What would you do?

[MexicanDr]

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So I am registered for CHEM 1 this coming spring and the professor I will be taking has a pretty bad reputation on ratemyprofessor, the problem is that this is the only freaggin Chem 1 class being offered this spring,so If I dont take it I will be behind a year since I will be taking Chem 2 during the summer.

That made me a bit scared, what should I do?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i would make my own decisions after considering the pros and cons. what makes you think this guy doesn't teach chem 1 again

 

[GoSpursGo]

Take it anyways. Everyone has to deal with a few suboptimal teachers in undergrad. Just gotta do your best anyways; you're responsible for your grade, not your profs.

 

[loveoforganic]

I'd take it. Anecdotal and not the norm, but I took chem ii with a professor who's overall ratings were pretty much all sub 2, and he turned out to be the guy who remotivated me and who I currently do research for.

 

[ElegantWeapon]

Take it anyways. Everyone has to deal with a few suboptimal teachers in undergrad. Just gotta do your best anyways; you're responsible for your grade, not your profs.

true

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

eh i had a teacher who had a bad rating
it turns out that teacher isnt really that bad..
though i find that alot of students talk **** about that professor
but the people who work hard end up liking her

honestly take rate my professors ratings with a grain of salt
and try doing your best in that class and you'll manage to get a good grade im very sure

 

[GoSpursGo]

honestly take rate my professors ratings with a grain of salt

Truth. People love complaining more than they like praising, so what you see on ratemyprofessor is often skewed because people with more to whine about are more apt to reply. I completely stopped paying attention to it after freshman year, honestly.

 

[loveoforganic]

Truth. People love complaining more than they like praising, so what you see on ratemyprofessor is often skewed because people with more to whine about are more apt to reply. I completely stopped paying attention to it after freshman year, honestly.

RMP is still very helpful imo. The written reviews often mention things like "produces tests entirely from the notes," or "quizzes are very in depth," etc. Stuff that can be very helpful to know early in the course before you learn it yourself.

 

[circulus vitios]

So I am registered for CHEM 1 this coming spring and the professor I will be taking has a pretty bad reputation on ratemyprofessor, the problem is that this is the only freaggin Chem 1 class being offered this spring,so If I dont take it I will be behind a year since I will be taking Chem 2 during the summer.

That made me a bit scared, what should I do?

Take it. At my school, gen chem I is only offered in the fall. There's only one class taught by only one instructor with a 2.4/5 ease rating on RateMyProfessor. I'm doing fine in it, and I had like a C+ in AP Chemistry.

 

[chman]

Take it.

I have taken classes where I loved the professor who happened to be rated horribly on that site. I am kind of a wierdo tough. 😏

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Take it anyway. If the prof ends up being so bad that you don't understand the material, you can always get a tutor.

 

[greatnt249]

Truth. People love complaining more than they like praising, so what you see on ratemyprofessor is often skewed because people with more to whine about are more apt to reply. I completely stopped paying attention to it after freshman year, honestly.

This.

Take the class and make of it what you will; people often act as if the professor is the reason they're doing poorly instead of reassessing their own skills/shortfalls and what they need to do to succeed.

 

[boaz]

Chem I being a popular weed-out class, you'll find tons of profs who teach them rated badly on RMP. If 50% of a 150 student class is below a C the prof is bound to get many low ratings. Like someone said above, the lower 50% is more likely than the upper 50% to take the time to post a rating...

 

[anonymousername]

your signature is:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowliness, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

why quote something that you clearly don't understand?

sail away from the safe harbor and take the class...

 

[chman]

Chem I being a popular weed-out class, you'll find tons of profs who teach them rated badly on RMP. If 50% of a 150 student class is below a C the prof is bound to get many low ratings. Like someone said above, the lower 50% is more likely than the upper 50% to take the time to post a rating...

I did not think of this, but it is a good point.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Chem I being a popular weed-out class, you'll find tons of profs who teach them rated badly on RMP. If 50% of a 150 student class is below a C the prof is bound to get many low ratings. Like someone said above, the lower 50% is more likely than the upper 50% to take the time to post a rating...

im sorry but chem 1 is easy..
i dont get when people say that
bio 1 and chem 1 are hard and weedouts..

i mean there weedouts for people who cant articulate college and open up a book to study...
but for medical school..
i just dont see it

 

[chman]

im sorry but chem 1 is easy..
i dont get when people say that
bio 1 and chem 1 are hard and weedouts..

i mean there weedouts for people who cant articulate college and open up a book to study...
but for medical school..
i just dont see it

If you are looking at it from a purely material standpoint, then yea, not that hard.

However, at a large state school with 400+ students, mostly cutthroat pre-meds, all in one intro class competing for the curve, it gets difficult IMO.

 

[Konfetkette]

While there are certainly exceptions for this...
Ratemyprofessor is not that reliable. Most of the people who post there do so because they never tried to do well in the first place. I've had my share of classes from professors that has bad reviews on that web site. I am still confused why people think they're bad. I am taking a class right now from a professor who has a bad reputation, but she is one of my favorite professors in college.

I suggest take the class, go to the first few, and then decide. If needed, make sure to drop before the deadline so a W does not show up on your transcript. You can take gen chem in the summer or in the fall.

 

[Evergrey]

Personally, I've found that if you're willing to put the work in both for learning the material as well as figuring what the hell your teacher actually expects from you (this is usually harder than the learning part), a good grade is inevitable. As long as the prof isn't an absurdly difficult grader, then I think it'd be fine to take the class. Having a bad lecturer does kind of suck, and maybe you can make sure you have a class or two with a great prof, but as long as you can get the knowledge you want out of the class, it'll work out!

 

[icalz]

im sorry but chem 1 is easy..
i dont get when people say that
bio 1 and chem 1 are hard and weedouts..

i mean there weedouts for people who cant articulate college and open up a book to study...
but for medical school..
i just dont see it

The chem I course at my undergrad had a reputation for being a weedout course and they were proud of it. There were 88 F's on the first exam of that class...it was rough. No bonus, no extra credit, no curve, and absolutely no gimme questions. It wasn't necessarily the concepts or the material, it was the exams. Some professors ask questions in a basic, straightforward manner, others make things very complicated by throwing in multiple factors and variables...I still shudder when I recall that class.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

The chem I course at my undergrad had a reputation for being a weedout course and they were proud of it. There were 88 F's on the first exam of that class...it was rough. No bonus, no extra credit, no curve, and absolutely no gimme questions. It wasn't necessarily the concepts or the material, it was the exams. Some professors ask questions in a basic, straightforward manner, others make things very complicated by throwing in multiple factors and variables...I still shudder when I recall that class.

at my class i think every test up until the 3rd
half the class failed

 

[TexasPrincess]

You have an advantage going into the class with low expectations of the prof. Make sure you know what is expected of you and then go learn the material on your own. Pick up all the Chem for dummies types books you need and visit the TAs office hours. Focus on using all you study success strategies like reading ahead, and doing your homework the day you recieve it so you have time to ask questions. Really learn the material because you need it for all your future chem classes and the mcat, and make sure you get an A by doing whatever it takes.

Good luck!