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Post by chances on Aug 17, 2017 14:23:55 GMT
I cannot stress how important it is to wait. They will have the books and if they don't, they will notify the professor and they will hold off on readings until everyone can get a copy. Trust me, she won't miss anything. Are you saying that professors will change the syllabus and not assign readings to wait for books to arrive? I've never has that happen as a student. I would also never change my syllabus because a student chose not to buy books on time. |
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 4,209 
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Post by peppermintpatty on Aug 17, 2017 15:12:02 GMT
I cannot stress how important it is to wait. They will have the books and if they don't, they will notify the professor and they will hold off on readings until everyone can get a copy. Trust me, she won't miss anything. Are you saying that professors will change the syllabus and not assign readings to wait for books to arrive? I've never has that happen as a student. I would also never change my syllabus because a student chose not to buy books on time. Yes they do. In the first year my dd had several professors say that required books were not required by them. My dd just had this happen yesterday for an EE book they need. The professor gave the bookstore a book but it is 2 versions older than the newest. He doesn't want the new one or even the year prior, he wants a 2 year old book that they cannot get anymore. They are battling it out so no student has the book. It will take 3 days to get the books once they agree so any readings or assignments have to be either copied and given to the students or they hold off. The professor held off. It doesn't make any sense to buy the books ahead of time. Every one of my dd's friends have all said the same thing. You risk losing money on books that cannot be returned. Choosing to not buy the books ahead of time is not a defiant act. It is a smart one. My dd wasted a lot of money her first semester buying books she never was able to use and couldn't return. |
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 4,209
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Post by peppermintpatty on Aug 17, 2017 15:13:46 GMT
I have to add that I honestly believe the cost of textbooks is also directly tied to the median income of the state. While my dd goes to a great school, the median income surrounding her school is very low and the school does everything they can to minimize the cost for textbooks for the students. She gets a lot of her books as pdf's from the professor for free. These are the physics, chem and engineering books.
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Post by jassy on Aug 17, 2017 15:58:50 GMT
I'm responsible for working with professors for textbook acquisition at a university - I've never known this to be true with any of the faculty I work with. I would not count on this as some universal truth.
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Post by littlemama on Aug 17, 2017 16:23:16 GMT
I'm responsible for working with professors for textbook acquisition at a university - I've never known this to be true with any of the faculty I work with. I would not count on this as some universal truth. Hasn't been the case for ds, either. We receive an email when the textbook lists are finalized, click the link, buy or rent the books.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 17, 2017 16:43:05 GMT
My daughter started classes today and some of her classes (and yes, they are her engineering classes) have the book written by her professors and since many of them are still being edited, they give pdf's to the kids for free to use. They are editing the books still so there is not point in selling a book that isn't finished. As for which books you will use, most professors will tell you if you will ever need it again. I don't agree with buying only buying new. As for the codes MANY times, the bookstores sell the codes alone with a printed copy of the book or the book on a CD and they are much cheaper. Most of the time this option is not available online, only in the bookstore. I am assuming she will also need one of those remote thingys to check in an participate in classes. They are all using them. Don't buy that used. I cannot stress how important it is to wait. They will have the books and if they don't, they will notify the professor and they will hold off on readings until everyone can get a copy. Trust me, she won't miss anything. She's saying that if the college BOOKSTORE doesn't have the book, the professor may hold off with the assignments for that book. Not if a student chooses to wait to buy a book. DS had this issue last semester with one of his electrical engineering books. There were no copies to be found anywhere. The bookstore couldn't get copies and there weren't any online either. The professor copied some pages, made 2 copies available for homework, and changed some parts of the syllabus. It took about a month for the book to finally come in, but the prof really worked with the kids. (This is a private college with about 30-40 students in each class-/so that could change things as well.) DS is an electrical engineering major. He buys new, buys used, rents, gets books with a code, buys the code separately... whatever it takes. His profs are good about telling students what books they will want to keep and what they can reference online, but it's been very little. So much changed and it's either online or they use a math program that has the info. (Now, that was pricey! The program was $200 for students, but then as soon as DS graduates, the professional fee goes up to $1200.) From reading this thread, it seems that many colleges have different attitudes towards textbooks. Your kids will quickly figure out what they need to do. I used to buy books from friends for the next semester. It's a risk that the same won't be used, but I've found that even a newer edition of a textbook isn't often significantly different. |
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Post by jenb72 on Aug 17, 2017 17:00:59 GMT
When all was said and done, textbooks cost my DD about $400 this semester. She's taking 14 credit hours. Our school's bookstore site is super helpful in that they provide not only the pricing from their store for new, used, and rental, but also from Amazon (purchase and rental), Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores. So there were a few of them we could rent or purchase for far below what they would have cost if we got them through the school.
Jen
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:24:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2017 10:09:29 GMT
That $800 price is for used books (when possible)! Several of the books have some sort of code that lets them online for more curriculum or work or tests (or whatever), so those can't be purchased used or be rented because the code might not work. She is in the Engineering program, so lots of science/math books. I think the books for Calc 2 alone are $300. She is getting most of them through B&N, some through Amazon. She's a deal-hunter, so she's done the work to find the best deals.  Yes, Engineering and the sciences have very expensive books. Mama here of a daughter that graduated with two degrees and a minor (Chemistry, Forensic Science, and Criminal Justice). Her books were extremely expensive. Her sister will graduate in May with two degrees and a minor also (Biology, Computer Science, and Chemistry). Expensive books but there were a few they could share/hand down so that has been nice. I buy used but won't use the digi books. My girls dislike them as do I. Digi books are too hard for heavy notetakers/highlighters. Oh, and edited to say that I shop around. Sometimes Chegg is cheaper, sometimes amazon, sometimes somewhere else. |
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