As the Fall 2025 semester comes to a close, a new spring semester is on the horizon. With that comes picking from the many classes ASU offers.
Between juggling two jobs and classes, Vendela Galasinao said there's a lot that goes into planning what classes she should take for her upcoming semester.
Rate My Professors, a website that allows students to rate and leave comments on professors, has become a part of her course planning routine.
Galasinao, a junior studying health sciences, said she uses Rate My Professors to look up instructors before enrolling in their classes, and to see what reviews have been left.
She said she looks for professors who opt for major exams over online group projects, and focuses on their teaching methods.
"Most of the ratings on Rate My Professors are pretty solid," Galasinao said. "I always rely on those when choosing professors for classes."
When deciding between a good professor or a more convenient class time, Galasinao said she would rather have a higher rated professor and learn more, rather than having a class at a better time.
"If you choose a really good professor, I don't think it would matter what day or time you have it at," Galasinao said. "If the ratings in Rate My Professors say good things about this person, and it's true, then I would do whatever I can to make sure to fit that person in my schedule, especially if it's a major class and it's something that I'm really interested in."
Galasinao said that, although she prefers to stay on the West Valley campus, she has traveled to the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses to have classes with professors she found on the website.
But Galasinao is not alone in the struggle of wanting a good professor.
Beyond checking her DARS and Major Map, Carolyn Austin, a sophomore studying anthropology and global studies, said she tries to find classes with professors she has already had.
"I refuse to take anything before 9 a.m., but if I can get in with a class with my professors that I've already taken and that I like, I absolutely jump on that," Austin said. "I'll search up my professor's name, see what they're doing for the semester and see if I can, in any way, work that into my schedule."
Austin relies not only on Rate My Professors but on friend recommendations and past professors' suggestions as well.
"If I also get a recommendation from a friend, I will absolutely use that," Austin said. "I take the words of people I know and good words of professors very, very seriously."
Kaylee Tobin, a freshman studying engineering science business, said she looks for professors who have some leniency and understand that "life happens."
She also said it's important for her professors to be easy to speak with.
"I like when I can have a conversation and it doesn't feel like this is a student talking to a teacher," Tobin said.
Tobin said she would leave a negative review on Rate My Professors if she felt it would help another student avoid a specific instructor.
For professors she enjoyed, Austin tends to leave reviews to help boost their ratings and to encourage other students to take their classes.
Although she believes Rate My Professors can be an accurate tool for students to use, Austin said some reviews can be skewed based on a student's personal preferences.
"I definitely tend more toward the positive reviews, especially because I'm typically more of a lenient person," Austin said. "Most of the time it should be taken with a grain of salt."
Edited by Natalia Rodriguez, Senna James and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at alillest@asu.edu and follow @allylillestol on X.
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Allison Lillestol is a reporter for the community and culture desk. She is in her 3rd semester with the State Press. She also works for the Arizona PBS.
