Harvard and the University of Berkeley Offer Free Online Research

According to Mashable, Harvard has adopted a policy that requires professors to make their research available online — for free. In October, the University of Berkeley partnered with YouTube to offer free courses online. You can see the course lectures here.

Does this mean that you can get those college smarts without the college education? Quite possible, with the right discipline. Better yet, why not use this time to acclimate yourself with college offerings from a variety of universities to see what the right fit is for you? You can align yourself with your (future?) professors and see what subject matters are worth your perusal.

There are a lot of ways to take advantage of college study before you hit the books and the classes. Ask students for sample syllabi and get your reading done earlier (which can give you a head start and build up relationships with your professor and teaching assistants before school even starts). Check out message boards for students; many of them don’t require a university login. Or just look at the Harvard and Berkeley offerings and start reading and watching videos that give you a real taste of college life.