When I first selected my Math 425 professor in Fall 2016, I didn't do any research on him. I took the class because it was available Friday nights, and I wanted to have my Saturdays open, but that should have been my secondary concern. Things did not go well, and I, along with most of a student population of 30, dropped the class. Unfortunately, I dropped after the midterm, and got stuck with a W on my record (a grade of W does not count towards my GPA, but it shows when I transfer that I waited until half the class was over to drop).

After I left, I made an appointment with counseling because now I had to postpone taking Math 425 to the next semester, and thus postpone Statistics to Fall 2017. I told my counselor about how the teacher did not collect homework, do reviews, or teach like the book, and how most of us were very confused. Everyone failed the midterm in that class. The counselor said to me, "Didn't you check ratemyprofessors.com?"

I didn't, seeing as I didn't know that was a thing at the time. After the counseling session I immediately went home and checked the professor's score on the website.

Red up and down. Ouch. If I had seen that before I had registered for classes, I wouldn't have taken his class!

If I had seen this before I had attempted Math 425 the first time, I would not have taken this professor. All the things that make for a teacher-student incompatibility were there! Disorganized, didn't collect homework, didn't teach effectively, didn't let people know what was on the tests...come to find out that he would require a certain format of answers on the test that were not taught in the book! Some students may be able to work with this environment but you don't need the added anxiety of trying extra hard to cover what your professor should be doing.

Well, I was sure to reference Ratemyprofessors.com from then on out and the results have been great. I've made sure I got classes with teachers that not only have good ratings but also teach in ways that correspond to my learning style. I selected my new Math 425 professor based on his rating, and not only was I able to follow along and get feedback on my homework, I did so well that I got an A in the class!

But going to Ratemyprofessors.com doesn't just mean look for people with all green ratings and blindly taking their classes. There are other factors to consider! Follow my guide when planning to register for classes below:

First, consider your learning style.
I have had the pleasure of taking class 3 times with an amazing professor. He has the room arranged with chairs in a big circle, and lecture is discussion based. The whole group gets in on the learning and no one really has the chance to get distracted with their phones. I found this learning experience to be very helpful because it helped me to remember everything just in how novel the setting was. We related the textbook material to real life stories, and learned from each other. For the most part, he has great reviews on Ratemyprofessors.com

But there's one bad review. They complained about what they considered was an inappropriate college class setting, and that the homework didn't seem to help them relate to the class content.

Obviously my experience and their experience was very different despite the fact that this professor runs all his classes in a similar way. This student did not mesh well with the teaching style, which doesn't necessarily denote a failure on the part of the professor or student. It just means it was a bad match. The student probably should have dropped the class and taken it with a professor who was more orthodox.

And while I am OK with formal learning environments with the class sitting forward and the teacher reading from Powerpoints, as they don't necessarily hinder me in any way and I've walked away with an A in those classes, it's just not as memorable an experience for me. So far I've had two professors (one Child Development and one Philosophy) who has conducted class in the circle format, and not every professor will even consider it.

But there are other factors to how I learn. I love to write, so a teacher who assigns a lot of essays will be a good fit for me. I enjoy professors who give feedback, answer questions, and call on me during class. The one class where even though I did well I would have given the professor a bad rating if I did not understand that we just didn't mesh was a class where the teacher read off Powerpoints through the whole class and didn't accept questions or call on people.

For some students, this class method would really work for them. For some, it wouldn't. I sat next to someone in that class who had a hard time concentrating on the 3 hours of non-stop lecture. She told me she was ADHD and I could tell that she was spending as much time fighting to concentrate as she was learning. Obviously that class was not a good fit for her.

Why say all this? Because when you go on Ratemyprofessors.com and you see what everyone is praising or complaining about, you need to give these ratings context but also consider how they fit in your learning style. I've noted before that if a bunch of students complain that a professor gives out a lot of essay assignments it won't necessarily be a bad thing for me because I love to write essays. To each their own!

Then look at the professor's ratings.
If you look on a professor's page on Ratemyprofessors.com, you'll notice a little section with a rating number and certain categories that students select about the professor. 


This section provides a snapshot of the professor and some details that students may not put in their rating paragraphs because they only have so many words they can post. 

• First is the Overall Quality number. This number is a rating average of all the individual ratings given. Great professors are going to have a rating of 4.0 or above, but I generally pick people with a 4.5 or above. 
• Would take again. This isn't a dealbreaker for me because for many professors, students don't need to take a class with them again unless they are majoring in the subject. It's nice to see something there but if you don't, it should be ok.
• Level of difficulty. This number sort of breaks down how well a teacher instructs so students can "get it." It doesn't necessarily mean a teacher is "dumbing it down." I would look at this number if you are taking a course that you consider hard. For example, say math isn't your strong suit. If you are looking at a professor for a required math class and the difficulty rating is 4, then it probably isn't the class for you. That 2.1 rating may be more your style. The same subject and material will be covered, but students are reporting that this teacher makes it easier to understand.
• Hotness. I never fill this out because I don't really care how hot a teacher is, but some students might. It's not a deciding factor for me when selecting an instructor, because they could be Chris Hemsworth for all we know but a bad teacher.
•  Top 20 tags. I pay attention to this instead. This may be the most crucial part of a professor's rating header, alongside Overall Quality and Level of Difficulty. It gives you a better idea of what to expect from the instructor and weeds out complaints from a bigger picture of what the professor is like. For example, the image above shows that this professor gives lots of homework, as rated by 6 people. I think it's a safe bet to expect a lot of homework from the professor! Many people may not like that, but for me that's not a dealbreaker. On the flipside, only one person said this professor is a tough grader. This may show you that this professor is only a tough grader from that person's perspective. The professor may not be a tough grader at all! The student may have been expecting to get away with doing the bare minimum, or may not be used to college grading. Who knows? Try not to take lesser ratings like this sway your decision too much.

That being said, there are some things you should not accept from a professor or "take with a grain of salt."
Now we move into the individual ratings or paragraphs under the rating header. You're going to get individual insight from each person that expands on the rating header. For the most part, you're going to see some great ratings like this:

This teacher seems very respectable and a good teacher to boot!

But you may run into a page full of these:

You do not have to put up with a teacher who belittles you in class.

Teachers are people too, and they have their quirks and make mistakes like the rest of us. But being a professor requires some level of professionalism that students depend on. We're here to learn, and learning is already a process as it is. Plus, we are paying for these classes and deserve to get our money's worth!

As a non-traditional student, we're working hard not only at school but at home and at work too. Some of us have kids. And even if we didn't have any of that stacked against us, if we have to do extra work because a professor isn't carrying their weight, that's a bad thing. Here's a few things to look out for in reviews that will tell you to steer clear of a professor:

• They talk about themselves or topics that have nothing to do with the subject matter. Ok, I had one of these. Business was the first class I enrolled in when I decided to go back to school. The professor was...interesting to say the least. She made inappropriate and flirtatious remarks to the young male students in the class on the first day in front of everyone. She talked about how great she was and all about her family. I spent the whole class there that day - the first and last day I attended her class - and she spent maybe 20 minutes on the class subject out of 3 hours. I didn't use Ratemyprofessors.com back then, but looking at it now, for her, most of the students complain about the same stuff that I had a problem with. She spends most of the semester talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the class, leaving students to fill in the gaps and learn on their own. Why take a class if you have to do that? But, I suppose I should thank her. I dropped that class and turned my back on business once and for all, and have been able to dedicate myself to Child Development whole-heartedly.
• Bad organizational skills. If students complain about a teacher who is always flustered and doesn't seem to have their stuff together, pass them on by. If they can forget to do their job right, how do you know they've graded you right? Remembered you turned something in? Didn't lose your papers? And no one wants to waste time during lecture meetings to wait for a teacher to get their material going.

• Doesn't collect homework on time or at all. I find this very annoying. I am busting my butt to go to college and get my As and you are going to treat my hard work in such a disrespectful manner that you aren't even going to collect or grade it? Pass.
• Not only do they not give constructive feedback, they are rude, angry, or belittling. You do not need to put up with this. I had an art teacher the first time I went to college who treated me this way. I was in a class of mostly guys, and the teacher liked to put the girls work up front and pick it apart. His tone was not constructive, and was very belittling. He had nothing but praise for the work the guys did. One time he pulled my art in front of the class and asked, "What were you thinking?" in such a condescending way that I decided I had had enough and left. At the time I had been told that I should have stayed with the class and not drop it, but I respected myself too much for that. You don't go to college to get abused.
• They don't show up most of the class, show up really late, or leave really early. There's a rule at school where if the professor doesn't show up in the first 15 minutes of class, its cancelled, even if they don't email you or put up a sign in sheet. I've heard of some people having professors who did this on a regular basis! I understand things come up, but if a professor can't be arsed to show up most of the time, it's just disrespectful. I get myself going and manage my time, and I expect someone with the title Professor to do the same, especially if I am paying out of pocket for my education. 
• Students complain that they get graded for stuff they weren't aware of. I once had a teacher who marked anyone who looked at their cell phone at all with an F for the day (back before the age of smart phones and most people treated their little Nokias like watches). I was surprised to see my grade lowered by all these mystery Fs! Some other students complained as well, and she revealed her unspoken rule. I've also had professors knock points off stuff like writing an essay in MLA when they had wanted us to write in APA but had not stated this requirement (we automatically refer to MLA unless requirements ask for it). This may not be a deal breaker, and it wasn't for me, but it may be more of a hassle than you want to deal with. I asked for my points back because these rules weren't made known to me and I got them back, but I noticed a lot of other students were too intimidated to do so. No matter what the case, stand up for your needs. This isn't high school, and you can get those points back!
• They are inappropriate and lack a teacher/student boundary. Like the example of the business professor, class time is not your professor's personal Match.com session. What a professor or student does on their private time is none of my business and I don't care (and also, people meet in real life situations like that, and at work, and rules to keep it from happening are archaic at best), but if that kind of behavior happens in the classroom, that's not a classroom you need to be in. Even though I stayed the entire class session that first day with the business professor, other students walked out in the middle. You're at school to learn. You shouldn't have to put up with a professor who clearly lacks maturity, tact, and boundaries.