<p>I have seen mention now in a few posts for the students to check the ratings of a professor when they are researching their classes. What sites are generally used for this?</p>
<p>Hi twomutts</p>
<p>Try this link to Rate My Professor</p>
<p>[University</a> of Alabama - Alabama](<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1058]University”>http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1058)</p>
<p>We use rate my professors: I think it’s the same as mentioned in the post above.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Alabama - Alabama](<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1058]University”>http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1058)</p>
<p>Those of us with current students should remind our kids to take the time to rate their professors from this year.</p>
<p>Also remember to look at the rating for the class YOUR student is taking. Some profs seem to have great ratings in one class, and terrible in another. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>I don’t know about these sites. I researched a particular professor and she had many, many negative reviews. They said she was bad and the class was so hard. The fact is the class was quite easy and the professor was fine. If a student truly wants to do well, they will do well regardless of the professor.</p>
<p>^^ I can’t agree that a student who wants to do well will do well regardless of the professor. There are some BAD profs out there, some bad for everyone, and others bad for a particular type of student. RMP has to be taken with a grain of salt, you need a critical mass of reviews before they’re especially reliable and you need to make sure you’re looking at the rating of the professor for the class you’re actually taking. However, I’ve generally found them to be useful and sometimes there is very helpful information in the comments. My brother and BIL are both college professors, and both admit that their RMP ratings are, except for a few outlyers, quite accurate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I talked with my son and told him you have to read the reviews and take them with a grain of salt…just like when you read restaurant and hotel reviews online.</p>
<p>RMP can also be useful to explain grading. For example if the professor tests extensively on lectures or from the book or if there are several papers to write, etc.</p>
<p>Taking review sites “with a grain of salt” implies they are meaningless, and I don’t think that’s the case. That’s not to say that you don’t have to apply some common sense.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
<p>There is some value to professor reviews provided one considers the context and recognize that people are more likely to post negative review than positive ones even if those with positive options greatly outnumber those without.</p>
<p>if a teacher isn’t on RMP- what does that mean?</p>
<p>It could mean they’re new, or new to the school. Often graduate students who are teaching a class won’t have ratings. Or it could simply mean no one has taken the time to rate that prof. There have been a couple profs my D has had who were new to Alabama but had taught elsewhere, and I found RMP ratings for them at their previous schools.</p>
<p>ok found him at another school so maybe he is new- ratings were good :)</p>
<p>Taking review sites “with a grain of salt” implies they are meaningless, and I don’t think that’s the case. That’s not to say that you don’t have to apply some common sense.</p>
<p>I think what that can mean is that: Bama doesn’t prevent students from signing up for particularly hard majors. </p>
<p>Therefore, there can be cases where a weakish student declares Engineering or Pre-med or some other major that requires very hard classes (Gen Chem, Orgo, etc) and the student doesn’t do well. That kind of student isn’t likely going to post that the class was just too hard for him. Instead he’ll post that the teacher was “bad” or the grading was too hard or the tests were impossible. </p>
<p>The more reviews the better. Do check to see which class is being reviewed. Also, take into account that a newish teacher’s reviews sometimes improve over time.</p>
<p>I have also viewed prof ratings on ULoop with some success: [University</a> of Alabama (Alabama) Professor Ratings | Uloop](<a href=“http://ua.uloop.com/professors/]University”>The Best Professors at University of Alabama | Uloop)</p>