Waking up at a certain early hour, planning and then changing your entire schedule in a matter of minutes and getting frustrated when it closes is a routine no one enjoys. However, it is a situation many students face when class registration time comes around. But there are a few things that help students make their choices.

QUReview.com and Ratemyprofessors.com are two popular Web sites used when registration time gets close. Ratings are given from 1 to 5 depending on factors like clarity, availability, workload and test difficulty. Either praise or warning like “Stay away from this professor! They will make your life miserable” can be given by students who sign in to the site.

Dreamt up by Mike Germano and Mike Radparvar and created by Steve Sohcot, all recent graduates of QU, QUReview aims to help students help one another. Sohcot said the purpose of the site is well-phrased on the home page: it is not meant to “bash” professors, but rather to match “the professor whose teaching style matches [the student’s] learning needs.”

“We’ve had mixed reactions from professors, but it seems to be a hit with the students. During registration periods, we get over 1,000 visitors a day,” Sohcot said. “Even the incoming freshmen seem to hear about it at orientation, as the number of daily visitors increase when freshmen register during the summer.”

It is popular as many students depend on this site each time they pick classes. Students want to make sure they are going to get a good professor before they sign their semester away to someone who will make it miserable.

“I use it to see what other students feel about the professor. It really helps when I’m picking classes. My advisor mentioned it when I was a freshman and I use it for each class,” said sophomore psychology major Samantha Swartz. “I think it is very accurate and for the most part I base my decisions on it.”

It is also a good tool to use when you are stuck in between classes, times and professors. It gives you reviews about the professor’s teaching style and personality.

“I use it because I like to have someone’s opinion on the professors, especially if I have a choice between a few different ones for the same class,” said sophomore psychology major Jackie Narell. “I trust it to a certain extent but I take into consideration that everyone is going to have a different opinion on professors. Even if someone on there doesn’t like a professor I could like them a lot.”

Not everyone is as familiar with it though. “I don’t really use it all that much,” said sophomore athletic training major Amanda Chin. “I usually ask people I know who had the professors, but when I do use it, I follow it even though it may not be completely accurate.”

“I think it’s just something spread around by word of mouth, and I think in a sense it’s a good thing. It allows students to find the teachers that they’ll learn the most from,” said sophomore management major Dave Shepard. “Unfortunately everyone, including myself, uses it to find the way to get the easy A.”

“I use RateMyProfessors and QUReview when picking out my teachers. I trust what the students say and almost all the time they are right,” said sophomore major Karen Nesdill. “It helps if your grades and makes the semester easier if you have a good teacher.”