Friendly advice from friends can often help students choose what classes they should register for.

Tips from others who have already taken the class and know what to expect can help just as much, and it turns out there is a web site exactly for this cause.

Enter “ratemyprofessors.com,” a web site that lets students grade their professors.

Ease, clarity, helpfulness and an overall rating scale are some of the topics that students can rate their professors on.

There is also a “hotness” factor and a place to post comments about one’s own particular experience with a professor or class.

Some students believe that the web service really helps in making a decision about what classes to take, others find it completely useless.

Regardless, it is a tool that can at least be used in order to let students know what to expect in a class.

The web site is free, but requires anyone who wishes to post a comment to be a registered member and note what class he or she has been in.

Registering is easy, but it is important to prevent “spammers” from posting inappropriate or needless posts, reserving the forum only for people who hold a valid opinion.

“It’s not like people are making stuff up. They’ll explain if (the professor) is worthwhile and if they actually learn something beside just learning the test material,” Travis Underwood, music major, said.

After making a list of which classes one would like to take, finding out who teaches the class is the next step.

The web site makes the end process easy by allowing students to get feedback and get a general sense of what the teacher and class are like, based on what others have posted.

But because the forum is open for comment, people might debate the fairness of the website, and it is easy to understand why instructors may find it unfair to be graded by students. Some students do not agree.

“It’s fair for us to know whether we are to take a class or not; we pay for it, so we should be able to take the courses taught by the best professors,” Kyle Smith, nursing major, said.

Intructors may find it useful as a tool for getting feedback from students about experiences they had in a class.

Ameliorating certain methods of teaching some material, or how the class is presented could come from strong points issued by students in the site’s forums.

If there are a lot of students who believe something could be done better next time, a professor could observe this and see if a different method could help students.

The web site is not just a posting spot for criticism, but more of an electronic relationship between students and instructors after a class has ended.

Francesca Bishop, speech communication professor, said, “Students have a right to say whatever they say; it could hold professors who are weak accountable. If there is a plethora of bad ratings, something is going wrong.”

The website is connected to hundreds of colleges and universities across the country and in Canada.

There is also a tool to communicate with many major universities and stay up to date on school events.

There is a link to “ratemyteachers.com,” a similar site for high school students to grade their teachers and post comments.

There is also a gift shop that sells shirts, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, mouse pads and tote bags related to the web site.

Overall, this web site may be a helpful tool for both instructors and students to use. While students get advice on which classes to take, instructors know how to accommodate students’ needs.

However, students should be wary of what they read, in that what they’re reading is not fact.

“It gives students a fair warning on the decision-making process. You can promote a class or warn others if you have had a bad experience. It’s like a voting process,” Smith said.