Eva’s dad is a professor at a community college and one day she decided to look him up on RateMyProfessor.com
My dad’s a professor at the community college in my hometown. And one day, against my better nature, I checked him on RateMyProfessor.com
Luckily, there was nothing bad (though I was a little skeeved at students hitting on him). But I can’t imagine what I would have felt like if I had seen something really mean. And that’s why I think it’s important to be completely objective when you use RateMyProfessor.
In case you’re one of the rare students to never use the site, it’s a a way to rate your professor. Duh. You can rank how easy the class is, how helpful the teacher is, and even how hot they are. You can write a review of their teaching style and personality like you’re reviewing a product on Amazon. And people will definitely be influenced by what you say and how you rank them.
I’m not saying you have to kiss butt. If a teacher doesn’t meet your standards, you shouldn’t feel compelled to compliment them. But there’s a difference between critiquing a teacher and attacking them. When you’re writing a RMP review, make clear, logical points about why you didn’t like their class–they were disorganized, they played blatant favorites, they spent more time talking about how many girls they’ve slept with than teaching. If you slacked off in a class, don’t take it out on the person who was trying to teach you.
And even if you have a good reason to give your teacher a low rating, have tact. Come on. If your teacher, say, always tested you on things they never taught, say so plainly. “Professor X frequently made his tests about subjects he didn’t discuss in class,” is better than “Professor X is a poopy head and I hate him”. And be sure to write a fair review. If this Professor X was guilty of weird tests but always gave good notes, didn’t take off points for being late and was always willing to talk after class, mention that!
There are always professors who are downright evil. There’s no denying it. Some professors seem honestly out to get their students. But even my professors that I’ve disliked have had silver linings. I had a philosophy teacher who played favorites and assigned more homework than anyone could hope to accomplish, but I actually really liked the readings he had us discuss. Remember, your professors have lives outside of school. They might have kids who are looking them up on RMP and might be really offended by what they’re finding. No one thinks of themselves as bullying a teacher, but when you’re anonymously attacking a person online, what else do you call it?