Bad professor?

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My professor for my Organic Chem class has some horrible reviews on ratemyprofessor.com. Unfortunately, she is the only teacher available to teach Orgo, so I have no other options but to take her.

The reviews states that she is hard to understand because she has a really low voice and a profound accent. Plus, the reviews say it's a pass/fail class and that she's never consistent on what she's teaching...

I really need this class to apply to this nursing program in December, so there's no dropping the course. Plus, this is Orgo and I'm taking it before Gen Chem because I heard the two doesn't corelate with one another, so I would just be wasting time and money.

Did anyone else pass a class with a bad professor?

Sit up front to hear best.

That site is best used to find the coolest professors and the ones with the hottest bod.

Had one class with a guy that was the cruelest grader ever. He had lots of charisma and was the spitting image of a young Paul Newman. The eyes, head, and stature. Real creepy like. If you were a guy, good luck getting a seat up front. He had top reviews.

My Anatomy 1 professor was atrocious. You could tell he's had one too many students not care and he got sloppy over the years. His tests were xeroxed to hell and were inverted, blurry, ancient, or all of the above. He misspelled or mispronounced constantly, and he did not hear very well so it seemed like he was ignoring you. He would mark things on your test wrong when they were correct, and his tests were all over the place.

I had no choice but to keep his class because of a work/school agreement. It's doable, but you have to be extra proactive with your studies. I hounded him in office hours about any assignments I felt he didn't give me the right grade for. I cannot tell you how many times I went from an 80 to a 96 because his answer sheets were off. I read ahead of him and asked a lot of questions. Half the class dropped but the half that stayed stuck together and made study groups. Sometimes, if the professor is your only choice, gritting it out may be possible. Who knows, the professor might not be terrible. I find that some of those reviews (especially negative) are from people who didn't want to put the work in or wrote the review very upset.

Sounds like an awesome challenge. Don't run from it face it head on. I also had bad professors but it's up to you to make it a worthwhile experience. Lectures are helpful sometimes but you don't need them to grasp the reading material and make yourself successful. Trust me you will become an independent learner whether it be through that professor or going forward. There are lessons to be learned through good and bad experiences. Go for it!

I had a professor that got similar reviews, but she ended up being one of my favorite professors and I got an A in her class. I say at least try it out :) The reviews on that website should be taken with a grain of salt.

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

I really question people's intent when they post negative reviews on RMP. I have also seen some for other professors that, in my experience, turned out to be terribly unfounded. It ends up making the reviewers look like lazy jackasses. Thankfully, Khan Academy has a ton of great tutorials on organic chem so if you find yourself in a jam, you can always look there for help. My ochem prof used a lot of the videos to supplement her own instruction and it helped a ton. I would just go for it. I always thought general chem was harder than ochem in my experience.

Specializes in RN critical care,traveler,critical care float,CNA5.

I love RMP.com, the ratings:bag: have never steered me wrong and I feel like you can tell the lazy students that wrote a bad review vs. the good students that wrote a bad review. I pick all of my teachers based on RMP.com and my lowest grade last semester was a B, having said that I have picked people with low rating based off of a certain criteria, what did the bad reviews say, what did their good reviews say and how do what each type of review fit into my needs. I look for extra credit, if they are understanding and if they are willing to spend time with you outside of class during their office hours. I trust rate my professor because I rate all my teachers.

I usually look the professors up on RMP before I pick out classes. I have also been in your shoes where that was the only teacher and their ratings were horrible. At least for my school the ratings are close to accurate and I just worked my butt off and used YouTube when I couldn't figure things out. Chemistry was the hardest one for me because the professor was so awful, but I ended up with a B. If I were in your shoes I would take the class and accept it as a challeng like Ace29jd said.

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I used RMP & like the PP she was the only A&P professor but I also decided to go to a different college that had had more choices.

I had thought Rate My Professor was a joke website, when I first heard about it. I mean, really: people "rate" a professor like they rate a toaster oven? Seriously?

I went to the site and looked up my former professors, and I think all I really needed to know about that website I learned in the two I found. One of them was highly rated, well-loved, one that you should claw your way through the registration line to get into her clinical group. Goes easy on students if they are having a bad day...a gem. The other was painted as a bigoted villain, one to avoid at all costs. Just mean, purely evil, loved busting on students. Interesting.

The one who ranked as superior because she was so friendly, so nice, so sweet.....was also the one I probably learned the very LEAST from during my nursing school years. She WAS friendly and sweet, everyone's buddy.....but also highly ineffective on the floor, getting overwhelmed with a small group of students and I soon learned why the floor nurses rolled their eyes when they saw her coming their way.

The instructor who you would think was Hitler's niece was actually an EXCELLENT instructor, and the "bigoted" assertion came from a non-white student who got booted out because she was simply incompetent--and would never BECOME competent. I happened to agree with the instructor: the girl screaming "discrimination" has never become a nurse, not because she was non-white, because she was awful and got kicked out of another school later on. Yep, LOL, small community so I hear things ;). Unfortunately, the students who were ALSO non-white but passed all their classes didn't pipe up on the 'ratings' thing....you only heard from the unhappy chick.

Anyhoo......if you want entertainment, in the same vein as tabloid "news" papers, then it's a good website. But an accurate portrayal of the skills and abilities of a professional instructor? Silly nonsense.

You've described more than half of my instructors in my accelerated/for-profit program. I suggest you sit in front and be as prepared as possible (read ahead, etc.). The more time you spend with them and the more carefully you listen, the faster you will acclimate to the accent.

It always helps to be extra engaged with difficult instructors: Go to office hours, participate, etc.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

My A&P teacher would instill the fear of G*D in you, they called him the "Gate Keeper", and for good reason. Many students (most of them were young, like you, OP) would drop into the fetal postion and whimper at the mere mention of his name.

Me? I LOVED him. I learned more from him than any other professor that I had in nursing school. He was a no-nonsense type of guy. He did not round up (well, my SCHOOL doesn't do that crap), you KNEW what was expected of you and he made it all available to you, it was up to you to grasp the knowledge and use it. Failures in his class were the students fault alone.

My suspicions about bad reviews on fluff websites such as your example, is that the reviewers made the bed they ended up in and are looking to place blame anywhere but where it is deserved--on themselves.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I agree with BuckyBadger....every prof I ever had that was branded bad or a witch turned out to be my favorite ones. I hold my professors to unbelievably high standards and expect them to demand the most out of me. It doesn't do me any favors to give me an easy A. No thanks.

ETA: To echo the rounding up thing....89.9 is still a B. That stung a little lol ;p

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