THE CONS

People lie: Opposing the hopeful statement that people are speaking their opinions truthfully, there are people who lie. For example, a professor could be producing crucial content and teaching solely based on his lectures. If a student decides they would rather skip the classes, and ends up failing the class altogether, that is the students fault. However, when the student sees his poor effort reflect upon his final grade, he may blame his failing grade on the professor by bashing him on Rate my professor.Professor Geil has seen this ongoing trend first hand on the website. “On Rate My Professors especially, sometimes the students who have had negative experiences are more likely to leave a comment. This might wrongly persuade other students not to take a class with a professor based on the one bad experience. At the same time, I think using tools wisely can be very helpful.”
People will choose not to take a class based on the ambiguous tags: Students will stray away from classes that look daunting with number of exams, mandatory attendance, and the physical looks of the teacher. When in reality, the student could be very successful without knowing these factors.
It is not always an honest representation of the school or teacher: Overall, with the website heavily relying on opinions, it is not always a good representation of a professor or school. If there is only one rating of a professor, it is difficult to determine whether or not a diverse group of students should trust one person’s views.“If an instructor who perhaps doesn’t have the greatest reviews on Rate My Professors is the only one who fits your schedule, try not to go into the class expecting to hate it. Realize you might have a different experience and that your part as a student is crucial to the equation. Don’t let Rate My Professors make you bitter; positive expectations are powerful.” Professor Geil said.
People from other schools can rate too: Even if you do not attend the school you are rating, your scoring still matters. For high-rivalry schools like Georgia State and Georgia Southern, this feature could cause turmoil and act as a platform for slandering another school. The upside, however, according to the Rules of Conduct on Rate My Professors’ Terms and Conditions, is the website will detect racist, sexist, and all other types of derogatory phrases.
Professors could rate themselves: Professors could write a review (or several) of themselves staging as a student to get a better reputation. If a professor has a low rating, they could improve it with just a click of a button.
THE VERDICT

Based on the amount of freedom and the anonymous factor of Rate My Professors, I do not believe it is a reliable source. While it does have its upsides, like the ability to commend superb professors, there is no way of telling if the content is true. Plus, with the additional meaningless quality points, it really decreases their credibility. Hopefully in the future Rate My Professors will return to its roots—only expressing content about education.