BWOG kindly informs you to listen the voices of CULPA.

You enter campus for the first time, orientation lanyard jostling on your chest and nerves simmering within your blood. Hefty suitcases and boxes have been dropped off in your dorm, and you’re in your best sleep apparel. Your newly purchased laptop sits on your desk, back drawn and taut over it, and your finger hovers over a website that will bestow both your academic dreams and also your nightmares: Virgil, the online registrar students must use when adding or dropping courses. 

You peruse your major requirements, narrowing your classes down and glossing over professor names and such information. Naively, naturally, as you’re new to college, you trust your gut. Professors can’t be that awful? You’re ambitious. That’s why you’re here.

You couldn’t be more mistaken.

This line of reasoning can lead to treacherous paths of life, such as camping out on the student portal for tutoring due to unsatisfactory professors. But alas, there was a gift left for confused and scared freshmen. Behold, CULPA.

CULPA, or Columbia Underground Listing of Professor Ability. The site holds student-run feedback about professors from various departments and more. As you skim over thousands of reviews, fleeting thoughts of understanding fly through your mind, but also natural doubts. Maybe these students are upset about their grades or bad experiences during office hours. Maybe they simply just didn’t click with the class; therefore, they left a negative review.

Think about it this way:

This will be one of the rare occasions in your life when strangers will fully open up, sharing their emotions to ensure you don’t have an academically rough semester. CULPA, a communal place to gather and hear the complaints of students across campus is there to guide you. It truly never hurts to search up a professor rather than be anxious as classes begin. 

So I implore you, from the tip of my toes to the core of my heart, to listen to the masses! The people don’t lie.

Header Via Bwog Archives