At my current CC it seems that there are many highly rated teachers on ratemyprofessor. However, at most of the universities that I am applying to, it seems that professors have very low ratings. Is there any reason for that? I’d think that University professors are better, but the ratings say something else. Schools I am looking at include :UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA and a few others.
There can be many reasons. One may be that they are better teachers. Undergraduate education is only part of what make a good professor at a research university. Some may say it is a small part. At a CC ( or LAC), teaching is a major part. Doesn’t mean that you will not have great teachers at a research school the really great ones can do both. Other reasons could be class size. In smaller classes, you are more likely to know the professor. If you know someone, you are more likely to give better reviews than if you don’t.
Courses at community colleges are often less rigorous than at major universities and grading tends to be easier too.
ratemyprofessor.com is a social media site. It is not in any way a scientific, or even statistical, assessment of teacher quality.
@TomSrOfBoston So you think easier grades = better ratings? Also, I noticed that University professors have far fewer ratings.
It’s a random sample of comments. I doubt that the majority of students have ever been to the site, let alone submitted a rating.
Here is a tip. If you want the highly ranked profs when you get to college, one way to do that is to be willing to take classes at unpopular times. Early or late afternoon classes fill up a little later. If you can get up in the morning, it is a tactic to help you get the best profs.
But it is also true that profs st major research universities aren’t hired so much for their teaching skills. They are more valued for research and publications. Consider LACs — they consider teaching more in the hiring process, but profs still research. You will have fewer TAs teaching at a LAC, too.
@intparent This might be a dumb question, but what would a business professor research? I guess economic stuff?
Well, my marketing profs at Michigan researched stuff like effectiveness of advertising.
A lot of universities have their own website that is similar to RateMyProfessor, and their students rely on it rather than RateMyProf. Thats why community colleges often have more reviews than major universities.
@moooop Ah! That explains a lot. Thanks 
Promotion and advancement at research universities is usually more tied to research output than teaching. That’s just the way it is. And, of course, many classes are actually taught by adjuncts and even TAs.