Resume building through Post-Grad Courses Forum

[jmb600]

Hi! I am one year out of undergrad (2019) and I've spent the last 8 months studying for the lsat and now I'm working on my applications. Because of Covid I haven't had a good opportunity to beef up my resume this year (was planning on interning at a pro bono firm) but now I have a lot of time on my hands before september. Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about taking online courses (via a platform like coursera) to try to bulk out my resume? I'm not sure how that would read in admissions or if they even care. Would love to hear any thoughts!

[cavalier1138]

No one will notice or care. Take the courses if you actually want to take them, but they won't help your resume.

[decimalsanddollars]

Yeah, unless the courses count toward your UGPA or net you another actual degree, they're not going to help your application at all. Based on the fact that you've already graduated undergrad, your UGPA is set, so unless you plan on getting another degree, the courses would only really be worth it for the value of learning and the skills or knowledge you acquire. Also, even if the coursework did get you to another degree, higher degrees have little effect on admissions outcomes, all else equal.

[jmb600]

Yeah, unless the courses count toward your UGPA or net you another actual degree, they're not going to help your application at all. Based on the fact that you've already graduated undergrad, your UGPA is set, so unless you plan on getting another degree, the courses would only really be worth it for the value of learning and the skills or knowledge you acquire. Also, even if the coursework did get you to another degree, higher degrees have little effect on admissions outcomes, all else equal.

Good to know, is it even worth putting anywhere on my application/resume?

[decimalsanddollars]

Yeah, unless the courses count toward your UGPA or net you another actual degree, they're not going to help your application at all. Based on the fact that you've already graduated undergrad, your UGPA is set, so unless you plan on getting another degree, the courses would only really be worth it for the value of learning and the skills or knowledge you acquire. Also, even if the coursework did get you to another degree, higher degrees have little effect on admissions outcomes, all else equal.

Good to know, is it even worth putting anywhere on my application/resume?

To the extent the courses bolster a genuine "interest" you'd put on your resume anyway, it'd make you more conversant about that interest. If we're talking about coursera courses about some assorted humanities topics---or even a STEM discipline---I can't think of anywhere that'd go on a law school application.

[galba]

Previous posters are definitely correct that it won't have any admissions impact at all.

If you're truly doing nothing, taking an online class on accounting, reading financial statements, etc. might be helpful down the line for employment. Certainly not worth doing if you have any reasonable alternatives, but many lawyers find a basic understanding of that sort of thing is useful in practice.