<p>Well, my point isn’t so much about TAs vs. professors, its about passionate teachers who care about their students. I had an International Relations class on Eastern Europe taught by a Ph.D. candidate that was really awesome. </p>
<p>I think that people get too caught up on rankings, and high rankings do not equate great teaching. A school’s research has more influence on a school’s rankings than its teaching, and it’s a common complaint that many professors at large research universities care more about their research. A university may have a Nobel/Pulitzer/Guggenheim/MacArthur Award winner in its faculty, but is he/she a good teacher or just a good researcher? Was he/she hired just to enhance that college’s prestige? Does he/she teach undergraduates? Even more to the point, does he/she teach undergraduates well or just goes through the motions? I remember reading a complaint in an old Berkeley thread about an engineering professor who literally read straight out of the text book, and that’s how he taught his class. Yes, Berkeley is highly ranked but I’d rather have a passionate, inspiring teacher from an unranked LAC than that joker. I’m happy that at UVa, good teaching is necessary for tenure.</p>