General Overview
What is CourseRank?
CourseRank is an academic planner and course review system for Stanford University.
Who can use it?
CourseRank is integrated with the Stanford WebAuth system. Only people with a valid SUNetID may login.
How was it started?
CourseRank began as a CS 194 project at Stanford. Its aim was to provide students with a way to get peer feedback on courses and instructors they are interested in. It has since grown to include advanced scheduling and academic planning features.
Is CourseRank affiliated with Stanford University?
The first CourseRank beta was developed independently of the university. Since then, the university has taken an interest in its potential, and CourseRank is now funded by Stanford's InfoLab.
Site Mechanics
Will other people be able to see my ratings/grades?
We believe ratings and grades are statistics that should be devoid of any personal connection. We will never link a user's input to his/her identity.
What's the difference between instructor and student logins?
Only students have access to the planning features of the site (schedule, planner, and course recommendations).
Course Ratings
How can I rate more courses or see the courses I've rated?
You can rate courses on the course page or in your planner by clicking on a past quarter. You should only rate courses you have taken. Courses you rated are automatically added to your planner. Course ratings for a given quarter is only enabled after the university deadline to submit grades for that quarter.
How can I change the rating details I gave a course?
You can edit the details of a course you've taken by clicking on it in your planner.
Why are the average grades so high?
All the statistics are generated from user input. Since this is a self-selected group and users interested in this service are often students who put a heavier priority on academics, grade distributions tend to skew toward the higher end. Take it with a grain of salt. We are working hard to get official grades from the university. Stay tuned.
Reviews/Comments
How is reputation determined?
Review reputations are calculated from two statistics: every review has a hidden rep, and every user has a hidden global rep. Every time someone agrees/disagrees with a review, it affects both the review's rep as well as the commenter's global rep. The displayed reputation is a weighted combination of the two. So even if a review you wrote has not received any peer feedback, it may still be affected by your global reputation.
Why are some reviews/comments in different colors?
Normal student reviews are colored black. Your reviews are colored dark blue. Instructor comments are colored dark red. You can only delete your own reviews.
How can I edit a review's text or rating details?
Review details are permanently set at the time it is created. To change one of your review's rating details, first change the details for that course by going to your planner and clicking on the course. Then, copy the review text and post a new review. Remember to delete the old review!
How do I report an inappropriate comment?
Click the "Report" link under that comment. It will be marked for review by the ASSU editorial board. If it is found inappropriate, the comment will be removed.
Planning System
What if a class I took doesn't show up in the suggestions?
Our class listing is derived from official university data. Depending on when the last update was, we might be missing some courses. Let us know using the contact email below and we'll get in touch with the university.
How is workload calculated on the schedule page?
Workload is based on the aggregate hours of work per week for all courses in that quarter.
Up to 20 hours = Light
Up to 30 hours = Standard
Up to 40 hours = Heavy
Over 40 hours = Insane
These hours are upper estimates, the actual workload will most likely be lower.
Why doesn't the schedule show all of my courses?
The schedule only shows planned courses for each quarter of the current year. It does not show courses you have completed.
A course I took should have fulfilled some GER, why isn't it showing up?
We are working on getting GER data for courses offered in past years. The GER tracker is meant to be a reference, and does not actually reflect your degree progress.
Compatibility Issues
Why can't I view the features demo?
Why can't I see the course rating page / grade distribution chart / course details / planner?
Those components require at least version 9.0.0 of Adobe's Flash Player. You can download the latest version for free at
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/Note that instructors do not have access to the planner.
Contact Info
How can I help?
CourseRank is currently in its second release. Please help contribute to this site's usefulness by rating all your courses and posting helpful comments. Remember to spread the word!
How do I contact the CourseRank team?
