<p>I got a late start on registering and for one of my classes, all the good teachers are taken. I'm left with some so-so teachers or taking a chance with a teacher listed "TBA". Should I be adventurous or stick with a so-so teacher?</p>
<p>I know it's not the same for all colleges, but have you ever had to do this and did it end up going well?</p>
<p>Just for the background info, I'm going to be taking ENGL1302 at Collin College - Spring Creek Campus...</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The one time I took a class with the professor listed as TBA it turned out poorly for me. But who knows, maybe you’ll have better luck than I did! It was Spanish 4 for me, and I honestly would have dropped it and taken it another semester had I not been a last semester senior and needed the course to graduate. If you end up hating the professor you always have the option of dropping the class and picking up another during your school’s add/drop period.</p>
<p>Take a gamble. I did this before and ended up with a newly hired professor–he didn’t teach much (he normally teaches grad school classes), but was very lenient on the assignments/deadlines/grading where the other professors were more picky about the work turned in. I still learned what I was supposed to, I just wasn’t as stressed out in his class.</p>
<p>There is a chance at landing a good professor which I have for Chemistry lab. If it’s a bad one, I hope you like the subject because then it won’t be so bad after all.</p>
<p>I’ve had to take gambles with TBA professors due to lack of registration priority, and only once has it turned out actually bad. In that case, it was a gen chem class where I wound up with a professor who had just gotten her doctorate at the end of the previous school year. As you could probably guess, it was terrible because she had no idea what she was doing. In one case I got a pretty good instructor and in other cases the professors weren’t anything amazing but also weren’t terrible. I actually have one class with a TBA instructor for this fall (only section of a class required for one of my majors), so we’ll see how that goes.</p>
<p>I’ve had average to poor experiences, but none bad enough to where I’d completely advise against risking it altogether. Most of the “mystery” professors ended up being either brand new professors or graduate students, which can either be a blessing or curse, depending on the class. I’d say if it’s a very difficult subject matter to you personally, or a traditionally harder class, I would be a bit more cautious, but that’s just me. A freshman level English class doesn’t sound like too risky of a gamble in my opinion. </p>
<p>Can you register for it plus an extra course and if the TBA turns out to be horrible then drop the course and keep the extra one? Make sense?</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone!</p>
<p>@dyiu13 I don’t think I can sign up for an extra course, but I’ll be able to drop it after being in the class for a little bit. So maybe I’ll do that. I signed up for a teacher with no reviews whatsoever, so maybe I’ll be just as good with a TBA…</p>
<p>My college’s math dept is notorious with TBA during registrations. Personally, I performed better in my fall semester than my spring semester of Calculus, but I liked each professor’s own quirks. </p>
<p>An upperclassmen once told me one of college’s greatest struggles is “gaining the credit now even though you may disdain the class, or wait for a potential enjoyable class later.” He told me it’s my own judgement to persevere through or drop and wait for an opportunity. </p>