Textbooks, the one word that scares the living daylights out of many college students. Why you ask? It's a financial burden that lays on your shoulder and laughs at you because textbooks literally detonate an explosion through your wallet and entire backside. Whether you're a senior in high school, or someone who likes reading about the pain of others, I hope this article entertains, informs and/or persuades you to think twice about the process you take to purchasing textbooks. This pertains to any student going to any college pursuing any major. Enjoy.
As a freshman in college, just in my second week of school, I have learned a bazillion things about what to do and definitely what not to do. As a music major, my schedule is extremely tight from the beginning. I was told that it would be a smart decision to wait on buying textbooks because even the syllabus requires certain texts, professors may prefer otherwise. This is true. But, in my scenario (and probably many of yours) I had to purchase all of my textbooks because we would already be using them within that first week. As a college student you have the option of buying books brand spanking new, gently used or by renting them for a semester. You think to yourself, "I'm going to buy my books used to save the money" or "I'll rent my books because I won't need them after I take the class." You're a common sense thinker. I like that, I admire that. Because you're a newbie, you don't understand the little pain in the butt facts that make buying your textbooks for cheap an impossible option for you. *Enter some wisdom*
Because we live in such an innovated and technology driven era, many (and I mean many) of your books require an online access code. This access code is specific to the buyer of the book and only goes along with that specific book. The code grants you into online assignments and other work/school related things that go beyond the hard copy of the text. With all of that being said, if you purchase a used book, the access code has already been "accessed" and therefore you will be unable to do assignments and other things like that. The final verdict is that if any of your textbooks come with an access code, you have to buy them squeaky clean and squeaky new, which means paying hundreds of dollars for a single item. Yikes? Yeah, well, welcome to college.
Depending on your major, some books will be used for more than one semester. With that being said, do not rent those books. If you're going to go through the work of renting and returning and renting and returning the same book for 2 years, it'd be much better just to buy it brand new and pay for it once, rather than continuously spend money on a book that might not be able to rent because it's already taken by other students. Your credit cards will be quenching for thirst the first few weeks of classes, but in the end, it's all worth it.
It's simplest to find the right books at your University/School Bookstore, but those are where they are the most expensive. It's easy to find the exact book you're looking for. Some books might be your school's edition, which can only be found in the bookstore on campus, prepare for that. Other texts you may be able to find at a resale store or online (Amazon, Ebay, whatever). When and if you shop at a different location other than your campus one, take pictures of the front cover of the book, the author, the edition and the serial number. For many classes, the professors require the most up to date edition of the subject's books, and not the last year version. Bookstores have really strict return policies and for some books, once you open the shrink wrap, you can't return it, even if the only mark you left was a fingerprint. Be exceptionally sure that wherever you purchase your textbooks, that they're the right version, otherwise, your mom, and your bank account, will be really angry with you.
What is the point of talking about this? I'm writing this to you incoming freshman so that you can start saving for textbooks. Explain these concepts to your parents sooner rather than later so that you don't get the evil glare for the rest of your life, and so you can have a happy account balance rather than one that is so negative it reaches hell's borders. I hope that this helps, and if you read this and get to college ignore all of these tips, I'm going to laugh at you, hysterically.
