We’ve found that how students use their free time is a big indicator of success (or lack thereof) during and after the college application process. That’s exactly why we emphasize the importance of spending free time, whether it is short or long breaks from school, , that 2-hour block before bed when you play video games, doing something that expands their academic interests. We’ve written in the past about how , like college-credit courses and online courses, . While there’s no one guaranteed path to gaining a college acceptance letters, we do know that colleges don’t like kids who waste their free time. In fact, it’s this non-school, , and , in addition to your , that we think most determines whether or not you’ll be accepted.

Online courses are a great way to take an interest to the next level, whether it’s a topic that you have been interested in that you’ve been meaning to delve into more significantly, or an interest that you’ve been cultivating over many years. The most popular websites that offer a variety of online courses are , , or various OpenCourseWare (OCW) or webcast resources, of which , , , , , , and others all have participation options.

Where do I even Start?

Each site has thousands of courses to choose from, which means that while they most certainly offer something that will increase your expertise in an academic field that you enjoy, it can be intimidating to choose one. Of course, our recommendations for online courses depend on a student’s age, interest, and goals, remember that the idea is to expand your interests.

How do I choose a course?

When you’re deciding, be as specific as possible and then open your mind. If you type “engineer” into a search bar, you’ll get tons of results. Instead, think about Perhaps interests you the most, so you’d enter “graphic engineering” and take a look at the courses offered. Take a scroll through, toggle with the topics offered, and be mindful about reading through the descriptions of the courses. Make sure that you pay attention to the presence of video vs. audio lectures if that’s important to you. Do your research.

How long is this going to take me? Will it be a time suck?

Be realistic when you’re choosing a course about the time that you’re willing to commit—and challenge yourself! Though choosing an advanced class on might seem like a great challenge, it won’t help if you’re completely lost halfway into lecture 1. Be realistic about your understanding and potential involvement in the topic. Make sure that you choose something that will challenge you, yes, but also that will stimulate you. Pay close attention to prerequisites!

 What if I start a course and hate it? Will it look bad if I drop out?

It won’t look bad if you drop out because no one will ever know you were enrolled in the first place. This is why we’ve emphasized the importance of doing your research and paying attention to what is going to be taught before you commit to an online course. This is about exploration, so if you truly regret your choice it’s better to quit and find a new course that excites you two weeks in rather than wasting 8 weeks and having your eyes glazed over the whole time. Additionally, pay attention to why you’re disengaging: is it the teaching style? The time? The actual content? Don’t just quit willy-nilly; be intentional about your decision and re-route accordingly.

How do I know if a course is “reputable”?

At the end of the day, you probably have an idea of places where it will “look” better on your application to have taken (this will all go in your section), but the bottom line is this: did you love it, and were you engaged in the topic? If you choose a course just because it’s taught by a brand-name university, but the topic doesn’t interest you, skip it. We’d rather you engage meaningfully than write “Stanford” on your application just for the sake of it. This is all about engagement and expanding your academic horizons.  

What courses do you suggest?

This is totally dependent on your interests. We can’t really give you an overview because we don’t know you! What we will say is: pay attention to the specifics of the course before committing.

That said, we put together a customized list of online courses for all of our students. if you’re interested in working with us and we can do the same for you.