July 24, 2008
Buying Your Textbooks
Buying textbooks for class always seems to be much more stressful that necessary. Freshman year I went to the school bookstore like 3 weeks before school started and bought all my books only to find that I didn’t need some of them once I started class. Now I wait till about a week or two into school and feel out the classes and see if I even need the book. I had one class that had 12 books on the list… I think I read 2 of them.. so yeah, wait it out. Plus you might realize the class is horrible and drop it after a week.
That advice couldn’t be more priceless (literally). Usually in the 1st class your teacher will tell u which books r mandatory. If u wait about a week or 2 u’ll really know which ones to purchase. Even when professors tell u to buy certain books, I’ve learned that often u wont even open them. Ask around & talk to students who have taken the same class & professor to see which books they actually used vs never opened. Even if u don’t touch ur book the entire semester, if u sell it back at the end of the yr u wont be reimbursed…the value always drops in time. Be aware that when u do sell back, sell as early as u can so u get more money.
I definitely agree on the whole waiting thing! You really don’t need books for the first few days of class anyway so its really no big deal. Also, don’t stress out about how expensive they are from the co-op or school store… you can return them at the end of the year and get some money back! Also try to figure out what info is important to your professor. Sometimes the test is on 98% lecture notes, so as long as you go to class you don’t have to read at all! Other times, if you have a bad/confusing teacher it’s so much easier to just read the text book by chapters as they go along.
Agreed, I hate reading textbooks so I rarely ever skip class, it’s just not worth it. Plus some teachers base part of your grade off attendance so if you’re on the edge of a A to B or B to C this could be helpful. If you’ve been to every class your teacher might bump you up to the better grade! Going to class makes studying easier too because you have all the notes already. The tests in most of my classes this past semester we’re based off lectures and nothing about the books. If you have trouble finding the book in the bookstore or it’s insanely expensive you can always look on Amazon.com and get it cheaper.
That is sooo true. I was taking a difficult accounting class pass/fail option & had a 65% at the end of the year, but since I had been to almost every class & showed the professor I was trying he pushed me up to a C, giving me a Pass in the class! It is so important to talk to ur teachers- they’re there to help & most want to be ur friend. I believe that professors almost always give u a higher grade than u earn simply by you showing them that you care & make an effort.
