College students all over the country flock to Rate My Professors when they want to get or state an opinion before enrolling in a class. The website has been around for years, but one big question still hangs in the air: Is it really reliable?  

At its core, Rate My Professors is meant to give students a raw perspective from their peers. A reflection that any student could relate to or make an informed decision based on. 

When scrolling through the website, some of the reviews can be overly dramatic or too simplified, with many students focusing on aspects such as the workload or the professor’s tone. 

“A student who is struggling is more likely to lash out and leave a negative review, while a student who excels at a class might classify it as ‘easy’ or ‘unchallenging,’” said freshman writing arts major Destiny Vickerie. 

Vickerie finds one of her classes to be completely different from what she read online. 

“For one of my classes, it felt like the reviews online were a lot different than what I experienced in person,” Vickerie said. “The class was better than what I expected.”  

That same uncertainty is what freshman education major Mackenzie English also noticed. 

“I found out that a teacher grades very harshly and most students only average a D in his class,” English said. “So far, that review doesn’t seem to add up to much, but we haven’t had any hard assignments yet.” 

English added that while some students might make negative comments out of spite, most probably wouldn’t go that far.

“I believe some students would purposefully make negative comments because there are a lot of petty people in the world,” English said. “However, I think most students wouldn’t care enough to put all that effort into it.” 

Students may approach Rate My Professors with curiosity or caution, but professors view it through a different lens. Some have never looked at it, while others have quietly read through comments to see what students are saying about their classes. For many instructors, the site’s informal tone and lack of context make it a tricky resource to trust. For English professor and Chair of Rowan’s Department of English, Dr. Catherine Wilcoxson, she avoids the site entirely.

“I never look at it. It seems to me that students mainly look at it to find out the easiest way to pass a class,” Wilcoxson said. “Sometimes it can be useful to see if the faculty member is responsive to students.”  

When asked whether students might intentionally post negative comments out of bias, Wilcoxson said that it used to happen more often. 

“That used to be the case, which is why I don’t even look at it. I’m sure that sometimes students have had valid concerns about a class, but of course those concerns would be better brought up with the chair of the department,” said Wilcoxson. “That’s the real way to go if people have problems with a class or a faculty member.” 

While Rate My Professors gives students a voice, it can be a platform driven by emotion and personal bias. As students may find the website useful for getting a general idea of a class, many students can have different opinions on professors from one another. Many students have found they can make their judgments on professors after experiencing a class in person. 

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