Rate My Professor is a magical website where aggravated scholars and inspired students resort to either bash or speak highly of a professor. When most students start registering for classes, they immediately click on the website to see if the professor he or she added is a saint or nothing but malicious.
I personally use Rate My Professor every time I add a class or even if I consider taking a course from a certain a professor. Though I don’t take all comments seriously — as some infuriated students could have, and typically have, slacked off the whole semester and then decided to go onto Rate My Professor to give the professor a “piece of his or her mind” — I do take it seriously when 10 or so comments in a row illustrate the fate of the class.
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I have also used it to give my own comments of professors. I have only given submissions on professors who were quite the treat and I enjoyed thoroughly, but I do give honest and sincere reports on the professors I have taken courses from.
If you are considering writing an evaluation for a professor, review these tips when doing so to make sure you have the most fulfilled and useful review.
1. Think throughout the whole semester
Ah yes, the end of the semester is crammed with quite a few tests, papers and projects —your plate is filled and you are overwhelmed with stress. The light keeps fading; there is no relief in sight. Welcome to college! It sucks, trust me, but it is to test your knowledge and your timeliness of getting everything done promptly and well.
Most professors aren’t trying to pull out your hair, so the comments like “THERE WAS NO TIME TO FINISH” should be reconsidered before submitting. Did you have the syllabus since the beginning of the semester? Yup. Were the assignment instructions provided for the past month? Probably. Professors could also be testing your procrastination skills—that’s what I like to think anyway.
2. Do not submit any information that could point you out
It’s the funniest to see comments describing a personal story of the professor that obviously happened just between the two. “I sat two rows back next to this annoying, reeking guy named Fred because this idiot of a professor did assigned reading. Like who does that? I just wanted to sit next to my friend Stephanie. We had to do this group project on different countries. My country was Germany. It was so boring. Worst class ever. Don’t take him.”
Awesome, Julie, your identity has been revealed. Though the class may be over with, I surely hope you don’t have that professor again for any other courses. I have taken professors again by my own will and on the other spectrum—they were the only professors I could take. And believe me, professors take note of their reviews.
3. Write like you are in college
I laugh when I read a submission riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. You’re making your point… “Man, dis dumas profesur duz not deserv 2 teach. She dusnt no sh*t. The paper instructenz were not clear. Don evur take dis class.” Well, if I was your English professor, I would have failed you too. And I mean grade wise, not as an instructor.
There are some individuals who just don’t understand a subject and need extra help. There are some professors who really should not be teaching. To each their own. But you want your submission to be professional and well-written. Make sure you write like you should be enrolled in a college course, not graduating from the second grade.
4. Be honest
Though this article may seem I am pro-professor, in which I am for the future professors who may be reading this, it is completely normal to write a negative review. Your submission should be truthful of the professor. I have had a few bad apples, but if I did not do well on a course for lack of studying or not giving it my all, that is my fault.
Why should the fate of the reviews rest in the hands of the professor for another’s wrong doing? It is not the professor’s fault the student thought the lectures were long; every professor has an hour and 15 minutes. It isn’t the professor’s fault you didn’t like the group project. If that’s the case, I’ll write reviews all day about how tests should be banned. But that won’t happen. It is, though, the professor's fault if he or she failed you as a student in academia. How do you like the content of the course? Did the instructor communicate well with the students? Did you receive good feedback? These are all things to consider when writing a review, but overall, be honest.
Do you use Rate My Professor when choosing courses? How reliable do you believe it to be? Comment below!
