<p>Well, when I signed up for classes, due to scheduling realities, I was forced to choose a psych class with a TBA professor. I managed to get her name, and upon a bit of research, she is not yet listed on my school's faculty pages, nor is she on ratemyprofessors.</p>
<p>This leads me to believe that she is a brand new professor, and I'm really not sure what to think. From people with more experience in the matter, is this probably bad news for me?</p>
<p>No - this is not necessarily bad news. Every professor, including the most experienced ones, were new some day.</p>
<p>A new professor just means inexperienced, but s/he may be good even so. It's just that the methods might need a bit of refining.</p>
<p>I've seen a few professors that just got their PhD's very recently. At the end - they got very positive ratings on RMP. So, just give the new professor a try. Being part of his/her first class will definitely make an impression. If s/he turns out to be famous, you've just seized an opportunity of a lifetime.</p>
<p>How did you manage to get the name? I also have a TBA professor this coming semester and I'd love to find out who it is, but never knew there was a way to.</p>
<p>I've had a few newer professors (they had already taught for a semester) and it wasn't too bad. The thing that sucked was that they were basically using the course info (like powerpoint slides, practice problems, etc) from another professor and it seemed like they weren't well prepared all the time. Overall, I kinda liked it beacause they were trying out new things on us and weren't so harsh on grading.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was kind of hoping to hear that they wouldn't be as harsh on the grading. I have a scholarship I have to keep, and I'm taking 17 credits, so it'd be nice to have a course that isn't going to kill me. </p>
<p>I got the name of the professor by emailing the chair of her department. I got a prompt response and that was that.</p>
<p>^They won't always be easier on the grading. That was just my experience and I'm sure that there are some that are super harsh.</p>