The Critical Review’s website is getting a new look.
Amid struggles with participation and complaints about the user interface, the student-led publication that produces course reviews decided to overhaul its current platform.
The existing website was designed in 2018 based on a past student’s project for a computer science course, according to a statement released by the publication. Six years later, much of that code was outdated.
According to Tiger Ji ’25, the Review's director of engineering, some courses did not show up on the search bar, frustrating users. In other instances, the website would display several incorrect course ratings.
“A professor reached out to us and asked why he had a 1.0 rating” for a specific class, Ji said. As the professor was popular among the computer science department, Ji suspected the score was likely incorrect. The instance prompted him to code an improved website.
Beyond an improved search function and corrections to ratings, the updated site has several new features.
With the added “refined search bar functionality” users can now “see every review on every class,” Ji explained. The tool will allow students to navigate the Review’s content far more efficiently, he added.
The website will also feature an improved mobile interface, according to the statement.
Currently, the new site can be accessed through a temporary link. While the new site is being finalized, readers can continue to access the existing site. Once the website is completed sometime next semester, it will be moved back to its original domain, Ji said.
But the publication is still struggling with student and faculty engagement, Eric Cho ’26, one of the Review’s editors-in-chief, told The Herald.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the publication has reviewed fewer courses every semester, The Herald previously reported.
According to Cho, the number of reviews published every semester continues to decrease. Among the 1,018 courses offered for undergraduates last semester, the publication only received enough responses to review 113 of them.
The Review is trying to increase its engagement by working directly with professors, improving survey questions and expanding outreach, Cho said. “We haven’t seen any quantitative results yet.”
For the Review to publish a review for a course, professors must opt-in and send the form to their students. The publication hopes to publish “unbiased and holistic” reviews, which require responses from “at least three students per class,” Cho explained.
Marisa Coghlin ’26 voiced frustration about the lack of reviews available for the courses she registered for this semester. Coghlin said she appreciates knowing how many assignments are required for every class, but without published reviews, she is unable to find this information before receiving the course syllabi.
Lilian Castrillon ’27 uses the Review to check the difficulty of the courses she plans to take. She said it would be helpful if the platform could include the grades students received in a class, a feature already available in other feedback websites like Rate My Professor.
To encourage student participation, the Review will now give away two to three “birbs” — crochet birds made by the student organization birbs@brown — per semester in exchange for filling out the survey, Ji and Cho said.
Clarification: The headline of this article has been updated to specify the breadth of changes in the Critical Review's website.
Teddy Fisher is a staff writer who studies International and Public Affairs and is passionate about law, national security and sports. He enjoys playing basketball, running and reading in his free time.
