<p>Rate my Professor has a lot of flaws. It’s totally anonymous, and I know that some profs do go on the site and rate themselves. The only students who bother to post are either those who really like a professor or those who had a terrible experience…the very nature of the site discourages the middle-of-the-road posts. RMP, like onsite course evaluations, is also very easy to game - simply give out chocolate or extra credit, and your ratings go up. Show youtube videos in class, your ratings go up. Be young, friendly, attractive, or walk your adorable puppy around campus, you guessed it, your ratings go up.</p>
<p>That being said, I’ve looked at my own ratings and those of my colleagues, and sat with my kids as they checked out their profs and even elementary/HS teachers on the companion site rate my teacher. On the whole, the online ratings have been consistent with our experiences with those folks in real life. That demanding, really picky but exceptional middle school social studies teacher? Both positive and negative comments that were accurate. The technology teacher who really needs to update their skills? Students didn’t miss that point. The highly intellectual stereotype of the absent-minded professor who truly wants students to share his excitement with ideas? Appreciation of the enthusiasm alongside a plea for better organization.</p>