<p>If classes start on September 6, when would it be recommended to buy books because buying them online is cheaper, however, I would imagine that having them delivered would be if-fy since permanent room assignments aren't given until a couple of days before. For the current or past MIT students that have gone through this, do you remember when and how you bought your books freshman year?</p>
<p>There have been several threads about this, mostly suggesting that you not panic and just buy them from upperclassmen once you're there. Here are a couple of the previous threads, which might have ideas for you:</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=84222%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=84222</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=91893%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=91893</a></p>
<p>Specifically, I ordered my books online first term freshman year after meeting with my advisor and determining my schedule. It ended up being fine, since there's a lag between classes starting and homework being due. One of my books was delayed, so I shared books with my friend next door for a few days.</p>
<p>You can order books as soon as you know what dorm you'll be in permanently -- you don't generally need to put a room number to have mail get to you, since your dorm's front desk will sort the mail. Even if you ordered using your temp dorm address and then moved to a different permanent dorm, it wouldn't be a huge deal -- you could just tell the temp dorm that the books were coming, and you could check back with them and pick the books up after they were delivered.</p>
<p>Thank you mootmom and mollie!</p>