Bad reviews vs NO reviews (ratemyprofessor)

[16mm]

There is only one day I can take micro this fall. On this day the class is offered twice. Prof A has pretty bad ratings, Professor B has none. I assume Professor B is a new teacher. I've also heard from someone who took Professor A's class and she said stay away!

What to do!?

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

Sounds like you have two choices:

A. Pick the prof with bad ratings and know what you're signing up for.

B. Pick the prof with no ratings and go find out.

Choice B is probably your best option.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day:

Is the bad rating for the specific class you are taking or an overall rating? If the latter, what's the rating for the class you are taking?

For the professor with no rating, have you tried searching on just the last name or going through the department for the school? Sometimes the professors names are not spelled the same as used in the college you are attending.

For the professor with no rating, have you searched Facebook and other sites to see if you can learn more about them that way?

For the professor with the bad rating, do the comments lend themselves to ticked off students who didn't put in the effort, and therefore got what they might have deserved, and as such are angry about it in the wrong way?

Are the class sizes for each professor the same?

Based on what you can find out about each professor, how well do you think you will be able to understand their speech? I.e. I have trouble with certain types of accents.

Thank you.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

It would depend on the nature of the comments, to me.

I had a "bad" instructor who was just really tough. She offered plenty of constructive criticism and never let anybody "skate" by. I was warned not to take her class, but I wanted to actually learn something, so I took it anyway.

[16mm]

looking over the comments again it does seem the bad comments are coming from people who may be bitter and the good comments are well thought out and articulate. It's just that the bad really really outweigh the good.

The other teacher is a young Indian lady. She's actually a researcher at St. Jude which I think is amazing! But she has NO ratings! But how bad it could be?

Oh and I've heard that the teacher with bad ratings starts her B's at 82 and A's at 92.

[csmcj, BSN, RN]

Eh, as with any review site, you have to keep in mind that people are much more likely to leave a bad review than a good one, and take the bad reviews with a grain of salt. Also, when it comes to rating professors, many are unfairly given bad reviews because the subject matter is hard, not because they're bad professors.

When I took A&P, it was only offered by one professor at my school, so I didn't have a choice as to who to take. I was nervous going in because this professor had horrible reviews. As it turns out, they were all unfounded. Yes, the class was very difficult and required a lot of work to do well in. Yes, my professor was demanding and had high expectations of her students. However, it was because she wanted us to do well that she didn't make things easy for us. She was one of the best professors I've ever had, and I learned more in that class than I ever had before. And, because I actually had to work to do well, I truly learned the material, I didn't just memorize for the test and then forget it. This has translated into nursing school, where in many of my classes I'm doing much better than some of those students who had easy A&P professors.

[7237dallas]

I had the same dilemma with my Chemistry class and chose the professor with no reviews and he turned out to be great! Over the summer I took Biology hybrid and the professor had horrible reviews but turned out to be not so bad. It just depends. It's nice to look at the reviews but like previously stated you need to take them with a grain of salt. Good luck!

[zoe92]

I think it is important to keep in mind there is a difference between a BAD professor (unfair, won't answer questions, disorganized) & a HARD professor (makes you think, has you actually learn the material, is no nonsense). It seems you are doing this, which is the best strategy. Also, don't let the rate get inside your head. A professor may be hard, but you can still get through. Make sure not to doom yourself from the start.

I have always used ratemyprofessor because my teachers have always been rated appropriately by it. In your situation, I would choose the professor who did not have ratings. I have done this before & it has worked out nicely. I then make sure I rate them myself when the semester is over so someone else does not have such a hard time choosing.

[diamond.emmy]

I would start with the person that advised you to stay away. Does that person they have good study habits? Did they strive to do well in Professor A's class?

[16mm]

The person who told me to stay away was in my class last semester and I have no way of contacting her unfortunately.

[16mm]

One of the reviews says at the beginning of the semester the teacher says most students fail out of her class. That seems like such an odd thing to say.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I'd probably pick the unknown professor over the one with bad ratings ... but I would take everything on RateMyProfessor with a big grain of salt. People vent their anger there and "punish" professors who give them bad grades or taught a challenging course even though it was their own fault for getting a bad grade.

Also, did you know that faculty members also make fake comments on RateMyProfessor to either "sabatage" or "reward" their colleagues? Sometimes, friends and family members put a bunch of positive comments on there to boost someone's ratings. Sometimes, negative comments are made to make a colleague look bad, etc. Professors even go on there themselves and adjust their ratings. So ... don't take that information too literally. Investigate further (as it sounds like you have tried to do) before using it to make any important decision.