Coursera business courses - useful MBA prep?

Question

I'm salivating over some Coursera choices related to both my academic and career interests: Wharton's Intro to Marketing, Ops Management, Finance, and some Ops Management/Strategy courses offered by a variety of other schools.

I've assumed (and confirmed by reading some older posts) that taking non-credit online courses doesn't necessarily enhance an MBA applicant profile, unless the applicant can weave a learning experience directly into a productive work experience. But, have any of you taken any similar courses for personal preparation either in advance of applying or between admission and matriculation?

My academic and work experience has been pretty focused in engineering and procurement/inventory management, so I don't have much exposure to basic Business education: Finance/Accounting, Marketing, etc. I figure taking some free courses in my spare time can't hurt, but has anyone had experience taking courses that have definitely helped build their knowledge and give a better framework to work with upon starting their MBAs?

I'm happy to report back here in a few months after I've taken my first two courses to discuss whether I found them practical for my own work applications.

Thanks!

SS1986 · Answer

hi, hope you find it beneficial and I am definitely interested in your findings, will you be taking all 4 courses for the Business Foundations certification that Wharton provides. I believe you also have to take part in a capstone project.

Also, have you looked at the harvard CORE. It is more expensive, but it requires taking 3 courses simultaneously. I believe they start up next month with their 1st session and that will be more of a traditional format. 11 weeks and then a final exam at a proctored site.

quinnie515 · Answer

SS1986  - Thanks for pointing out Harvard CORe (HBX), I actually hadn't looked into it yet. There definitely is an investment there, but I could see completing the program as being useful given my background and my goals in taking some pre-MBA coursework.

With the Wharton Coursera classes, my intent would be to take all 4 but not do the certification program. Since I am looking at this primarily as a learning experience for my own comfort with topics, I'm not looking to have an official accreditation to place on a resume or application. It may be worth considering whether completing a Capstone is a valuable addition just from a learning standpoint.

SS1986 · Answer

Cool, are you planning on applying to Wharton? If so, then doing the certification has real value, I believe top 50 performers get their application fee waived and even if you finish a little lower, I'm assuming you atleast get the benefit of being on Wharton's radar.

alexau · Answer

I was looking into some of the courses as well. There was a great post a few days ago on P&Q that highlighted MOOCs for business (https://poetsandquants.com/2015/03/24/essential-mooc-
courses-for-business-in-april/). Wharton is offering a ton of MOOCs in April and Darden and Stanford each I think have one coming up.

Does anyone happen to know whether there is any value to earning the verified certificate? Some of the classes give you the option to pay an extra $50 per class to earn a certificate of completion.

Will any b-schools want to see this? Or will they value the online class the same regardless of the certificate?

Pottsmi1 · Answer

Bump, thinking about doing the Wharton Marketing and Financial Accounting (If not all 4). Come from an engineering background and want to get some basics in. Suppose it can't hurt to mention in an App, wont be anything needle moving I imagine, but maybe shows the effort and dedication

Coursera business courses - useful MBA prep?

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