<p>Last semester I took a multivariable calculus class with a professor. I didn't feel that I learned anything and it was an automatic A. This year I'm currently signed up to take the next math level class (Differential Equations) with the same professor. However, there is another professor who has open spaces in his class. His ratemyprofessor rating is average, apparently he grades really tough (exam grades are in the C's/D's) and you're going to have to work hard in his class.</p>
<p>Would it be in my best benefit to get the easy A or actually have to do work and actually have to learn and master the material? I'm an engineering major.</p>
<p>How would you know if you won’t master the material with an so-called easier professor? The objective is to learn the material and if one professor can present the lectures/assignments in a way that you can understand the concepts quicker…why not take that professor?</p>
<p>Take the tough professor. I think it’s good practice for those times when you get a tough boss/supervisor/manager. If you didn’t learn anything with the current professor, why would you dig yourself deeper in the academic hole? </p>
<p>Btw, stay away from ratemyprofessor.com; that place is mostly for the academically-challenged.</p>
<p>“Btw, stay away from ratemyprofessor.com; that place is mostly for the academically-challenged.”</p>
<p>What’s the problem with ratemyprofessor? Why would you not use it if you want to compare two teachers? It has nothing to do with how smart people are. Obviously you don’t wanna rely on it too much, but I wouldn’t just say “stay away” like it’s going to have some negative impact or something.</p>
<p>Anyways, I would go with the easy A teacher if you can force yourself to learn the material well. If not, go with the harder one.</p>
<p>Because the comments posted on ratemyprofessor.com are highly subjective and the positivity/negativity of the comments is generally based on the grade the student received from the professor. I guess I should have said use the website wisely because it’s probably a good tool to avoid the easy professors for those who want a challenge.</p>
<p>Well, accurate in what criteria? I’ve found it to be accurate in the “this professor is most likely to give an A” criteria but not so accurate in the “this professor expertly teaches the material?” criteria. The website seems accurate when it comes to extremes (easiest grader or toughest grader) but it seems deficient when measuring those professors who will teach the material well yet provide a challenge to the student.</p>
<p>Also, I’m against students “rating” professors; I’d prefer a website called “ratemycolleague.com” but of course, that could turn out very ugly.</p>
<p>I’ve found it accurate it easiness and quality of teaching. There are separate categories to rate, and easiness is only one of them; I’ve found all of the categories pretty accurate. For example, I just had a thermo professor that is rated as very hard but he has a very good overall score. </p>
<p>One problem with the site though is that “easy” often equates to “good”. And if your looking for a good teacher, you have to be careful with those reviews.</p>
<p>If you find a professor with a 4+ rating for “quality” with a 2 to 3 rating for “easiness” take that class. Students that think the material is difficult but still rate the professor high usually equates to getting a lot out of the class.</p>
<p>Also, take the ratings with a grain of salt if the professor has under 7 or 8 ratings. Also keep an eye on the actual class that people are commenting on. I’ve found that many of my good professors’ low ratings come from intro/gen ed courses that are often dominated by non-major freshmen, that may have a tough time adjusting to college coursework and blame the professor.</p>
<p>I say first speak to upperclassmen that have either professor, and check…
let me be honest with you, some tough professors are so tough that they just want you to fail… i mean the real MEANIE professors… i am not blackening anyone’s name… but there is always that one professor in the whole campus would screw everyone over, even the smartest person complains about it</p>
<p>yes… check the rating… for example… meanie professor == yell at you for no freakin’ reason and kick you out just because you are 5 minutes late (it’s a big lecture class… ***??) or a professor demands you to buy his own book, and demands you to bring it to class for attendance, yet, he doesn’t allow you to open that book in class time at all… LOL of course, he’s tenure so the school can’t do anything about it.
but you don’t get a lot of choices when you are in the upper division…</p>
<p>with that post i directed you… from this semester i have all the good professors… some are not easy A… one of them don’t curve but he’s very good… he does tonks of examples (yea the circuit class)… quiz are easy but exams are … ewww ugly…
but i am glad to have the notes and learned the stuff…
what’s more important? fail upper-level or get a B- or C now? of course pass your upper-level with a B+ or A- is better!</p>
<p>alright thanks for the help! I decided to take the harder professor and gave my slot in the easier class to a friend haha. I read the ratemyprofessors reviews and there was a few reviews where people said that it was possible to do very well in the class if you put the effort (and they added that most students didn’t) so that was good enough for me. His overall rating is 3.0 which is average I guess so I’m gonna take the risk.</p>