<p>Is there a way to pre-order your books and would you suggest doing that?</p>
<p>When you’re on the book list (the one you get to from the student schedule), there’s a preorder option, I believe. However, I don’t plan on buying any of my textbooks through the campus bookstore because it’s easy to save money if you just put some effort into finding cheaper options online. My brother went through all of college only buying a single book from the book store when he couldn’t find it anywhere else, and he saved a lot of money that way!</p>
<p>My son used Bookholders. The prices are much less then the bookstore. They deliver the books to your dorm the next day.</p>
<p>You mean from the University Book store? Yes, all you have to do is place the order online and then you pay when you pick them up (I think). If the books are not in stock, they won’t charge you.</p>
<p>Would I recommend it? No. Because the books at the UMD bookstore are super overpriced. I shop around like crazy for my books. Take last semester for example, if I were to buy all my books at the UMD bookstore, I would have spent $700+, but I managed to buy everything I need for about $200, for a total of 15 books or so. </p>
<p>Here are places I bought from:</p>
<p>textbookrus.com
half.com
amazon.com
bookholders.com</p>
<p>There is a bookholders right off campus, extremely close to South Hill, and it is right next to the Maryland Book Exchange ( not the same as the UMD bookstore). Prices there are decent, and you can have them put it on hold and you can pick it up when the semester begins. The Maryland Book Exchange is also a good place to shop if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to buy online. Prices at the Maryland Book Exchange is 1/2 to 2/3 of that at the UMD bookstore.</p>
<p>Also, you may find out in the first week of classes that your professor doesn’t really require some of the specific textbooks. Both my D’s found the best luck w/ Bookholders, Amazon, and the very best deal (for semesters after this first one) is to find someone who is currently taking the class who will sell you their book directly. They can find out how much Bookholders would sell their used book for, and even if you pay a little bit above that price, you’ll both come out ahead. They’ll get more from you than Bookholders would pay them, and you’ll pay less that if you’d bought it from Bookholders.</p>