Don’t waste your time and money – pick the right classes.

The classes we take contribute to how prepared we are as we enter the work force after college. So why do so many students pick their classes based on the course title, the time they are offered or to simply fill a graduation requirement? Although it does take some level of organizational skill to always have a three-day weekend and never be up before 10 a.m. for four years, it’s not a tangible skill that can be applied to a career.

At some point in everyone’s academic career, he or she will undoubtedly take a class that is not engaging. A student may have a personality clash with a professor, may not be challenged by a course, be too challenged, or a professor may not be a skilled and dynamic. For me, it was the latter. During my undergraduate education at the University of Massachusetts, I had a professor who taught English Literature using Cliffs Notes. I had another professor whom I only saw twice during the semester: The rest of his classes were taught by his graduate assistants. For me, those classes were a waste of time and money. I took those classes during my freshman year. After that, I avoided situations like that by preparing myself.

Some students rely on professor rating sites like Sacrate.com, which describes its goal as providing students with “a resource that would ease the trip through college.” It provides students with a less-than-reliable research tool. The site, which often doesn’t work, allows students to rate professors by posting any comments they choose.

The site provides no information on the poster’s major or GPA, and, of course, nothing about his or her personal work ethic or how he or she came to the decision to choose that particular course and professor. The anonymity of the posters gives them free reign to cross the line to obscene and libelous. The site also doesn’t limit how many times a student can post a response, giving free reign to disgruntled or elated students to post as many responses as they want.

Communications Studies Professor and Department Chair Nick Burnett, who has more than 20 years of teaching experience at Sacramento State, said that his opinion of the validity of website rating sites like Sacrate.com is very low. To prove a point, he admitted that “five postings under my name are all from me.” You may find some information that is worth considering in your decision-making process on Sacrate.com, but also consider that it may not be reliable information. Sacrate.com falls short of its mission of “tipping the scales in your favor.”

Since no one is a better judge of what you hope to get from a class than yourself, get out and do some field research. Teaching is a skill that can change and improve over time, so speaking directly to someone who recently took a class is a great resource. Also, visit a professor’s website, audit one or more class sessions, and speak to a professor yourself.