When it comes to selecting the perfect professor for their schedules and learning preferences, many students utilize RateMyProfessors.com. The website features a reviewing service that allows previous students to share their experiences with professors, providing potential students with said reviews before they finalize their schedules.
But how reliable is this website? Should we trust the words of our fellow students or ignore their warnings? Olivia Burris, junior business administrator major, said she finds Rate My Professors to be 50-50.
“There have been a couple [professors] that were rated high that I wouldn’t necessarily have rated them that high, not that they were bad professors or anything,” Burris said. “But there’s also been some classes where there’s only been one professor and they were rated low, but I took the class and I enjoyed the professor.”
Because of the anonymous nature of Rate My Professors, students can safely and honestly remark on their experiences without fear of any backlash.
Sophomore pre-optometry and biology double major Morgan Proctor said while she uses Rate My Professors, she doesn’t necessarily find it reliable.
“There was a professor that I took that didn’t have the best ratings on Rate My Professors,” Proctor said. “I ended up taking that professor, and I ended up loving it, even though that professor had really bad reviews.”
To maintain anonymity, Rate My Professors does not require proof that reviewers have taken the courses or the professors that they are rating.
Sophomore nursing major Vibhu Rana said Rate My Professors has impacted the professors she has chosen.
“There was a professor in chemistry; I thought he had 50-50 kind of ratings,” Rana said. “But I took his classes, and it was fine for me.”
Freshman civil engineering major Will Schuwerk said he mostly sees the website as a good resource.
“I like to look at it [Rate My Professors] when I pick my classes,” Schuwerk said. “I look up my professors to see which ones are rated highly, and then I choose if I want to take that class.”
Some students completely trust these online reviews, while others tread lightly between trusting and ignoring the reviews. Though it is impossible to determine whether Rate My Professors is a completely reliable source for professor selection, some still prefer to acknowledge the evaluations former students have provided.
