<p>I have a few questions about buying books at UF</p>
<p>1) Whats the average cost per semester you usually spend on books?
2) where are the cheapest places to look for books? (stores and online options)
3) I have heard that people can still use their financial aid money (like pell grant) to buy for books off campus (not at the UF bookstore) by just waiting until you get your refund...or something like that. Is this possible? if so how?!</p>
<p>I’ll answer in the same order you asked based on my experience…</p>
<p>1) your average cost depends on your major and the classes you’re taking… I’m in architecture where I’ll spend $200 MAX in books (and that’s exaggerating) but then I’ll go up to $700 in supplies (glue, boards, wood, etc…) Calc, physics and chem books are usually the mroe expensive ones ($100-$200 retail for each)</p>
<p>2) I buy books on Amazon, whatever you do, don’t buy the books at the bookstore unless is some special lab guide that’s only sold there. It’s a total ripoff. New books are cheaper online, used are even more cheaper. i.e. pre calc book retail price was $125, bookstore had is used for $80, Amazon.com used $13 + shipping = $17. sounds like a better deal to me…</p>
<p>3) Yes, you can use your fin aid money to buy books at the bookstore but it’s a rip off because the bookstore gets paid straight from UF for your books and then they’ll send you a check for whatever amount is left, and after buying books at the bookstore there’s not much left. The best thing you can do is simply go ahead and buy your books online and then when you get your fin aid disbursed, even after taking out what you already spend online buying books, you will have more money left over from your fin aid package.</p>
<p>I’m a transferring junior into the mech. engineering program.
Kttn2103:
so since I’m buying my books online, how early should i buy my books? (so i don’t fall behind in the classes)</p>
<p>My 2 cents:</p>
<p>Here’s the process I go through with books and I’ve saved THOUSANDS of dollars. First I try and find out if I will really need the book… you can do this by checking rate my professor, trying to find the syllabus by searching UF’s website, asking around, etc. If I need or just know I’ll want the book then I start doing price comparisons. I check half.com, Amazon, and sometimes even the local used bookstores (Orange & blue textbooks, etc). It really just depends, I’ve found better deals at any of the places depending on the book. Also, as an engineer you’re going to have the same people in your classes over and over. Make friends, a lot of people who might have had a class you’re taking the previous semester might let you use their book or sell it to you for really cheap. Also, if you don’t have homework out of it find out if you can use an old edition. You can usually get the previous edition for insanely cheap (I’m talking like a dollar). If you want to know ahead of time you could e-mail your professor and ask.</p>
<p>Most professors that I’ve had expect that a lot of students don’t have the book yet so they usually give you at least 2 weeks to get it, so you should have time. If you absolutely need it before you get it in the mail almost every class has one or multiple copies on reserve in the library.</p>
<p>Like Kttn said, I can’t stress enough to avoid the bookstore unless absolutely necessary. Seriously a huge ripoff, that’s hundreds of bucks in your pocket for use for something else. I don’t get why people throw away so much money on textbooks.</p>
<p>Like hsb1104 said, make sure you need the book before you buy it. If you already know who your professor will be, go ahead and email him and ask if the textbook will be used. </p>
<p>Also, at the end of the semester if you’re done with the book and want to sell it because you don’t want it/won’t need it, etc… DON"T sell it back to the bookstore, they’ll rip you off once more. Try selling it on Amazon or craigslist or facebook marketplace… but whatever you do, stay away from the bookstore.</p>
<p>Anyone have experience w/ “international edition” copies of UF-specific textbooks (e.g., textbooks for CHM 2045, PHY 2048)?</p>
<p>I just bought one for CHM 2045, and I compared it to my friend’s regular edition textbook, and it was exactly the same.</p>
<p>Do international books have the same ISBN code? Thanks</p>
<p>Yes. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number</p>