With so many classes and professors to choose from, more and more Boston University students are turning toward websites such as RateMyProfessors.com that offer student evaluations of professors.

Despite the popularity of the site within BU, not all students and faculty say they believe it is a definitive guide to the characteristics of a certain professor.

“I’ve used it, but it didn’t really help choose my professors,” College of Arts and Sciences freshman Marie Rodriguez said. “I just looked at them just to see what it says.”

Other students say they see RateMyProfessors.com as a last alternative, utilizing the site once the most convenient schedule is established.

“When choosing teachers, I base my picks on RateMyProfessors.com right after what type of class it is, if I can get a good professor and if it is at a good time,” School of Management sophomore Vikram Kaushik said.

Certain BU colleges offer their own independent student evaluation surveys that ask students to rank their professors on a scale and to give constructive criticism.

“BU does offer professor evaluations,” SMG sophomore Tom Powers said. “You can walk into the Undergraduate Program Office and see any of the student evaluations for any professor in SMG.”

Despite its presence, students say they are not necessarily embracing the BU administrated surveys of because the fear of subjectivity.

“If BU offered such a service, I wouldn’t use it because it would probably be biased,” Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences freshman Christine Nurdin said.

Although some students say they feel RateMyProfessors.com is an accurate survey, BU professors disagree, citing many significant gaps in the criticism of professors.

“I think that students’ evaluations of their professor are extremely important,” College of General Studies Natural Science Professor Melanie Rathburn said, “and can be a very useful tool to improve or change a person’s teaching style. However, the RateMyProfessors.com website does not provide a truly accurate impression of teaching ability.

“Most of the ratings are based on a small number of responses – less than 10 seemed to be most common,” she continued, “and these responses are likely biased to those students that either love or hate a particular professor.”

Although the BU administered evaluations of professors may be unpopular with students, professors say they take the ratings and suggestions to heart, altering their curricula to comply with students’ needs.

“Class evaluations are extremely valuable, and student opinion does [affect] my overall teaching style and techniques,” Rathburn said. “Every student evaluation is read and if possible, I try and incorporate most students’ recommendations and attend to each criticism.”

The transparency of RateMyProfessors.com makes the website available to anyone in the world, including BU departments who could monitor postings for reasons ranging from curiosity to searching for possible threats and dangers.

“The Office of Information and Technology does not monitor RateMyProfessors.com,” Office of Information Technology Consulting Services Director Jim Stone said. “There is no reason to do it and we don’t do it, but other departments might have a reason to look at it. For the same reason a student may be interested in information contained on the site, professors might be interested to see what is said about them.”