My personal College Experience with Textbooks:
We all know that buying textbooks can be very pricey, but there are many ways to save some extra cash when buying these books. The best thing to do is to first determine whether or not you really need the textbook(s) for your class. There are several ways that you can do this. The most obvious one is to ask your friends who have taken the class already. If you don’t have friend who have taken the class before, you can also check the comments on RateMyProfessor.com. Often times students leave comments that tell whether or not the textbook was necessary for the class. Its also a good idea to try to find out the titles of the books before class begins.
Buying Books for Cheap:
#1 Buy Used Online
Not only are used books a lot cheaper, but a lot of them have handy side notes and highlights from previous users. But if you don’t want that, you can still buy used, like new, or brand new books for still very cheap. If you choose this as your method of obtaining books, make sure that you purchase your texts as soon as possible since it takes time for shipping. If you are waiting for your shipment to come during the first couple of weeks of school, you can borrow the text from the library.
#2 Go to a Nearby Campus Business
Many business around campus usually sell their own textbooks which are much cheaper than the on campus bookstore. This is good if you do not want to wait for your book and do not mind paying a little extra money (compared to buying online).
#3 Other Students and Friends
Buy the book off of one of your friends for cheaper, if not keep your eyes on the look out for other students who are trying to sell their book. Most of the time you can come to an agreement on the price or make trade offers.
#4 Make Your Own Copy
Borrow the text from the library or a friend and look at your syllabus to find out which pages or chapters you need for class and go to a store and make copies. There are some businesses that already have copies of texts to sell to students. Some other printing stores will also do the printing for you. But if not, you can also print each page yourself.
Ways to Save Even MORE Money:
#1 Friends
Just ask your friend if you can borrow their book for the quarter/semester.
#2 E-Books
A lot of texts these days can be found online. Do some searches for books that you need to buy to see if there is an online copy that you can view or download for free.
#3 The Library
Simply borrow the book from the library whenever you need it. Your school’s library should carry a couple of copies of the text that you are using in class at the Reserve.
#4 Share the Book
You and a friend that you know who are both taking the same class can share books. However, this is difficult unless you see each other often.
