It’s that time of the year again. You’re ready to pull your hair out because there are 13 different classes you could take to fulfill a requirement you don’t really care about fulfilling, 27 different professors, 62 teaching assistants, and no way to know which combination is going to be at all palatable for the next 10 weeks of your life.
It’s driving you crazy because you know how important the decision can be. Three small clicks on URSA can mean three very long months next fall.
There is perhaps no more important task a student can do than selecting classes and professors. A miserable professor can spoil a fabulous topic, but a provocative one can render even an accounting class fascinating. It really doesn’t matter what kind of college student you are – whether you’re pursuing the perfect GPA or counting the days until you can get a real job and kiss all this goodbye – a rotten professor can ruin your quarter. Choose wisely.
If you’re at a loss, a good starting resource is the Professor Review section on bruinwalk.com. Professor Review offers comments and professor ratings on different points: effectiveness, difficulty, concern, availability and overall recommendation. Students post general comments and are invited to discuss their experiences with professors and their TAs.
But as with any resource like this, it is important to know yourself. I can’t say I care so much about professor concern, but I am very interested in competence. I have been saved from “enthusiastic” first-year lecturers who aren’t as effective as the “difficult” but eminent professor. But I’ve also been saved from the established, eminent professor who forgot to learn how to teach.
Although some administrative and professorial backlash against the site has tempered student comments to a certain degree, you can still get a good idea of what you may be in for.
For example, I read the following negative comment about a professor: “He actually told a person in my class that the question they had asked was the stupidest question in the world, laughed in their face, and said ‘next question.’”
I cannot tell you the number of times I have sat in a class longing for a professor to say something like that. I’m sorry, but there really is such a thing as a stupid question. I immediately signed up for that class and was not disappointed. I loved it.
But there is more to a good professor than just a good score or a like-mindedness with regard to stupidity. A lot of what makes a good professor has more to do with the quality of their students than their lecture style. If you don’t do your part in class, you are not going to be happy. This is particularly important during discussion sections with TAs. TAs may or may not have a lot of teaching experience. They may or may not have a lot of experience with the particular topic they are supposed to be discussing. If the students in class don’t do the readings, ask questions, and involve themselves in discussion, the section is a waste of everyone’s time. You will also know it’s a waste of time, and thus hate it even more.
The same principle applies to the professors. You can make a bad situation tolerable by making a little extra effort. Go to your professor’s office hours, ask questions, discuss paper topics. You may find that the most boring speaker in the world is much better mano-y-mano. Knowing the person behind the droning voice can actually make lectures more interesting. And – trust me – doing the reading always makes a lecture more interesting. (Also, you can better judge when it’s OK to tune out for a minute.)
The final trick is to always have a backup plan. Registering for one extra class and dropping the loser is a perennial favorite. Or simply audit a few extra classes the first week in case you need to switch. And don’t get locked into a particular subject – something may not sound interesting in the catalog, but a great professor can turn that annoying general education requirement into something special.
Sutton is an assistant Viewpoint editor.