<p>I'm an entering first-year this fall. I'm still warming up to the idea of not registering for courses until O-Week. One concern I have is with buying books. Most of my friends from high school have already registered for classes and ordered their books. I, obviously, have not, since I don't know what classes I'm taking yet.</p>
<p>My concern is this: I'm very stingy. Very very stingy. So I want to buy used books, preferably online. However, by not registering for my classes until, say, three days before I start taking them, this is a bit more difficult. The wisdom from other parts of CC suggest that it's fine to still order the books online, even if they arrive a few days late. Does this work at UChicago?</p>
<p>Sorry if this all appears to be over-anxious. I just feel like I will be shuffled into some parade during O-Week, starting at my adviser's office and ending at the university bookstore. I don't want that to happen.</p>
<p>There should be a decent number of the required books on hold at one of the libraries (i.e. you can check it out for some hours, read it in the library and then return it, free of charge). You can order whatever books you want online and make use of the books at the library until they arrive. Also, there is a high probability that upperclassmen in your house might have the book(s) you need and will be willing to part with them for a low price. Furthermore you can search the book section on marketplace.uchicago.edu and find someone who is selling the book and lives within a few blocks so you could pick it up within a day or two.</p>
<p>A combination of these methods should suffice.</p>
<p>As a parent, I have been pleasantly surprised by the relatively few books my son has been required to buy. Several courses have had all required readings posted online; the various borrowing and buying options described above or online purchases (the very slight delay entailed hasn’t been too problematic) have worked for the majority of the rest. While this may be a fortuitous artifact of the particular classes he’s taken thus far, the cash outlay hasn’t been nearly as bad as I had expected.</p>
<p>My kids have bought all of their books online. It isn’t always possible to get used ones, but we do that when we can. Anyway, they have always had their full complement of books by the second week of class. For the first week or so, they have (a) used the library, (b) borrowed a book from a classmate for a few hours, or (c) on two or three occasions, bought the first week’s book at Sem Co-op or (if available) Powell’s. Anyway, we have gotten through 19 student-quarters that way, so it’s doable.</p>
<p>As some one who shares you stinginess, I have given this some thought.</p>
<p>There have already been several excellent suggestions which I would not/ could not have thought of, to which I will add a few suggestions of my own:</p>
<p>a) You will inevitably take a humanities course this year. Most of the course descriptions for these classes give at least some details about the works read. If you are “so certain” about which humanities course you would like to take, then it may be safe to order the books for this class.</p>
<p>b) If you plan to take a language course during your first quarter, buy a dictionary/lexicon for the target language.</p>
<p>c) If you plan on taking a math or science class, I believe you’re truly stuck in a rut with no way out. You cannot know the specific textbook that will be assigned. To remedy this, work to find a used book as quickly as possible. I’ve heard the Bookstore and Co-op tend to have slim-pickings in this area. Two alternatives are the online marketplace (already mentioned) and eBay, where I’ve seen quite a few math textbooks up for resale.</p>
<p>d) Bear in mind, all of these options are risky.</p>
<p>Seminary Co-Op is always a good option and it’s not too expensive. Also, Amazon is good for used books. I’ve bought some of the expensive science/math books there used for good deals.</p>
<p>Haha, I’ve been in it. What I mean is that the library doesn’t purposely keep textbooks off limits, and the professors seem to do a good job avoiding expensive editions of books. That’s based on this thread and my perusal of the course syllabi in Chalk.</p>
<p>marketplace.uchicago.edu is your new best friend. Plus, many second-years, warmed up to the idea of selling their core books off to the next generation of readers, will be hawking their books.</p>
<p>Most classes in the humanities and social sciences will be reading books that are either printed by academic presses or that are readily available, used, from a variety of sources (i.e. Adam Smith, Augustine, etc.) for academic books, you can always see if Google Books offers the chapters assigned. You can also, if you are so inclined, take out all the books from the Reg that you will need to read on a quarterly loan. You can also find good deals on Powells.com and half.com</p>
<p>I will point out that I am a book buyer and I set aside a sizable amount of my money for buying my books fresh from the Co-Op. (I’m double-majoring in the humanities and the social sciences, so while I’m not buying a lot of textbooks, I’m buying a lot of book-books). However, in almost every class I’ve been in, my glossy version has been the exception, not the norm.</p>