What should i do while i wait to get into university ?

[Jhoker]

What program should i go for ?

 

I just completed my A-levels ( equivalent to college) and now i am ready to go to university but due to financial problems and to some extent to my laziness, i could not get into the university i wanted to initially so now there is a good possibility that i have to wait atleast a few months before i can apply to the university again. in the mean time, i am thinking to do some sort of course/degree online which i can carry along with my university if i get in the next few months. btw, i am an above average student and i have scored A's. 

my preference for the program that i will opt in university is Engineering. i am thinking industrial engineering because i like to be on the management side. about the course that i am thinking to do in the mean time is some sort of programming( coding etc) which can be very useful skill nowadays or i was thinking about going for a bussiness management course. 

what i want to know is that :- 

1: what is the best course that i can do in the meantime which i can easily carry along during my university studies. this course should have some worth i.e it is recongnized like a degree so that it can give me an edge in my professional career. 

2: if you can then please guide me how to get these courses ONLINE. if they are free then that would be really helpful. 

i just dont want to waste the time, rather i would learn/develop some skills that will help me later on. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE.

 

[TakeruK]

I don't think you can really expect to find a short course that is free, online, and have "worth" in the sense that you can use it as credit towards a university degree or is a stand-alone qualification. Keeping courses updated, accredited, useful etc. takes a lot of effort of instructors and organizers so there is usually some cost involved!

 

You can usually pick at least two though.

 

If you want free and online, you could sign up for a lot of the "Massive Open Online Course" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course) through services like Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/). These courses are generally taught by professors at schools like Stanford, MIT, Yale, etc. as a series of video lectures and online assignments. It's self graded and you do get a certificate of completion at the end, but you can't use it for credit towards degrees and I don't think many people will accept it as a qualification. However, my school recently taught courses through this system and it's really the same lectures as the "real" course that students enrolled in my school take. So, you can definitely still learn a lot and while it might not count for much on its own, it can help you get a head start in your studies next year.

 

If you want online and "worth", many universities allow students to enroll in online courses. You will have to pay for them and you need to watch out for "for-profit" universities. Sometimes you are allowed to take these courses without being formally enrolled in a degree program (i.e. as an "unclassified student"). They will cost money and I am assuming you would do this to get credit towards your university degree, so make sure that the courses will transfer before you sign up. This would mean looking into the transfer credit rules for all the schools you are interested in.

[nugget]

I am curious to know your reasons behind taking extra courses. Do you think your history of course work is somehow lacking in your application? If there is a deficit that you think could strengthen your application by taking extra courses, then by all means, take more courses. But if you are pursuing this route to fill up your time, why not find a job in your field or a research position to  strengthen your application, gain some experience and earn extra money to fix some of those financial problems you have been talking about?

Edited August 20, 2014 by jenste

[TakeruK]

Oh I want to add that if you go the free online course route, I would choose something that provides you with real practical skills so it doesn't really matter if you get to transfer that course or not. For your case, perhaps a course in something like CAD or programming would be a good idea. Even if you don't end up getting credit for that course in, say, Python, it doesn't really matter because knowledge of that skill will help you a ton in future courses and employment!

 

But I also agree with jenste--you don't necessarily have to do coursework related things. Earning / saving some money could be a good way to fill your time too. If I understand the original post correctly, finishing your A-levels means you are somewhere between high school and an undergraduate degree, right? So, I can understand if it is hard to find work in your field at this point, but gaining any kind of work experience can show maturity, which might be helpful in getting your first job in the field later on!