, which in turn will be less than CalTech. This means it will be much easier to do well at DeVry than at CalTech, and therefore an A at DeVry will be much less impressive to an adcom than an A at CalTech.
Bottom line: context is everything. Good luck!