Okay to take an online class?

[Rodgers]

I currently attend an Ivy+ school (think Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Caltech, Duke, etc.) and plan to graduate this December. I'm planning on applying to industrial engineering masters programs, which recommend at least a term of computer science. Would it be sufficient to take an online programming class that covers Java to fulfill this soft prerequisite. 

[jeffleung1992]

I currently attend an Ivy+ school (think Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Caltech, Duke, etc.) and plan to graduate this December. I'm planning on applying to industrial engineering masters programs, which recommend at least a term of computer science. Would it be sufficient to take an online programming class that covers Java to fulfill this soft prerequisite. 

I think it should be fine if it indeed is a "soft" prerequisite. Is it not possible for you to take this class during the fall at your school? How about taking it over the summer at a local college? In my humble opinion, in this day and age, it is a very valuable skill to be able to program. If I were you, even if you don't think you will ever do it, it might be worthwhile to put in decent effort into the class and really learn it well. You may not use Java, but once you understand the constructs of the language you can easily pick up something like Python, Matlab, etc., which could be useful knowledge if you end up working in a company where you have to interact with other engineers that do mostly software. 

 

Just my $0.02. Best wishes!  

[TakeruK]

Do you mean an online class from your own school that will count for credit towards your degree? This is perfectly fine and in some places, like my undergrad, will not even show up on your transcript that you took this class online instead of attending lectures in person.

 

If you are taking an online class not from your school and if it will not count towards your degree, then you should be careful to make sure the class is going to be recognized by the schools you want to apply to.