Rate My Professors Rant
First things first. Yes, I read my RateMyProfessors.com rankings. Not often (maybe twice a semester), but I do read them. Honestly, I think most professors do, but they want to sound nonchalant about the whole matter. But I'll at least be honest and say that I give in to my curiosity every once in a while. Still, given the often libelous nature of the site, I really think it's only a matter of time before a class action lawsuit brings the site to its knees (yes, Mr. First Semester Composition, free speech has limits).
I'll also say from the start that my ratings are not too "bad" (though the RMP rating system comes straight from the Bizarro universe). Generally, my literature students give me positive rankings (with a few exceptions) and my online writing students are usually negative (again, with a few exceptions). Why is that the case? I'm not sure, but I have my theories. First, the online students never meet me. I'm actually a human being who genuinely cares about his students. However, I also have high standards for their performance, especially their writing. I also have zero tolerance for laziness or discourteous behavior. So, the online students only see Mr. Hyde, not Dr. Jekyll.
But in my defense, it's hard to be sweet and nice when you get an essay that has 20 grammatical mistakes in only three pages. If a paper is horrible, I won't say it's a "good effort." I'll say it's a horrible paper, fail it, and move on to the next one. So, that doesn't win me too many cyber-friends. In contrast, most of my onsite literature students usually give me very positive reviews. I'm not too surprised. I'm a pretty decent lecturer when it comes to discussing literature. I think I present the material in an informative and entertaining fashion, and I do so without using Powerpoint. They also can see that I am, in fact, human.
I think RMP is generally for two types of students (I say generally because unlike many of my students, I know how to nuance my thoughts properly). The first group is the cowardly. They have a score to settle, but rather than be an adult and talk to you personally, they head to the boards to gain cyber-revenge on professors who dared not give them an "A." More often than not, their writing only confirms the reason why they got the grade they did. Still, you're the first person not to give them an undeserved soccer trophy, so they get their revenge by broadcasting to the whole world how horrible and unfair you are.
At the other extreme, you've got students who didn't really deserve the "A" but were so thankful that they got a professor with low standards that they just had to say "thank you." After all, you have to give props to Professor Joe Cool who didn't care if you brought your book to class and who let you turn in your paper in a week late with no penalty, right? When I see a teacher with 100 positive rankings and no negatives, I'm pretty sure there's a bit of grade inflation involved.
Honestly, have you seen many reviews like this?
Well, I failed his class, but it was really my fault. I didn't work as hard as I should, and I waited until the last minute to write my papers. I took the class because I had to take it, not because of any genuine intellectual interest. To be honest, I'm not even really college material. He offered to help me numerous times, but I never took advantage of it. It was totally my own fault.
Not likely.
But I have seen several reviews like this one.
man this prof is so chill you dont have to do to much and he dont even take roll or nothing to many papers though, still i got a A. easy prof.
So what's my advice to students?
Go ahead and read the rankings. Read mine. I really don't care. But take them with a grain of salt. Consider the audience. If a student lambastes a professor because he or she made the class write papers or actually held them accountable for college-level work, then maybe the ranking says more about the student than the professor.