GW Courserank

As y'all may know, I recently did a post on choosing classes.  In response, I got an email from one of the members of our Student Association about GW Courserank.

I had heard of it before, and almost used it, but then I saw you had to "create an account"--really not much of a process at all other than filling in your GW email address and some non-invasive info--but I didn't feel like doing it that day, and I never went back.  So upon receiving this email from an SA member, I figured, "Might as well check it out!"  And I'm actually rather glad I did.

It's a pretty nifty concept.  Not only does it have the ratings of actual courses rather than just individual professors, but it also has a planner and scheduler, so you can effectively plan your courses and count up credits and all that good stuff.  Additionally, if you invite 10 friends to the site, you can apparently win an Amazon gift card!  But use it towards books, puh-lease!

Here's a blurb from the "About" section:  

CourseRank's features set it apart from traditional advice forums. Students can anonymously rank courses they've taken, add comments, and rank the accuracy of each others' comments. They can also shop for classes, get personalized recommendations, and organize their classes into a semester schedule or devise a four year plan. 

CourseRank also functions as a feedback tool for faculty and administrators. This system allows the administration to quickly gather feedback about every course offered and rapidly address the needs of their student body. Faculty can also modify or add comments to the course description page and see how their class compares to other classes. 

Sounds good, no?  Though I will say, I have a few qualms about the site:

You have to rate three courses to be able to access ratings of other courses.  This means that as an incoming freshman, you can't get any ratings because 1) You don't immediately have your GW email to be able to log in, and 2) You have yet to take any courses, so there's nothing to rate yet!  On top of that, they ask for the grade you got in the class, so since registration for Spring Semester takes place mid-Fall Semester, you either have to lie about your grades for classes you're still in the process of taking, or hold off on ratings until you receive your grades to rate the required 3 classes, then you can find out about the classes you hope to take.  This makes it so that (if you're being honest), you can't actually use the site until registration for Fall Semester of your Sophomore year!  And since I imagine many people aren't being honest so they can just get their ratings, that inhibits the reliability of some ratings.  In my mind, at least.

ERGO there are certainly glitches in the system.  But it's definitely worth a try!  If only for the gift card!  No, really though.  Check it out for yourself, though!  Please don't just take my word for things.

And as for my usual sign-off, here goes:  EMAIL ME!!!  ShireenS@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3  Shireen

*** See comments section for edits--I was wrong in a few spots!