The Daily Campus apologizes for a mistake made in this article. English professor Dr. Pauline Newton was misquoted. The quote should have read: “There are lots of similar sites (e.g. RateMDs.com) but, again, the information often isn’t too helpful. A lot of people who have left feedback for, say, my doctor, are actually very disgruntled, and so you don’t get very informed or balanced responses. The responses will be two lines long and full of grammar errors and exclamation marks. I also don’t think the site (RateMyProfessors.com) is as popular as it was when it first hit the Internet.”

Students use RateMyProfessors.com to avoid the hard classes, but professors find it all a little discouraging.

Many students perform extensive research to craft the perfect combination of ease and interest or difficulty and intrigue when choosing their courses for the next semester.

The site has been the focus of continuous controversy, because for some, this site is seriously deterring in attendance.

The website is designed so students can anonymously post comments about professors and rate them on a scale from one to five in four different categories: easiness, helpfulness, clarity and interest level.  Students are also given the option of assigning a chili pepper to signify a professor’s good looks.

SMU students flood the website every semester investigating these ratings.

I use it every time I have to register for classes, mainly if I’m deciding between which professor to take,” sophomore Matt Alexander said.

In many cases, professors say students search for the wrong qualities in a course.  Rather than utilizing difficult and rigorous professors, students may choose a professor who received a five on the easy scale.

Many professors feel that this does not render the quality learning experience parent’s pay thousands of dollars for.

Some students look for professors who rate highly in the easiness category, while others base their opinions solely on the comments posted by other students.

“It is the comments, not the ratings, that I feel really offer the best individual input on each prospective professor,” sophomore Bryce Johnson said.

Since its creation in 1999, RateMyProfessors.com has received over 11 million ratings. SMU’s page has 724 professors listed, each with an average of seven ratings or comments.

For professors who do not receive high scores it can be somewhat daunting.

“It’s fine with me. There are lots of similar sites, but, again, the information often isn’t too helpful,” English professor Pauline Newton said. “A lot of people who have left feedback, for say, my doctor, are actually very disgruntled, and so you don’t get very informed or balanced responses.”

For many professors the idea of being rated and reviewed on a public site is discerning.

Students say harsh things on this site ranging from name calling to paragraph length rants about a particularly “horrible” experience.

“I look for a professor who keeps the class entertaining and interesting,” junior Summer Davidson said.

Today people are used to quick, accurate answers and when searching for them they tend to go directly to the Internet.

As with any site, students must learn how to dissect the information and separate truth from banter.

“Consider the responses, but take them with a grain of salt. Notice if the evaluations seem carefully composed or hastily written,” Newton said.