如今有实例表明，学习这些在线课程还会有助于学生被美国高校录取。

如同学生希望找到最好的院校读书一样，高等院校也希望录取最优秀的学生。在线课程是满足双方的一个有效途径。麻省理工学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology）招生办主任斯图尔特·施米尔（Stuart Schmill）说：“在线课程的可贵处之一是，他们让原来可能没有机会接受严格教育的各种学生都有机会来学习。”

例如，2013年，麻省理工学院录取了来自蒙古的巴图诗蒙·延甘巴亚（Battushig Myanganbayar）。延甘巴亚15岁时在麻省理工学院开办的第一个电路与电子专业大规模在线课程的结业考试中获得满分。这是一门该校二年级水平的课程，延甘巴亚以小小年纪取得这种成绩让学校看到，他将能够胜任在麻省理工学院的学业。而延甘巴亚也通过这门课程发现，麻省理工的专业课符合他的兴趣。

如果没有MOOC，麻省理工学院恐怕永远也不会知道有巴图诗蒙•延甘巴亚，而他大概也不会申请上这所学院。

施米尔说：“如果学生修了一门我们熟悉的edX在线课程”（edX是麻省理工学院大规模在线开放课程使用的传播平台），“并且取得好成绩，那么这成为一个说明，告诉我们这个学生在严格的专业学习中可能会有什么样的表现。这给我们增添了有用的信息。”

宾州州立大学（Penn State University）教授卡林·梅特兰（Carleen Maitland）曾为美国驻一些国家大使馆中开设的大规模在线开放课程学习营（MOOC Camp）担任顾问。这些学习营针对在线课程组织辅导讨论。梅特兰指出，这些课程让学生们能够“体验一下美国教育”，并且“看清这是不是他们所要追求的道路”。

梅特兰说：“如果在我们的MOOC Camp，有个学生真是对课堂内容掌握得很好，那我们也许会对这个学生说，‘你有没有想过我们有些专业为学者到美国去学习提供帮助？’”

如果你有这种兴趣，请浏览美国国务院教育与文化事务局（Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ）的MOOC Camps，找到位于你附近的大规模在线开放课程学习营。你也可以通过宾州大学（University of Pennsylvania）的MOOC “Applying to U.S. Universities“（申请美国大学）来进一步了解美国高校的入申请录取程序。



What can MOOCs do for your chances of getting into a U.S. college?

 In recent years, college professors have shared their knowledge through massive open online courses (MOOCs), an exciting development for students all over the the world.

Today, it’s becoming clear that taking the online courses also helps students gain admission at U.S. colleges.

Colleges want to find the best students every bit as much those students want to find the best colleges. Online courses are an effective way to make that match. “One of the values the online classes have is they are accessible to a range of students who may not otherwise have had rigorous coursework available to them,” said Stuart Schmill, MIT’s director of admissions.

For example, in 2013, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted Battushig Myanganbayar from Mongolia after Myanganbayar had earned a perfect score at age 15 on the university’s first MOOC, about circuits and electronics. The online course replicated a sophomore-level class at MIT, and Myanganbayar’s success at such a young age told the school he would be able to handle coursework at the institute. And it told him that MIT taught courses that would interest him.

Without the MOOC, MIT would never have heard of Myanganbayar, and he may not have applied for admission.

“If a student takes an edX class we’re familiar with,” said Schmill, referring to the nonprofit with which MIT distributes its MOOCs, “and does well in it, it gives us an indication of how that student might do in a rigorous course. It’s more good information for us.”

Carleen Maitland, a professor at Penn State University, has consulted on MOOC Camps, programs held at several U.S. embassies around the world to augment online courses with facilitated discussions. Such courses, Maitland said, allow participants to “test-drive a U.S. education” and “identify for themselves if this is the path they want to go down.”

“If we offer a MOOC Camp and we have a student who really gets the content,” Maitlin said, “this might be a student we approach and say, ‘Hey, have you thought about some of our programs to support scholars coming to the U.S.?’”

If it sounds like that could be you, explore MOOC Camps through the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to find one near you. You can learn more about the U.S. admissions process with the University of Pennsylvania’s on-demand MOOC “Applying to U.S. Universities.”