Choosing your professors

Most (if not all) college students swear by the website RateMyProfessors.com (I'll abbreviate RMP) when choosing classes from the ginormous list of options for whatever course you may be taking. For some classes there may be multiple sections with multiple professors ("sections" are each individual class.. for instance, when registering for classes you are usually asked for the section number so the computer knows exactly which class, time, professor, and room you are requesting), while other courses have a limited number of available sections.

When you are faced with a laundry list of sections and professors to choose from, it definitely would not hurt to look them up on RMP first. There are reviews from students sometimes as far back as 2006! RMP reviewers are asked to provide what course they took with the given professor, easiness, helpfulness, topic interest, and clarity based on a one-to-five scale. There is even a "Hottness" (optional!) check-mark in case you like to "enjoy the scenery," LOL.

My Experience: A time or two I simply knew what courses I needed for the semester, and registered for the sections that best suited my schedule. When I first started in college I didn't think it was necessary to be choosy or picky because aren't all sections teaching the same objectives?

 After I registered I took the time to look up each professor on RMP. Luckily I did because I totally avoided a biased political science professor who was described as "an extreme leftist" and graded as such. Review after review explained that if she did not agree with your position you would be docked points... and as such, the most successful students wrote papers and took positions in which she wanted to hear. Needless to say, I went back to the available sections list and chose a more neutral professor.

Now don't get me wrong, one review should not make/break your decision to take a certain professor's course.

My Advice: When the same negative description is repeatedly stated over a significant span of time a red flag should be thrown.