Rate My Professor is an online site where students can rate professors.
Students can anonymously comment and rate professors on a scale of 1 to 5.
Students can encourage others to take a certain professor and warn against other professors.
Anna Taylor, senior in interior design, said the website was helpful when she was completing her core courses.
"Once I started taking higher-level courses that were specified for my major, I had to rely more on word of mouth because the higher level courses were only taught by one professor," Taylor said. "Rate My Professor can't really help you with that."
Briana Little, junior in nursing, said she used the site every semester when she registered for classes.
Little said she uses Rate My Professor to gauge the class and the professor before committing.
According to Little, students seem to be honest with each other about their opinions and experiences.
"However, I wouldn't take everything at face value because some people use it to blame teachers for their own lack of motivation and effort in a class," Little said.
One of Auburn's highest rated teachers is Siobhan Gehrs, GTA in the English department.
Gehrs was rated a five out of five by Auburn students. Comments about Gehrs include "AMAZING TEACHER!" and "Wonderful person and teacher!"
Gehrs said she finds her rankings funny because she was not expecting it.
"I realize that they're people," Gehrs said. "They're not just students. They're not just robots taking courses that have to meet all these high demands that I have for them."
Gehrs said she plans her assignments around what students may have going on in other classes.
Gehrs also said she takes into consideration that some students are introverted because she is introverted.
"Others might get stressed out about teaching," Gehrs said. "That might be the hardest part of their day, but for me, it's just easier because I have so much other stuff going on. It's more relaxing for me. I make my classes student-centered instead of me putting on a show every day."
Gehrs said she can see how Rate My Professor could be helpful to teachers by allowing them to see what students are saying and what they need to work on.
Students rated Troy Best, professor in human anatomy and physiology, a 3.3. Comments on Best said "tough teacher" and "would take again."
Best said that even negative comments can be positive.
"Sometimes they do have negative things to say," Best said. "We want to hear everything, negative or positive. Students really do have an influence on how we teach."
Best said he tries to be tough, but he also tries to be fair.
Best also said it is a possibility that absolutely anyone could be posting on Rate My Professor, so the University site might be better to use. Best also said students could just be upset about their grade.
"I've never had a student say it's my fault that they made an A," Best said.
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