RateMyProfessor.Com

As a college student, I quickly learned the ins and outs of class registration. The first step was to find out which classes were required for graduation and their availability. The second step involved sizing up (or down) each of the professors that taught the class I was looking to take. In order to do this I entered www.Ratemyprofessor.com into my URL bar, and bam, there was a slew of information about their abilities and shortcomings. This site uses a 5 point scale for students to assess their professors on the basis of easiness, helpfulness, clarity, hotness and overall quality. The only issue left to investigate is the accuracy of these ratings.

We have all met the slackers who do not attend class, don't study or do their homework and expect to get an "A" on every assignment. We have all also met the diligent student who makes it to every lecture, takes good notes and practically lives at the library (and does get the "A"). I would say that the majority of us fall into the middle of this very broad spectrum.

When we go to these professor rating websites, which type of people are leaving this feedback? Is I the bookworms, the party animals, or the people standing middle ground? Because these web sites do not collect this type of personal information, there is no way for us to know the answer to these questions.

One thing to consider when using this feedback to choose your own classes is the source of this information. Take for example, Professor Smith teaches a math class. On these websites he (or she) scores a 2 out of 5 overall. Are we to assume automatically that Professor Smith is a bad teacher or harsh grader? If the "slacker" has left this feedback because they were disappointed in their grade, how are we to know? The same applies for the bookworm's feedback. It could have been a very difficult or boring class, but it scores a 5 out of 5.