Ah, professors. You see them every day, even on the days you don’t want to. They can be funny or strict, boring or brilliant. Sometimes we forget they’re real people, and the fate of your grade is literally in their hands. Love them or hate them, we all have to have them.
Any collegiette will tell you that a professor can either make or break your classroom experience. Luckily for you, there are dozens of websites designed to help you avoid Dr. Lectures-a-Lot so you can take Professor Total-Hottie. Based on real collegiettes’ advice, here’s your go-to guide to professor rating websites, how to use them and things to consider when choosing your classes!
Where to find professor ratings
Just like you can Facebook stalk your random roomie (don’t lie; we’ve all done it!), there are dozens of websites where you can get lowdown on your profs. Most sites give you an overall rating for professors, but some include real students’ comments, “hotness” scales and even past syllabi. Here are some of the most popular sites and all their helpful features.
Rate My Professors
Rate My Professors boasts that it’s the largest destination for professor ratings with over 14 million opinions on professors in North America and the UK. All professors are categorized by school and department, and students can rate them on a scale of one to five on the following qualities: helpfulness, clarity and easiness. Those scores are averaged to get the professors “overall quality” score. There is also an option to rate attractiveness, depicted by a little red chili pepper!
Additionally, students can leave comments to explain their ratings and submit grades they received. There’s also an option for professors to respond. Some profs thank their students for their high praise, while others break down their grading system to explain why their class isn’t an easy A. Upcoming features will allow students to “like” or “dislike” the helpfulness of a rating and plus provide descriptor tags so it’s easier to compare professors across the board.
“I use RateMyProfessors.com religiously!” says Summer Ford, a junior at Boston University. “What I like most is when students give a general outline of the coursework. It really helps you get an idea of the workload. It’s definitely a useful site!”
MyEdu
MyEdu has countless tools to help you succeed in college, one of which is professor ratings. To access professor ratings, students have create a personal profile based on their school and major. Then the site allows you to create a schedule with your specific registered classes so all your information is in one spot.
Similar to other professor rating websites, profs are broken down by department and classes they teach. Each class has a short description, including any prerequisites and dates that classes were held during the most recent semester. You can access info like the percent of students who dropped the class, the average GPA/grades received and old syllabi. Instead of scales to measure helpfulness or easiness, students write short paragraphs about their experience, and other users can “like” the post if they find it useful. If the professor teaches other classes, MyEdu has links to those specific class reviews as well.
“I've always used MyEdu.com,” says Jasmin Escher, a junior at the University of Texas at Austin. “What I also find to be tremendously helpful is pulling up old course syllabi to see how heavy the workload of the class is. You can more easily decide which classes will fit best into your schedule!”
Koofers
Similar to MyEdu, Koofers has more than just professor ratings. Students can access Test Banks, which include practice exams and study guides. You can also create your class schedule and find jobs and internships.
Students rate professors by writing short descriptions of what their class is like. What makes this website different is that it provides the average GPA for the class, plus information about tests, quizzes, projects and extra credit. Students can rank how hard exams are, how often professors give pop quizzes or not and how much they curve their grades! Users can rank how useful each post is, and then the site highlights the most helpful reviews so you’re not searching through pointless comments.
“I use Koofers to find out specific information about a class,” says Krista Jacobs, a sophomore at Saint Joseph’s University. “It’s helpful to know what kinds of assignments I can expect in the class or if homework will be graded. That information makes it different from other rating websites.”
Things to keep in mind when using these sites
Now that you know where to go, it’s time to start your professor-rating research. While these sites are meant to guide you to the best of the best, there are some important things to keep in mind before you decide on your professors. Collegiettes weighed in so you can have the best classroom experience possible!
Using the difficulty scale
Let’s be real, when you see that low grade on the difficulty scale paired with comments that promise you, “this will be the easiest prof you’ll ever have,” you’re tempted to take the class. But taking a class that you can apparently breeze through may not be in your best interests.
“Classes aren’t supposed to be easy; they’re supposed to challenge us to think and learn,” says Sarah Desiderio, a senior at Pennsylvania State University. “So many students bash profs because it wasn’t an ‘easy A.’ Don’t shy away from a class you want because the ratings say it won’t be a cakewalk.”
Iris Goldsztajn, a junior at the University of California, Los Angeles, reminds us that difficulty is also a personal assessment; something that might be hard for one person could be extremely easy for another. Additionally, taking a less difficult class just because it’s easy, not because you’re interested in it, can actually be detrimental to your grade. “There might be a class that everyone says is a piece of cake, but if you’re not interested in it, it might be really difficult,” Iris says. “For instance, I once took ‘the easiest science requirement ever,’ but I was so bored in the class and I ended up with a B-, the lowest grade I’ve received in college.”
If a class seems interesting, don’t discount it because the professor might be ranked as difficult. Amy Way, an assistant professor in Villanova University’s communication department, encourages students to take a risk on courses that sound interesting. “Just take a chance and go for the ride,” she suggests. “Trust that the college you’ve selected has put a great deal of effort into hiring smart and talented individuals that you’ll learn something from. Yes, it might be difficult, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get something out of the course.”
However, there are some warning signs you should be aware of to avoid a difficult professor. Elizabeth Deuel, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says there are a few things you should take seriously. “I look for comments about their grading style, how they engage students and if they are respectful,” Elizabeth says. “If a teacher seems to get a lot of feedback about being a overly hard or unfair grader, I won't take their class, because I hate having to fight with teachers over grades.”
That being said, don’t just drop a difficult professor without really doing your research. You may have to work a little harder for an A, but if the prof is respectful and fair, you might actually gain a lot from his or her class!
Students’ comments
One of the best things about these websites is real feedback from past students. Comments can give you insight into why professors got their ratings as well as give you advice for how to succeed in their classes.
“I take into consideration how many recommendations the professor has and read through the reviews to see what tips previous students give,” Jasmin says. “Your best bet is to consult the sites as a starting point to get a feel for the class, and then try to reach out to friends at the university to get their personal opinion.”
Keep in mind that most comments come from students who either love or hate the class, rarely those who are neutral. “People are more motivated to leave a comment if they’ve had an exceptionally good or extremely bad experience,” Way says. “So you’re just getting anecdotes from those on the extremes and not hearing from other students.”
While comments can be extremely helpful (especially if you don’t know anyone at your college whom you can talk to), be sure to consider where the comments are coming from. Don’t get caught up in the extremes or overdramatic reviews. Instead, search for the ones that seem like a realistic portrayal of the professor, and then make your decision!
Reviews from students in that major
One of the best ways to determine if you want to take a class with a certain professor is to look for reviews from students in a specific major. There are some general core classes that every student has to take, so consider who is writing the comments, because that might give the review a positive or negative twist.
“If it’s a class everyone has to take, chances are some people are going hate the class topic and rate the professor poorly regardless of teaching skills,” Krista says. “But if communication majors are rating communication professors harshly, you know their reviews are based on teaching style, not the topic. They hold more weight.”
If an engineer is taking an English class, chances are she’s not going to enjoy the required reading as much as English majors. When looking for reviews of her previous English professor, Krista found a student who openly admitted to hating reading. “They rated the professor really harshly because they hated reading,” Krista says. “Just because a student hates a class’s subject doesn’t mean their professor is bad.”
While it may take a little more time to read through all the student ratings, finding one or two reviews from someone in that major can give you a more accurate understanding of what the professor is really like. They’re definitely more helpful than a review from a bitter student who hated the required class!
One of the biggest sources of anxiety for pre-collegiettes is dealing with college classes and professors. No matter where you go to school, you’re going to face a few awesome profs and some not-so-good ones. With professor rating websites, you can prepare yourself when you choose your classes. Keep these tips in mind next time you’re researching a professor so you can have a great first semester!