The website that democratized course selection—20+ million student reviews rating professors on difficulty, clarity, and the now-removed “hotness” chili pepper. Essential pre-registration research or popularity contest?

Anonymous Professor Ratings

RateMyProfessors.com launched in 1999 but became essential student infrastructure in the early 2010s as enrollment moved online and course selection became digital. The site allowed students to anonymously rate professors on:

• Overall Quality (1-5 stars)
• Level of Difficulty (1-5)
• Would Take Again (yes/no)
• Written reviews with pros/cons tags

By 2015, the site hosted 19 million ratings across 1.7 million professors and 7,500+ schools in the US, Canada, and UK. For students choosing between sections, RateMyProfessors became required research—avoid the 2.0-star professor known for impossible tests, seek the 4.5-star who actually teaches.

The Chili Pepper Era

From 2000-2018, RateMyProfessors included a controversial “hotness” rating—a red chili pepper icon indicating physical attractiveness. Students could tag professors as “hot,” creating a separate ranking. The feature was hugely popular (students absolutely used it) and widely criticized as sexist (disproportionately affecting female professors, reducing them to appearance).

Research showed female professors received harsher reviews overall and more appearance-based comments. “Attractive” professors got higher overall ratings, confounding actual teaching quality with looks. In 2018, facing mounting criticism, RMP removed the chili pepper, replacing it with gender-neutral tags like “caring” or “inspirational.”

Validity Debates

Professors and administrators questioned RMP’s reliability: Did ratings measure teaching quality or easiness? Were negative reviews from lazy students blaming professors for failing grades? Could vindictive students tank ratings over one bad day? The anonymity allowed honesty but also spite.

Studies showed some correlation between RMP scores and official teaching evaluations, but also grade inflation—easy graders got better reviews. Students prioritizing GPA over learning could game systems by choosing “easy A” professors, while challenging instructors who fostered deep learning got punished.

Student Registration Culture

Despite flaws, RateMyProfessors became embedded in course selection culture. Chrome extensions auto-displayed ratings during registration. Students shared screenshot compilations of savage reviews: “This professor made me cry in the library,” “Avoid unless you enjoy suffering,” “Changed my major because of this class.”

The site also helped students find great professors—passionate educators who made material engaging, provided clear expectations, and cared about students. For every harsh review, there were heartfelt testimonials about life-changing teachers.

The 2020s Evolution

RMP added features: difficulty vs. quality grids (visualize hard-but-good vs. hard-and-bad), tag clouds (common adjectives from reviews), COVID-19 tags (online teaching feedback). The site reached 20M+ ratings by 2023, maintaining relevance despite competition from Reddit forums and course-specific Facebook groups.

The platform represented student power—transparency about teaching quality that departments often hid. But it also showed rating systems’ limitations: reducing complex human interactions to stars, amplifying extreme opinions, and struggling with bias. Still, for students navigating registration, RateMyProfessors remained an imperfect but indispensable tool.

https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ https://www.insidehighered.com/