SouthFlorida.com | City Link Magazine

In the past, college students relied on word of mouth to get the scoop on professors before enrolling in a class. As with all things, today's students have turned to the Internet for such information. And because it's on the Internet, it has to be true … right?

The popular Web site Ratemyprofessors.com allows students to anonymously praise or denigrate faculty with no fear of retaliation. The site's ranking system makes it easy for just a few disgruntled students to push a professor's score from benign to malignant. But by and large, the grammar found in most student commentary is beyond atrocious and makes a visitor to the site wonder if the posters aren't drooling cavemen who somehow gained access to the Internet. Comments such as "It is the worst nightmare eva!!!!" and "In one word: fustation" are abundant on the site.

The South Florida professors City

Link contacted for this article declined to discuss Ratemyprofessors.com. Some didn't know what it was, and others didn't return e-mails or phone calls, including those three professors considered the worst according to the site's rating system and user comments: Susan Costa of Broward Community College, Michael Vierk of Florida International University and Dorothy Benson of Miami Dade College.

A few professors around the country have asked universities to place the formal teacher evaluations done by students in class online to combat the negative effects of Ratemyprofessors.com, even taking into account the privacy concerns that may arise from such an action. But for now, students have the last word online, even if, as the following examples suggest, that word is horribly misspelled. All rankings are out of a possible 5, and comments are copied verbatim from the site.

Susan Costa, Broward Community College, mathematics

Number of ratings: 28

Overall quality: 1.3

Comments: "DO NOT TAKE THIS LADY'S CLASS!!!!!!!! IT IS THE WORST NIGHTMARE EVA!!!! i had the wort experience … and 2nd of all I'm not good at math so she made it even more WORSE!! She takes out points on ure tests for the most stupidest mistakes made …"

"ok people costa was not that bad. sometimes you have to help yourself too. i got a 98 in the class without taking a math class since 10th grade so get over it"

"Her class is not hard but she expects you to do the tests as if she'd do … if we don't use the procedures she uses or miss on step(which may be obvious) she would take most of the points out, consequently you'll miss the test. This teacher doesn't have in consideration that a high percentage of the students attending Central Campus, are foreign""she really cant teach shes the worse teacher ever dont take her class!"

Michael Vierk, Florida International University, economics

Number of ratings: 24

Overall quality: 1

Comments: "For all you Journalism Students that need to take this class in order to graduate, I feel sorry for you guys because he's the only professor who teaches this class. He will make your life a living hell. His tests have nothing to do with what he goes over in class. He's very rude and disrecpectful. Will kick you out of class if he needs to."

"He was just purely terrible in every aspect. If i wanted to fail in life he's the person to help you. He thinks he knows everything but, in reality he doesn't know what he's saying. He's not worth the stress."

"Disrespectful, discouraging, rude, patrionizing, confusing, arrogant and very militant in his teaching style. I don't doubt his economic knowledge. I do doubt his teaching skills. Essentially, he's the opposite of everything I value in a good teacher."

Dorothy Benson, Miami Dade College, education

Number of ratings: 19

Overall quality: 1.1

Comments: "Wow … I never thought a class could be so boring! This proffesor is always going off subject and talking about when she was a child, and when she talks she says some words very loudly almost screaming! Besides that, her tests are so vague and the answers are so alike you don't know which one to pick! Don't take her!!! WORST PROFESSOR EVER!!!

"Oh God! How can i start i only had her for 2 days. The 3rd day i didn't go to class and the 4th i didn't even want to go to school just knowing that i had her first! So i did myself a FAVOR and DORPED IT! i hate how she drags her words. SO BORING!!! If I wouldn't had droped the class she would have made me lose my interest in teaching all together!"

"She is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. She is so self-righteous and arrogant. She doesn't know how to teach and make kids understand, she thinks she's smarter than the book and has the most annoying voice in the world. But if you get her mad you can see her shake!! DON'T TAKE THE CLASS WITH HER! She will kill your subject interest!"