With academic advising going on, many students utilize the website RateMyProfessors.com to begin searching for professors and courses.

The website is designed for college students who wish to look up a professor’s ranking or comments about the class. The posts are written by students who have taken the class.

Adrian Rodriguez, a junior economics major, said he has been using the site for three years to get different aspects of the classes he plans to take.

“I read the comments to see how the professor teaches, how the class is organized and the difficulty of the teacher,” Rodriguez said. He said he does this to get a general sense about the class itself.

Rodriguez said he knew about the website and got recommendations from his friends who have enrolled in college before he came to TCU. He said some comments provide either valuable or plain insight, but overall he thinks the website is a reliable source.

“I think it’s very reliable because students from the previous classes write about the professors and rate them,” Rodriguez said.

Karlie Lucas, a junior marketing and entrepreneurial management double major, said she first finds out the classes she needs to take for each semester, then she looks up the different professors who teach those courses.

“I’ll go on Rate My Professors and look up each individual professor to see which one is better or which one I could get along with,” Lucas said. “It tells you if they use the book or their teaching style or some people put how their tests are on there.”

Lucas said based on the perspective of marketing, the rating system on Rate My Professors is similar to reviews of products.

“If there’s more positive reviews, obviously I’m going to trust that more,” Lucas said. “If there’s negative reviews, I’m going to trust that more.”

Junior actuarial mathematics major Isuru Perera said the website is still helpful even though sometimes the posts aren’t up to date.

“It’s not always the most recent and up-to-date reviews you’ll see,” Perera said. “Nevertheless, it does give you an insight into how other students have seen their classes, how they rate their professors. Whether they’re good or bad, how they conduct the exams and homework assignments.”

Perera said he uses it to determine the courses as well as the professors he wants to take.

“I’ve managed to get some phenomenal professors,” Perera said. “I enjoy them. The reviews that I see on the website, most of them do reflect when I take the classes, and it’s going to be very helpful.”

Sophomore business major Heidi Nguyen said that as an international student, Rate My Professors is her primary resource to get reference for classes and professors.

Nguyen said she also asks for tips and advice from friends who have taken a course before, but her final decisions are still based on rankings and comments from the website.

“I base my decisions on Rate My Professors,” Nguyen said. “I read the comments a lot, and most of the times I think the ratings on Rate My Professors are quite accurate.”

Nguyen said she is also aware of poorly-rated and highly-ranked professors.

Melissa Moreira, a sophomore educational studies and french double major, said every time she registers for class, she uses Rate My Professors to get a preview of how the professors teach.

“I like to hear students’ opinions before making my decisions about what class to take or what professor to take,” Moreira said.

Moreira said ratings of professors impact her decisions.

“I would rather take a different class with a different professor,” Moreira said. “I’d rather get a professor that has a higher rating than a professor that has a lower rating.”