MIT MicroMasters(micromasters.mit.edu)
micromasters.mit.edu
MIT MicroMasters
https://micromasters.mit.edu/
55 comments
The intellectual value of an MIT degree is only partially the classes themselves — it’s the whole experience, including who you meet, how you learn to think and the stuff you do.
It’s hard for me to appreciate the value of the MIT brand as a graduate. This feels like a small dilution of that brand, but so what?
I wonder what the Institute’s objective is. Education is such a minescule part of what MIT does that perhaps it’s just an experiment in democratization of the MIT curriculum that someone wanted to try, and nobody else cared enough to say no?
It’s hard for me to appreciate the value of the MIT brand as a graduate. This feels like a small dilution of that brand, but so what?
I wonder what the Institute’s objective is. Education is such a minescule part of what MIT does that perhaps it’s just an experiment in democratization of the MIT curriculum that someone wanted to try, and nobody else cared enough to say no?
I have never understood this sentiment about the classes only being a small part. To me the classes were the only thing of value. Not once did I engage with any classmates outside of class on any academic subject. There was no scholarly learning or discussion. I did have those with professors during class or office hours. The availability tutors was beneficial. Most of the rest I felt was a distraction and a waste of time. There was no network to develop. I am not in contact with a single person I went to college with. It may work for some, but most of my colleagues say very similar things.
Was that at MIT? I think the culture was key. I started a company with a fellow alum 15 years after graduating. We hadn't known each other as students (!) but we had a lot of attitudes in common (which we'd both acquired there).
I did study with other students and learned a lot from them. I'm still friends with a lot of people I met there. The stuff we were learning was often the source of interesting conversations. I'm sorry that didn't work out for you. I do know some of the undergraduate dorms are more isolating than others.
Also MIT is very research oriented -- a lot of faculty only tolerate undergrads because they can be put to work on research. That experience had a huge influence on what I did after graduating and how I approached what I was learning in class. Also by being in the lab I met lots of interesting people from outside the institute who visted for one reason or another.
I did study with other students and learned a lot from them. I'm still friends with a lot of people I met there. The stuff we were learning was often the source of interesting conversations. I'm sorry that didn't work out for you. I do know some of the undergraduate dorms are more isolating than others.
Also MIT is very research oriented -- a lot of faculty only tolerate undergrads because they can be put to work on research. That experience had a huge influence on what I did after graduating and how I approached what I was learning in class. Also by being in the lab I met lots of interesting people from outside the institute who visted for one reason or another.
At MIT? That's such a shame. I had such a different experience.
its not completely binary, but the comment was specific to MIT, which is known for having strong academic extra curriculars, which is instilled as a core value into all incoming classes of students. It matters and people care what you do outside of class at MIT.
but even state schools, you get out of it, proportional to what you put in. I'm not sure your exact association with the word "value" , but even basics like resume building are directly impacted by clubs you are a part of. I know many that received job offers explicitly because of their involvement in a robotics F1 or nasa affiliated competition
but even state schools, you get out of it, proportional to what you put in. I'm not sure your exact association with the word "value" , but even basics like resume building are directly impacted by clubs you are a part of. I know many that received job offers explicitly because of their involvement in a robotics F1 or nasa affiliated competition
The intellectual value of an MIT degree is only partially the classes themselves — it’s the whole experience, including who you meet, how you learn to think and the stuff you do.
I think that's true of many good schools; perhaps it's even the definition of a good school. It certainly was true of my own relatively well regarded engineering school. Who I met who influenced my future success, the opportunities I got access to, the way to approach learning new things, my preferences in extracurriculars, many more, all came from my time there.
I think that's true of many good schools; perhaps it's even the definition of a good school. It certainly was true of my own relatively well regarded engineering school. Who I met who influenced my future success, the opportunities I got access to, the way to approach learning new things, my preferences in extracurriculars, many more, all came from my time there.
I feel the prestige MIT has comes from somewhere, probably engineering prowess and the genius of hacker culture. But in terms of how to think, I'd say any engineering/stem degree from any university touched on that as you see the dividend of that years later.
Paraphrase> "engineering/stem teaches you how to think"
Surely there are papers studying that? I'm certainly interested if you know of any.
My personal experience was the opposite - engineering degree teaching maths and how to be compliant[1] to an academic system of grading, but virtually nothing on practical engineering, causality or interpersonal skills. I have noticed the same problems in many of my academic peers. I went to a university in my country that was supposed to be an excellent engineering school.
After graduation I have met great piratical engineers with zero academic skills. Two close examples: a dyslexic friend, another who left school at 14.
[1] I think this is relevant where it talks about being taught to be compliant: "Escalation Theory: Compliance, Violence, and Overachievement In Society - How Elites Cause Crime By Acing Marshmallow Tests - Conrad Bastable" https://radicalcontributions.substack.com/p/escalation-theor...
Good compromises and independence of thought are engineering skills.
Surely there are papers studying that? I'm certainly interested if you know of any.
My personal experience was the opposite - engineering degree teaching maths and how to be compliant[1] to an academic system of grading, but virtually nothing on practical engineering, causality or interpersonal skills. I have noticed the same problems in many of my academic peers. I went to a university in my country that was supposed to be an excellent engineering school.
After graduation I have met great piratical engineers with zero academic skills. Two close examples: a dyslexic friend, another who left school at 14.
[1] I think this is relevant where it talks about being taught to be compliant: "Escalation Theory: Compliance, Violence, and Overachievement In Society - How Elites Cause Crime By Acing Marshmallow Tests - Conrad Bastable" https://radicalcontributions.substack.com/p/escalation-theor...
Good compromises and independence of thought are engineering skills.
> Paraphrase> "engineering/stem teaches you how to think"
This is an exaggeration. Mathematics and physics teach you a way of thinking. Engineering another way. Chemistry, biology et al require another. Philosophy (king of the sciences) and the humanities yet another way.
FWIW MIT has a significant philosophy department and a whole school of Humanities. You can get a degree from that school, and people do. These are historians, linguists, musicians etc who also took differential equations, lab science, E&M etc
This is an exaggeration. Mathematics and physics teach you a way of thinking. Engineering another way. Chemistry, biology et al require another. Philosophy (king of the sciences) and the humanities yet another way.
FWIW MIT has a significant philosophy department and a whole school of Humanities. You can get a degree from that school, and people do. These are historians, linguists, musicians etc who also took differential equations, lab science, E&M etc
Their reputation comes from the high volume of high quality and influential research that they do, as well as their deep integration with other institutions (e.g. when I was doing the Aero Astro sequence as an undergrad the head left to become head of the US Air Force; instead we had the former head of NASA. Or maybe it was the other way around).
When you look at the rankings of world universities the judgement is mostly by research output, not quality of education (though I think an MIT education is great, for the right students).
MIT is a large research organization with a small school attached: tuition revenue is less than 10% of MIT’s total revenue and education is about 15% of expenses though the web site mixes it in with other activity to make a larger number (you need the more detailed budget to dig the true number out).
When you look at the rankings of world universities the judgement is mostly by research output, not quality of education (though I think an MIT education is great, for the right students).
MIT is a large research organization with a small school attached: tuition revenue is less than 10% of MIT’s total revenue and education is about 15% of expenses though the web site mixes it in with other activity to make a larger number (you need the more detailed budget to dig the true number out).
Isn't this analogous to Harvard Extension? People are particular about Harvard vs Harvard Extension.
That seems like the brand side, yes, though I don't place a lot of value on institutional branding (but it seems like I'm in the minority on that on HN, so who knows?)
On the learning side, I really wonder how much you can really learn that way. Maybe some math.
On the learning side, I really wonder how much you can really learn that way. Maybe some math.
I'm in the last course of my third micromasters now so I guess I can share some perspective and experiences here.
I completed the Data, Economics and Development Policy one around 2019 and it definitely contributed to a job / career switch (data science job at an NGO in the experimental economics space). The courses I took were highly applicable to that work and I'm fairly confident that they helped me get hired as well, some of the people running the organization were collaborators of the ones who set up the micromasters.
I completed the Manufacturing micromasters last year as part of learning and development during my job (different job, manufacturing in biotech). It gave me a lot of valuable perspective on monitoring and optimization of manufacturing processes and I learned some "Design of Experiments" theory that I later applied at work.
I'm currently in the last part of the Finance micromasters for my own interest. It's too early to say whether this will have much of a career impact, but I definitely perceive the skills I'm acquiring as valuable (basic accounting and NPV calculation are useful in many different corporate environments, and financial skills are helpful for planning retirement as well).
I think the programs have gotten a lot more expensive which might make it a harder decision, I didn't pay more than ~$1500 for any of these and each covers a lot of ground so I thought they were worth it. There are some technical glitches here and there with EdX but overall the quality of instruction is high.
The Finance one is the only one so far where I've had significant contact with peers, it's not easy to benefit from the social aspects of a degree with these programs. I think doing well in these programs gives you a good shot at getting into full degree programs on campus though (I got accepted into the Economics masters but it didn't fit my plans at the time). Obviously the full program is much more expensive (I think it was $40k-ish for the Econ one, $100k-ish for the Finance one).
Your mileage may vary - I really enjoyed the programs, they fed my curiosity and they came in useful so I have zero regrets about spending time and money on them.
I completed the Data, Economics and Development Policy one around 2019 and it definitely contributed to a job / career switch (data science job at an NGO in the experimental economics space). The courses I took were highly applicable to that work and I'm fairly confident that they helped me get hired as well, some of the people running the organization were collaborators of the ones who set up the micromasters.
I completed the Manufacturing micromasters last year as part of learning and development during my job (different job, manufacturing in biotech). It gave me a lot of valuable perspective on monitoring and optimization of manufacturing processes and I learned some "Design of Experiments" theory that I later applied at work.
I'm currently in the last part of the Finance micromasters for my own interest. It's too early to say whether this will have much of a career impact, but I definitely perceive the skills I'm acquiring as valuable (basic accounting and NPV calculation are useful in many different corporate environments, and financial skills are helpful for planning retirement as well).
I think the programs have gotten a lot more expensive which might make it a harder decision, I didn't pay more than ~$1500 for any of these and each covers a lot of ground so I thought they were worth it. There are some technical glitches here and there with EdX but overall the quality of instruction is high.
The Finance one is the only one so far where I've had significant contact with peers, it's not easy to benefit from the social aspects of a degree with these programs. I think doing well in these programs gives you a good shot at getting into full degree programs on campus though (I got accepted into the Economics masters but it didn't fit my plans at the time). Obviously the full program is much more expensive (I think it was $40k-ish for the Econ one, $100k-ish for the Finance one).
Your mileage may vary - I really enjoyed the programs, they fed my curiosity and they came in useful so I have zero regrets about spending time and money on them.
This material looks very cool, it’s great that it’s free and I’m sure the quality coming from MIT is high.
But having now completed both a degree in-person and a degree online… I have to question the value of online education if you’re serious about progressing in a field, not just casually interested in a subject.
With in-person programs, even at a low-prestige local college, you gain a network of people who you can collaborate with in your community, and those relationships are at least half the value of the program (if not more). With an online program that just doesn’t happen. Of course some people will post exceptions, but I’ve done both and online is just not the same.
I wonder what we’re expecting from online education. For casual exploration and self-learning, amazing! But for entry into a new profession, or serious career advancement? Not nearly as good as “traditional” schools.
But having now completed both a degree in-person and a degree online… I have to question the value of online education if you’re serious about progressing in a field, not just casually interested in a subject.
With in-person programs, even at a low-prestige local college, you gain a network of people who you can collaborate with in your community, and those relationships are at least half the value of the program (if not more). With an online program that just doesn’t happen. Of course some people will post exceptions, but I’ve done both and online is just not the same.
I wonder what we’re expecting from online education. For casual exploration and self-learning, amazing! But for entry into a new profession, or serious career advancement? Not nearly as good as “traditional” schools.
The value of the local college decreases dramatically if your goal isn't to stay local. If you want to move across the country, I'm would bet the MIT name outweighs the friend-of-a-friend introductions you could get.
That depends highly on the type of work you're looking for, your experience level, and the type of organization that is hiring.
I have also completed a degree online and another in-person. It's a different experience but I strongly disagree that the online one is not as good for starting a new career (in my case it led to a prestigious PhD program and it was not an unusual outcome among my peers, definitely not an exception). I suspect many people's impression of online degrees is coloured by the fact that a lot of online programmes are opportunistic money making schemes of poor quality, but that is not an intrinsic property of this mode of learning.
The courses are individually available on edX. You can audit them but the access is for a short period of time. I am hoping to finish Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance this time before my access expires.
Great class, I did that one last winter. Challenging but rewarding.
You can use a different email address to "restart" the course.
Going to get a job with this course?
It is more like a hobby/personal development kind of thing. The methods used in the course (stochastic models, multivariate optimization etc) are also applicable in many areas other than finance.
Are you asking if the experience resulted in useful knowledge that will help with performing a new job, or if they will use the “name” to get a foot in the door?
Personally if I look at someone’s education on a resume I simply ignore anything that’s not a “regular” multi-year degree. That includes those year long executive MBAs which probably are useful for someone working for a big company.
But if someone has had a couple of years in the workforce I don’t even look at their education at all.
Personally if I look at someone’s education on a resume I simply ignore anything that’s not a “regular” multi-year degree. That includes those year long executive MBAs which probably are useful for someone working for a big company.
But if someone has had a couple of years in the workforce I don’t even look at their education at all.
In my own hiring decisions, I also don't pay that much attention to education. But I don't have the last say, and unfortunately, there are a lot of companies that basically all but require an advanced degree to be able to progress in your career track past the 10 year mark.
Small businesses and startups may not have as much HR mechanization to get in the way, but unless you have an in through networking, such places can be very hard to find, especially if you are looking for a place that is at all stable or paying a competitive salary.
I have 20 years of experience in software development, with the last 10 having various degrees of management responsibility as I've been "the most responsible adult in the room" for a bunch of small companies. My last job ended when the company lost funding for my position. Now, at my 2k+ people current employer, I've already been administratively shoehorned into my current position (managing a development team), responsible for level X but titled at level (X-1) because I don't have a master's. My level is higher than most other people in my group, but the actual job I'm doing is a level higher, which would come with a very, very significant pay increase, because it's breaching the barrier of being primarily and individual contributor to being primarily a manager.
My boss has said that my promotion track is basically frozen until I get one. The company will help pay for one, and there are a lot of people in my group that have taken advantage of the benefit, so it's not bullshit. But I really don't feel like I'd be doing it to learn anything, it'd just be for credentialing.
Back when I first started my career, the only people I knew who had master's degrees were working in honest to goodness scientific research, or C-suite executives. We had ICs that didn't have CS degrees at all. Those days are clearly over.
Small businesses and startups may not have as much HR mechanization to get in the way, but unless you have an in through networking, such places can be very hard to find, especially if you are looking for a place that is at all stable or paying a competitive salary.
I have 20 years of experience in software development, with the last 10 having various degrees of management responsibility as I've been "the most responsible adult in the room" for a bunch of small companies. My last job ended when the company lost funding for my position. Now, at my 2k+ people current employer, I've already been administratively shoehorned into my current position (managing a development team), responsible for level X but titled at level (X-1) because I don't have a master's. My level is higher than most other people in my group, but the actual job I'm doing is a level higher, which would come with a very, very significant pay increase, because it's breaching the barrier of being primarily and individual contributor to being primarily a manager.
My boss has said that my promotion track is basically frozen until I get one. The company will help pay for one, and there are a lot of people in my group that have taken advantage of the benefit, so it's not bullshit. But I really don't feel like I'd be doing it to learn anything, it'd just be for credentialing.
Back when I first started my career, the only people I knew who had master's degrees were working in honest to goodness scientific research, or C-suite executives. We had ICs that didn't have CS degrees at all. Those days are clearly over.
Sounds like a government contractor
> My boss has said that my promotion track is basically frozen until I get [a master's]. The company will help pay for one, and there are a lot of people in my group that have taken advantage of the benefit, so it's not bullshit. But I really don't feel like I'd be doing it to learn anything, it'd just be for credentialing.
Interesting, would an online degree count? I was asserting "online credential -- meh" and you'd be a good example that I am wrong.
Also, are you in Europe? I haven't seen this kind of thing in the US since the 80s, but then again, who really gets exposure to lots of jobs?
Thanks for your comment.
Interesting, would an online degree count? I was asserting "online credential -- meh" and you'd be a good example that I am wrong.
Also, are you in Europe? I haven't seen this kind of thing in the US since the 80s, but then again, who really gets exposure to lots of jobs?
Thanks for your comment.
No, I'm in the US, in the DC area.
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I want to live in a world where what you know and can do are the most important things that people get from education, but I think the sad reality is that a very large part of higher education is signaling.
I weigh this in my mind against the fact that Andrew Ng's Machine Learning course that I did online in 2011 that was the single most valuable course I ever took, online or offline, and it totally changed the trajectory of my career. I did not seek a credential to put on my resume though because I viewed that as signaling the exact wrong thing.
I weigh this in my mind against the fact that Andrew Ng's Machine Learning course that I did online in 2011 that was the single most valuable course I ever took, online or offline, and it totally changed the trajectory of my career. I did not seek a credential to put on my resume though because I viewed that as signaling the exact wrong thing.
Is Andrew Ng's course Coursera? Udemy? Something else?
I make no claims that the course is even still similar (I remember programming in Octave lol) or relevant, but it looks like it is on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/machine-learning-in...
I remember the Octave course as well! It was pretty cool, you could submit and get a grade right from Octave.
The pain of working with Octave arrays in that course pushed me to learn Python.
The pain of working with Octave arrays in that course pushed me to learn Python.
Some of the micro-masters courses are extremely good as well, and I took them for free. You don't have to get the credential.
2017: MIT Deems MicroMasters a Success
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/26/mit-deems-hal...
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/26/mit-deems-hal...
How this type of "credential" fits into the wider university system is a topic in the recent A16Z podcast Crisis in Higher Ed & Why Universities Still Matter with Marc & Ben (https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/crisis-in-higher-ed-why...). The pod goes into much wider issues that may be of interest to comment readers. Note I'm still computing on Marc & Ben's views and not agreeing or disagreeing but rather acknowledge the relevance of part of their discussion to this topic.
Related:
MIT MicroMasters Program - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13127094 - Dec 2016 (1 comment)
MIT's free online classes can now lead to MicroMaster's degree - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10409044 - Oct 2015 (72 comments)
MIT MicroMasters Program - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13127094 - Dec 2016 (1 comment)
MIT's free online classes can now lead to MicroMaster's degree - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10409044 - Oct 2015 (72 comments)
Boring. Wish there were something such as malware reverse engineering or other exotics system programming topics.
MicroMasters sound weird, Stanford has a whole MS in CS online if one wants to chase prestige. Until MIT offers the same, their programs are strictly inferior.
No jobs in SWE anymore time to learn beatboxing
(2015)
>Enroll in a program—no admission required—and take a series of graduate-level online courses, taught by MIT instructors, through edX or MITx Online.
>Earn a program credential by completing the course and passing one or more proctored exams.
Hah great. Just another way for people to game through online courses to attain a credential to be called an "MIT grad"
>Earn a program credential by completing the course and passing one or more proctored exams.
Hah great. Just another way for people to game through online courses to attain a credential to be called an "MIT grad"
> Just another way for people to game through online courses to attain a credential to be called an "MIT grad"
I know of such a person.
He claims a MicroMasters from MIT. There are actual edX certificates in search results, so I suspect that's true. However, he often presents it without the MicroMasters part.
He created a website for a fake MIT alumni association in his country. He was listed as the president, naturally.
He holds a PhD from Universal Life Church. Yes, that Universal Life Church. He neglects to mention the latter part though.
He ran a political campaign several years ago. He was exposed by the media for fake academic credentials. They also revealed that while he claimed to live abroad he was actually living with his running mate who also happened to be his mother. No, I am not kidding.
He created a website for a fake consulate of a country abroad. The website claimed that he had been knighted by said country and was serving as an honorary consulate in the Caribbean. Neither true.
The website was used in an attempt to get a Wikipedia article created about himself. It was removed. He's a long-term abuser and well-known sock.
The website is currently used to attack the journalists who exposed him. It falsely claims they were all convicted of crimes against him and in absentia.
He briefly worked/volunteered (online sources are not clear) at an online university. The sources claim he was let go for fake academic credentials. He ran an academic cheating service using that connection.
He also runs numerous websites attacking various academic institutions, local politicians, and journalists.
It was pretty wild learning about the guy.
I know of such a person.
He claims a MicroMasters from MIT. There are actual edX certificates in search results, so I suspect that's true. However, he often presents it without the MicroMasters part.
He created a website for a fake MIT alumni association in his country. He was listed as the president, naturally.
He holds a PhD from Universal Life Church. Yes, that Universal Life Church. He neglects to mention the latter part though.
He ran a political campaign several years ago. He was exposed by the media for fake academic credentials. They also revealed that while he claimed to live abroad he was actually living with his running mate who also happened to be his mother. No, I am not kidding.
He created a website for a fake consulate of a country abroad. The website claimed that he had been knighted by said country and was serving as an honorary consulate in the Caribbean. Neither true.
The website was used in an attempt to get a Wikipedia article created about himself. It was removed. He's a long-term abuser and well-known sock.
The website is currently used to attack the journalists who exposed him. It falsely claims they were all convicted of crimes against him and in absentia.
He briefly worked/volunteered (online sources are not clear) at an online university. The sources claim he was let go for fake academic credentials. He ran an academic cheating service using that connection.
He also runs numerous websites attacking various academic institutions, local politicians, and journalists.
It was pretty wild learning about the guy.
Harvard does this too. I see a surprising number of people who put Harvard on their resume or LinkedIn only to find they did like a two week executive meetup there or something and were granted a credential of some sort from the institution.
Isn't this the point of these institutions?
The schools prestige is what they sell since you can learn the material online for free or from a state university.
You are essentially buying into the network and using the name as a status symbol.
The schools prestige is what they sell since you can learn the material online for free or from a state university.
You are essentially buying into the network and using the name as a status symbol.
Obviously a 2 week or summer or semester credential shouldn't carry the same weight as a 4 year degree at Harvard or MIT
I mean, that's literally in the first sentence describing the product.
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And you bet this is going on those people's linkedin titles as "Ex MIT".
MIT has been particularly egregious at slapping their name onto paid postgraduate programs. I get their ads constantly. Selling out the brand for short term profit isn't just for publicly traded companies anymore.
It works though.
I attended the very first MITx on electronics back in high school.
It got me a job being on my resume
I attended the very first MITx on electronics back in high school.
It got me a job being on my resume
Will it teach you to make useless shit while telling everyone you're inventing the future?
To get full masters https://scm.mit.edu/admissions/
(Micromasters + 9 months on campus), it is approximately $50k Tuition, fees, books ONLY.
Total estimated cost: $71-76K
Full residential $84k Tuition, fees, books ONLY
Total estimated cost: $129-140K