Thread: Ratemyprofessor comments were spot on

I just went to ratemyprofessor.com and searched for my current teacher at NCU. One of the comments said "He lowers the grade for early assignments, how is that possible!"
I had this same experience. My first assignment was handed in the 2nd day of class and I got a B+. The second one came in about 5 days before the deadline and received a B+ also. I worried that he was penalizing me for accelerating so I held out and waited until the day before the due date for the third assignment and received an A-, a 93% on it.
I just submitted another one yesterday, a good 6 days early so lets see what happens. I feel a B+ coming.
The next paper will be submitted the day before the due date.

I think some of these professors become very jaded and set in their ways. They want you to just show up, shut up, and not rock their little boat. I was excited about a particular course at WNMU but wanted to be sure I could handle the workload. I e-mailed him asking about the pace of the course and which books we would be covering first (there were 12 books listed with hundreds of pages each and the cost to acquire all of them was going to be substantial). I got back a terse response that ALL the books were required and I would get the syllabus "when everybody else got it". I dropped that one and I'm rethinking what my exact plan will be. I am up for challenges, but not for unnecessary difficulties.

In their defense I suppose they have dozens of students, many of which have dumb questions and weird expectations. But they need to remember that they are selling a product at the same time. ratemyprofesor has become my first assessment stop in deciding on new courses, it might mean that I miss out on some good but tough instructors but so be it...I don't need the ulcer.

At least you have managed to figure this guy out early...you always rise to the top!

Its great site for brick n motor, I used it before I took any class and koofers. Its best to hear from students about the teachers policy and if there a teacher who expects graduate level work for a freshman level class. Its nice to know how many exams quizes and projects you might have before you start, so you know if you can handle that work load. I just wish more people did reviews.

I love the idea of the site, but is there a reliable way to search for TESC professors? I know the site says it lists 266 of them, but NONE of the ones I've looked for show up. For example, I'm registered for business law under "R. Long" but there is no one named "R. Long" listed. I know they use other schools' faculty so s/he probably exists "somewhere" but not under TESC. I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I register, but so far no luck.

You can either browse by professor or by department. I use the professor, all, then click on the L. Here he is, Prof Ronald Long....great feedback! BTW he also has received excellent feedback in the TESC forums (both official and unofficial) for business law and constitutional law (UL). Good luck!

Ronald*Long - Thomas Edison State College - RateMyProfessors.com

I remember reading his bio.. found him very interesting (http://www.tesc.edu/mentor_small/4211.php)

I swear I searched exactly that way and didn't see him, so I must have been visually impaired. Also didn't know they had bios on the site. Good to know. Thanks!

I once walked into the first day of a computer science class as a kid. I was about 1 minute late but others were still filing in. I went up and grabbed a syllabus and sat down. The teacher waited for me to sit down and then demanded that I return the syllabus. I was marked from that day on and he always called on me to answer questions that he thought would trip me up. He didn't realize who he was dealing with, however

Relying solely on ratemyprofessor is not the best idea when you are registering for classes. Some may have just had bad endings with a professor and felt they were discriminated. That isn't always true (and hopefully never will be). Nonetheless, I think registering should be about the class and not the professor. It may be difficult to do so, especially if a professor has a bad reputation. However, your learning style may coincide with that professor's teaching style whereas a friend or someone who posted on ratemyprofessor didn't mesh with that professors. Hope this helps

It helps a little, however I checked the site after I was already enrolled and found a striking similarity in experience with this teacher.
Also, in my brick and mortar college days, the teacher was crucial to the learning environment. Teachers do matter. Some are absolutely horrible and some are brilliant and inspiring. Some are old and bored with teaching and really just want to collect a paycheck and do their research.

Personally, I would give anything to have had this back in my younger days. Could have saved me a ton of headache.

And we use it now before I will enroll my teens in any CC it other type course. Priceless. Painless. Win win.

For example, I know for a fact that the official policy at our local CC is that professors keep their syllabus on file at the school now less than 2 weeks prior to the start of a course. This is important bc for some courses if you want to drop or withdrawal without penalty, much less get a refund, you have to do so prior to the first day of class. Without a syllabus, the course description is so vague as to be useless in determining anything. But almost none of the teachers have theirs on file. I ask and that doesn't make me popular. No, I'm the PITA over achiever? (remember when being an over achiever wasn't an insult?)

Getting a recommendation for or against a professor can be worth quite a bit in time and frustration and $ saved.