What's your opinion on MicroMasters programs?

[cookderosa]

That's my primary concern. If it were direct admission, I'd fully support it (even with the crazy high tuition), but my understanding is each school sets their own admission criteria. MIT decided that they will waive the GRE/GMAT for this program, but all other criteria stands. Some schools are even less definitive, with the worst not even saying exactly how many credits you receive for the MM portion of the coursework. I think grouping these credentials together is misleading, because each seem to function completely different from the other. I'm not sure how possible it would have been, but it would be nice if edx would have set some base criteria: ie: a MM is X courses/credits, that guarantee admission, or grant a certificate if passed. Instead they let each school decide what the credential is, and how it works.

MIT includes a review of your coursework in the micro masters, but have indicated a pass is not enough. On the FAQ, "What are my chances of being admitted question?" they respond

"This is a good question that we do not have a great answer for, since this is a new program. But, obviously, doing better in the online courses will increase your chances of gaining admittance to MIT. However, we should stress that simply having high grades will not guarantee admission – we look at all aspects of an applicant to include SCx scores, writing capability, etc."

I wish they would have modeled this more like the Harvard extension model. From what I've seen, that is the model I think would function best for these new micromaster type programs. Why would you need a test score, etc when a student has proven they can handle the work? I can't come up with an answer other than it makes the process more selective, which speaks more to elitism than to academic ability.

I think it's a case of them just figuring it out as they go as opposed to being difficult. Those questions are all filters we would use when picking a program, but I think the Average Joe Public doesn't do all the "if-then" investigation before enrolling. I think since it's new, it's a matter of them responding as these questions come up instead of being preemptive.