<p>My oldest son goes to another U. When he was a freshman, we went to the bookstore on move-in day, went to the area for each class and picked up the books. These were placed on his account to be put on his university tuition bill. Can someone tell me how it works at UA? Can we pick his books out on move-in day (August 18th for him)? Does it go against his tuition bill or do we need to pay for these by cash/charge card? Or do we have to “order these” ahead of time for pick-up?</p>
<p>We have read NOT to buy any books before the 1st day of class but this makes me nervous? We had decided for the first semester to buy them (or rent them?)at the bookstore instead of Amazon, Chegg etc. to make it easier for returns if necessary. Can someone help us with “buying book basics?” (Sorry if this is a repeat of a thread.) Thanks!</p>
<p>If you’re buying books at the Supe Store, you have two options. First, you can go and pick out all of your books. They are arranged either alphabetically or by subject or maybe both…I can’t quite remember, but I have never had any trouble at all finding any of the books I’ve needed. I don’t think there’s any way to charge it toward one’s tuition, but you can use Bama Cash for purchases at the Supe Store. Otherwise, you’d pay with a credit card or cash. The other option is to order your books on the Supe Store website. You then go to the Supe Store (I think they tell you to allow a day or two), and they will have all of your books in a bag, ready for you. </p>
<p>I agree about waiting until the first day of class – however, do not wait any longer than that. The common thing you’ll hear is that you have a week of leniency for buying books, but this is definitely not true for all professors. I procrastinated buying them thinking I’d have enough time, then one night after the Supe Store had closed, I realized I had homework due the next morning that required a book I had not yet bought. So, you’re smart to think about this ahead of time. :)</p>
<p>^^^Good point, regina. Especially for incoming freshmen who are a bit overwhelmed at this point, it’s nice to just walk in and get handed your books in a bag. </p>
<p>Just make sure he knows you did this, ordered them ahead of time and they are there waiting for them, so that he doesn’t purchase the same book and you realize after the very early return deadline that you have two of the same book. Been there, done that. And no, they are not very forgiving of that deadline. We have a very expensive engineering book that is not being used again this year, so no sell back, and a very grateful Freecycle person will soon be the new owner.</p>