I know this may be early to think about but I was wondering if you have found that renting the books instead of buying them was better for any of you. I will be an engineering major. I am sure there are some books you will want to keep for reference for your career, or maybe not. My mom said when she went to college she would get new or used and sell the ones they didn’t want back. Didn’t know if this process still exists since technology has changed since then. So, can you give me your opinions if you rent them,and if so where is the best place. Trying to see if this could save some money towards books. UMD estimates $1,130 for books. Do you feel that is accurate?
It might have to do with the classes I take, but I find that I barely ever need the textbooks. The only textbooks I’ve ever used consistently are math text books. (Also I recommend you purchase, not rent, the calc textbook because it is the same book for calc 1, 2, and 3). A lot of times the teacher will claim you need it, but in the end you get the exact same information (literally identical sometimes) from their lectures. Although if you are the sort of person who might skip lectures the textbook can be helpful. It really depends on the teacher.
You can buy new or used books or rent them from the university bookstore, however I don’t recommend that unless you need it right that second. There are lots of places around campus, most notably bookholders. You can also look online for the best prices, amazon, etc. You can also buy or rent ebook versions of your textbook, which is usually cheaper but depends on how you feel about using ebooks. If you really want to save money a lot of text books can be found for free around the internet (note this is not legal but a lot of people do it).
Don’t buy your textbooks until the first day of classes. A lot of times they’ll tell you you don’t need it. And even if they insist that you do need it, more often than not that is not true. For the majority of intro level classes the information is readily available elsewhere, so its often unnecessary. The best way to find out for sure though is ask someone who took the class (with the same professor) previously.
This semester I didn’t buy a single textbook. Two of my professors said we needed the book, but I haven’t had even a moment where I wished I had it. The only textbook I use is my calc textbook that I bought previously. (and that’s because of required homework)
you say not to get them before class starts however, aren’t there times when you have to read or do an assignment before you start class? And how did you know you didn’t need the book even after the professor told you that you were going to need the book? I am one of those students that wants to be prepared so I don’t get overwhelmed, especially since everyone says engineering curriculum is so rigorous. But I would love to save money if I can on the books. How would I be able to reach out to other students who previously had that professor? I don’t have facebook or twitter.
I’ve never had a class where you need the book for something before it starts, I’ve actually never had any assignments before the class starts… And if you did have such a class, you’d know far enough in advance to get the book. It just depends on what the professor says, like if you have to do readings or you’ll be tested on the material, get the book. But a lot of times they just want you to get it to study out of. But in most cases if you go to class and take good notes its really not necessary. Just use your best judgement, in the end spending a little money on a book that you don’t need is better than not spending the money and ending up not doing as well as you had hoped. Plus as you get older you will know more people in your major so they can give you a heads up. I don’t know much about the engineering school so you might need your books a lot for that. Also you’ll definitely want the textbook for classes like calc, chem (orgo gross), physics etc. But for most gen eds, they are often not necessary unless you need to do specific readings.