<p>I have looked up a number of my daughter's textbooks for the Fall 2014 semester, in order to find options beyond the University Bookstore. However, the ISBNs for the Biology 1105 and Chemistry 1035 courses are not ones that show up on Amazon or other alternative book stores. Might these be custom editions specifically for VT? Does this happen very often? These tend to be expensive in that the University Bookstore is likely to be the only vendor for these.</p>
<p>Can you post the ISBNs?</p>
<p>For Biology it is 9780073377605, and for Chemistry it is 9781259389696, both according to the University Bookstore site.</p>
<p>Yes. VT for the science classes tend to have “custom” books so finding a bargain is tough. Good news is that this does decrease somewhat as the years progress.</p>
<p>@bboop42 - Thanks. That is disappointing, but not surprising. Do they use the same book from year to year, or are they essentially new editions every time? </p>
<p>I found they tweak them slightly so that they can sell as a new version each year. Kind of a racket if you ask me but what are you going to do… Atleast the Chem and Bio books are usually good for both semesters if you need to take a series. (as long as it is in the same year)</p>
<p>Also, you will know the access code works with these books.</p>
<p>This isn’t just at VT - I have students at two different universities and have ran into the same thing. Often the text book will be bundled with class notes or lab notes or another book. Sometimes these items can be purchased separately at the college book store so you can still get the text elsewhere, but not always. </p>
<p>@csfmap - you are absolutely correct. VT is not alone in this “practice”. I have kids in multiple colleges and only of these has “standard” freshman books that I can purchase on-line. Unfortunately, it does raise the cost of college overall.</p>
<p>We’ve had good luck with Bookholders. You can buy on line and pick up the new and used books at their store just off campus. You won’t get as much of a discount on the custom books. I think we re-used the Physics textbook for son #2 but had to buy a new access code for the online resources. I helped my sons their first semester at VT then they took care of everything for the following semesters. As they should!</p>
<p>You can rent the iClicker needed for Chem 1035 for $24 but the book seems only to be available for purchase for $228! Unless anyone knows differently?</p>
<p>I was able to get an iClicker2 from eBay for $20 and free postage. Take a look for that, at least.</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>