Being a college student is not easy. Every semester, most university students dedicate the majority of their lives to classwork. They work tirelessly in the hopes they will earn good grades from their professors.

The grade a professor gives a student could be the difference between whether or not a student gets into graduate school, is able to pursue one’s desired career, and even whether or not one can remain in school. What if there was a way for students to give their professors a grade in return?

“Rate My Professors” gives students the opportunity to do exactly what the title of the website says.

Students like first-year Emmett Navarrete are all for it.

“I found it to be very useful,” said Navarrete. “It has helped me a lot. I hope that professors also read their reviews, so that way they know how exactly they’re teaching. If they see the reviews, they can get a better understanding of how to improve.”

Some professors, such as communications professor Santiago Larios, also find Rate My Professors to be a useful resource

“I believe it is useful for giving quick feedback and reviews on how specific classes and instructors are organized,” said Larios. “I think this is a quick way for students to help in deciding which classes and professors to take when organizing their schedules for the term. I believe an instructor should always pivot to the needs of the students. If there is feedback from students on the site, an instructor may use it in order to improve their effectiveness in the classroom.”

A few professors not only read Rate My Professors but have even used feedback from their reviews to improve their teaching methods.

“There have been some things I have changed after reading student reviews,” said James Thomas, a Pan-African studies professor. “Rate My Professors is great. I think there should also be a Rate My Administrators.”

As much as some professors enjoy the website, others do not. 

“Rate My Professors is meaningless to me,” said sociology professor Mohammed Abdelhamid. 

Despite having an above average rating on Rate My Professors, Abdelhamid thinks that the website is pointless and there are better ways for students to give feedback to their professors.

“I always encourage my students to do the school’s online professor evaluation,” said Abdelhamid. “So this way, it is more legitimate than a website that anyone can post on. It’s also more meaningful because it’s guaranteed that I will always read it.”

It is important to note that while Cal State LA does provide evaluations every fall and spring semester, the school’s online evaluations are not public for other students to see.

Not every professor will read Rate My Professors, but some do. As a student writing a review on Rate My Professors, consider the fact that the feedback could help to improve a class for future students.