<p>As a freshman, when would you recommend me to buy books? Should I wait until I attend at least one class or what? Thanks! For some of the books, they say we need an online access. Do we seriously need the online access?</p>
<p>Usually online access is really required for turning in homework or other assignments. I recommend buying books once you get the syllabus. The University Bookstore, Bookholders, etc all have good return policies, so if you end up buying from one of those stores you should be fine if you end buying from those stores. </p>
<p>Bookholders has been the best option for buying books in my opinion, you can compare prices for all the other bookstores and it’s generally been the cheapest when buying near campus. Buying online for non-VT edition books can also be cheaper than buying from the bookstores, but it comes with some risk and the return policies aren’t as generous.</p>