RateMyProfessor.com: A Review
By Kristen, age 19, Massachusetts
Sweet Designs Staff Intern
RateMyProfessor.com is a free website where college students from the United States, England, Canada, Scotland, and Wales can go to look up professors from their respective campuses to rate them or view the ratings others have given them. With over one million professors being rated, and over six thousand schools to look through, one is bound to find the right professor. My school alone has over four hundred professors rated! You can either log in and create an account or browse the ratings without signing up.
Using the site is very easy. First, start with finding your college or university. The next step is to narrow down your search by department, or if you're looking for a specific professor the list goes alphabetically. Click on your professor's name and see how he or she has been rated overall, as well as written reviews about what classes he or she teaches. The website is user friendly, well-maintained, and has a great color scheme and layout.
Is RateMyProfessor.com the right site for you? This question must be answered on a case-by-case basis. If your college is not on the website then obviously it cannot be used. However, it can be very beneficial if students who have already taken a course you are about to take write a review. The more you write reviews for the classes you have taken, the more it can help someone else in the future.
I have used this site many times to get a feel of what my professors are like before I take a class. The reviews are accurate and have helped me get an understanding of what the classes will be like. If multiple professors are teaching the same class, I can pick the professor who is more highly rated. The only qualm I may have about RateMyProfessor.com involves the biases some students may have if they received a poor grade due to their own lack of effort. However, I believe that you can catch those biases because of poor grammar or specific reasons in a student's review as to why the professor was not considered good.
Overall, RateMyProfessor.com is a helpful website that students should consult if they have questions about professors. I hope you find the professor who is right for you!