<p>Students can now find their book list for the spring semester. Go onto OASIS and look up your book list. </p>
<p>Personally, I have a new record- 35 books! Yikes!</p>
<p>Thanks! I think this will be my cheapest semester in terms of books.</p>
<p>THANKS!!!</p>
<p>Does anyone else think they would not have survived the last 10 months without Nikara?</p>
<p>I really appreciate all the help and advice, Nikara!</p>
<p>I don't even have my schedule, much less know what books I need... <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Thanks Nikara! As suspected, the used prices at the USC book store are higher than the new prices at Amazon and other online stores.... I do have a few questions:</p>
<p>1) One of the books on D's list looks to be a USC-published item, Oasis lists it as "CUST PUB" and even the mighty Google draws</a> a blank. Heck, even the Library of Congress has no</a> record of it. Is it safe to assume that the ISBN is not a typo and the book will be available only at the USC book store?</p>
<p>2) Same question about BOTH books listed for SPAN-120, ISBN's 9780536951588 9780536943729. Google finds only faint records of them ever existing, and the Library of Congress draw a blank. I thought that anything ever published in the US that has an ISBN number would be listed there.</p>
<p>^^^^
After some digging it appears that there are A LOT of custom editions of these "Mosaicos" books for various schools, that sell for next to nothing on Amazon. There are a few currently listed for SPAN-220 on Amazon. It seems such a waste to drop $160 to get them from USC. Is there a way to find out what is inside the package, buying it individually ought to be a lot more cost effective.</p>
<p>Apologies for responding to my own post, I am not allowed to edit it any more.</p>
<p>Are all the books that are required by any class at USC always the newest editions?</p>
<p>Any other good websites that sell textbooks for cheap besides ebay/half.com...I don't mind if they're international editions</p>
<p>I couldn't find the Mosiacos Vol 3 edition for Span 220 on Amazon, just a Vol 2 - did you see the Vol 3, Geek? Or anywhere??? Any luck finding out what's in the package?
thanks</p>
<p>It depends on what the professor wants... just follow the ISBN number oasis gives you.</p>
<p>I took SPAN-220 (Spanish 3), and unless the classes have changed drastically, I think your daughter might unfortunately have to buy the "Mosaicos" book at the USC Bookstore. And yes, the "Mosaicos" package is customized for USC. The reason is because the package comes with a Blackboard access code. On Blackboard, students usually do weekly exercises that are graded online. I took SPAN-220 three semesters ago, but I suspect it's the same deal now as it was then. The student would need a new Blackboard access code, and it might differ per school. Can anyone else who recently took Spanish verify this?</p>
<p>As for the "CUST PUB" matter... yes, it's very safe to assume that the book is only available at the USC Bookstore. Why? Because the book is published at USC. These will usually be the course readers. A few things about course readers:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They CANNOT be returned once you have bought them. No refunds, no exchanges. So make sure your daughter will stick with the course. Slightly off-topic, new textbooks that are shrink-wrapped can only be returned if they are still in the shrink-wrap.</p></li>
<li><p>If the course and professor are the same from the previous semester, there is a chance that the previous semester's course reader will be sufficient. However, there are a couple of problems with this. The first problem is that most people probably do not have their course readers anymore. Second, there is always a possibility that the professor added content into the most recent course reader.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You'll probably get more answers from other people, but I hope this gets you started.</p>
<p>
It is my impression that getting a different edition for humanities classes is probably not a good idea, particularly for translated texts. Furthermore, unless the cost of a book exceeds $50, it is rarely worth it to buy used, unless you are willing to take a copy with heavy highlighting and margin notes. Amazon will give you some of the lowest prices around with free shipping, and by the time you factor in shipping costs you end up saving a couple of bucks per book, hardly worth it when looked into the context of total COA.</p>
<p> [quote=tocollege] I couldn't find the Mosiacos Vol 3 edition for Span 220 on Amazon, just a Vol 2 - did you see the Vol 3
No, I just saw vol.2. However, note powerabe13's remark above, seems like students are stuck with the book store for this one.</p>
<p>
Thank you for the detailed explanation, it helped clarify things. I guess the book store still finds ways to get their cut. As they loose more and more business to the Amazons of the world, their markup on the few things they have exclusive access to is going to go up.</p>
<p>Several courses will have things called Course Readers. These are copied selections of other books that the teacher has specifically put together for that semester's course. Sometimes it is possible to buy these from previous students, but that isn't always possible. Encourage your student to go to the first day of class and ask the teacher- he or she may know of students who would be willing to give over their books.</p>
<p>Also, sometimes the professor will put a copy of the course reader on reserve at the library. On a related note, some of my classmates check out course books (esp. in the humanities) at the library instead of buying their own copies.</p>
<p>Thanks GroovyGeek and powerabe13! I ordered everything except Mosiacos, and I'll get that when I arrive on campus - GREAT info!</p>
<p>Which classes require too many books?</p>
<p>Question for anyone who can answer (but more specifically those who have taken CHEM 105a):</p>
<p>Are optional books a good idea to get or a waste of money?</p>
<p>Man, last sem I think I bought one book.. and didn't buy any books for a GE class (was suppose to buy 3. good times)</p>
<p>And I only have 3 right now (i'm pretty sure its going to increase...sigh) and one cost... 200 dollars. GREAT GREAT TIMES.</p>
<p>My list currently has 5 books for 2 classes.
If they do not post any for my other 2 classes, does it mean the class has no books or they just don't have the list for that yet?</p>
<p>I have 20 books on my list for four classes. Wow.</p>
<p>If you don't have books listed for a class yet, sometimes it means that the teachers hasn't yet submitted the book list, and sometimes it means that you don't have any books.</p>