How Do I Know When to Buy Textbooks?

By Studentawards

The following tips, originally posted at the Studentawards Forum, were contributed by students in our membership.

Q. Should I buy [textbooks] during the 1st week of classes when the prof lets us know what book he/she uses, or beforehand in the summertime? (posted by: greentea)

A. You'll know after the first lecture. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY TEXTBOOKS UNTIL AFTER AT LEAST THE FIRST LECTURE. Also, try to get used textbooks. You will save lots of $$$ by doing this. (posted by: mynameismattgotmlgo)

Always, always, always wait to buy your textbooks. I always wait at least a week if not more. Sometimes, if you're lucky and if the prof is reasonable, you don't actually need to buy it. (posted by: ktel)

Buy them used from previous students (bookstore is likely to rip you off), and not until the 2nd/3rd week of class at the earliest. Lots of times you'll realize you don't even need to get the textbook and will save yourself lots of money that way. (posted by: inthemaking)

To join the conversation, go to the following Studentawards Forum threads:

Textbooks!
Textbooks
When do I start buying textbooks?

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4 Comment(s)

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Quatonomy wrote:	Excellent information from the commenters and article! I was thinking about buying before school started, but you guys are right. Posted on Aug 28, 2012 at 10:39

LDolinsky wrote:	And check the first day. I took a class where the exams were page-long written response to 8 questions, which we got the week before. So really, no textbook was needed. Posted on Jul 16, 2012 at 03:03

LDolinsky wrote:	I found an audiobook of a $160 textbook for free on iTunes. Sometimes school and public libraries have older editions of books (and use this for novel studies in English courses). Posted on Jul 16, 2012 at 03:02

livingstatements wrote:	Wait till after the 1st lecture to see what the prof says. Also,see if you can share with a peer/borrow from someone who took the course before. Some Universities also have used book sales through campus clubs, so you can get them really cheap. Posted on Sep 08, 2011 at 08:37

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