Include MOOC certificates in transfer applications?

[jack476]

I'm miserable at my current school. I want to make my chances at being accepted elsewhere as high as possible. I take a lot of online courses through edX and Coursera, and I've done the verified certificate thing for a few of them, and some of them were targeted at seniors and graduates. I'm just wondering if including that somehow would improve my chances a little.

 

[IGU]

Of course. Everything helps. Showing that you are interested in being educated and what you choose to spend your time on is a great differentiator. If you self-study things you should include those too, even if you have no evidence or assessment of your ability. So, to be clear, it's important to include the relevant MOOCs; the certificates are unlikely to matter much.

Note that you are unlikely to get "credit" for these things, but they will likely affect admission and placement.