@dfbdfb I see your college professor point about having the book for the 1st day. As a mom of 4 college students we have purchased many books that were listed for the class prior to 1st day to have the professor say they changed the book needed on the 1st day. We like to buy second hand so returning is not always an option.
D will be doing move in and orientation all in the same week so she probably won’t have all her books the 1st day of classes. I don’t really want to pay the expensive book store prices if I don’t have too!
Then email the professor a couple weeks ahead of class starting—most of them will clarify if a textbook isn’t being used after all.
(Part of the problem is a well-meaning but stupid federal law passed a few years back that makes us make binding textbook decisions months—in some cases, more than six months!—ahead of classes starting, before we’ve even begun planning our classes. Hard to make really good decisions at that point, you know?)
I think we will get the textbooks in advance. The old syllabi online seem to make it clear which are needed for problem sets and which are for reference. (He will probably need the reference ones also.) He’ll be on the 10-week quarter system, and from our UC experience that starts fast and keeps going fast.
Not buying books till after the first day of class. Looking at the listing of text books required for his classes, several classes specify that the details on purchasing text books will be explained in that first class. It seems many require online access, or have multiple choices in how to acquire the text.
I never bought books until after classes started. Though that was back in the dark ages when we read by candle light and walked uphill in the snow both ways to classes. Back then, campus books stores actually carried books. Places were zoos for the first week or two of classes each quarter. But you could buy a book on your way to class and use it that day.
Now the campus bookstores appear to be more apparel outlets than anything. They carry next to no books in stock. You order them and pick them up at the bookstore. Can be a little hit or miss in terms of how long it takes to get the book. I had to order two copies of the same organic chemistry book for my son last year because I ordered one that was cheapest but it had a range of delivery dates (was 2-3 weeks out from needing it). But actual delivery fell toward the end of that range and classes were approaching so I ordered a second one (slightly more expensive) from Amazon with a quicker delivery date. Sent one back but it was a hassle.
If you plan to buy books when classes start, check for availability/delivery time. Having it the second day of class may work but having it the 2d or 3rd week of classes may be a problem.
My D’s professors were good about communicating with students before her first semester, as far as what textbooks were required. So she had all of her books for the first day of classes.
The chem prof also let students use an older edition of the textbook, and would tell them the alternate page numbers for homework.
Some books she bought or rented from campus bookstore, some she rented from Amazon.
For her second year she wasn’t sure what was needed for ochem and stats, the bookstore listed a clicker for stats, but she found out they provided those for the students, and the ochem 1 professor didn’t require an online access code while the ochem 2 one did. So she waited until the first class, which at her school is usually dedicated to going over the syllabus.
With Amazon prime 2 day shipping, she then had the book by the next time the class met.
But every school and professor can be different. And if you plan to buy or rent from the campus bookstore, you might want to buy books early, so they don’t run out of the ones you need. You might be able to return them if they are not needed.
Also depending on the refund policies of a college, some students might not have extra money to buy their books yet.
One other useful textbook trick: After i flunked out and restarted everything, someone suggested reading the first chapter or so of my textbooks before classes started so that I knew what I was getting into. That is, for example, how I knew beforehand that I needed to drop History of the Soviet Union and find something else to fill that gen ed slot, fast.
Books are very expensive these days. My D’s foreign language book was $200, the science books over $100, she was able to rent most of them though, and they usually covered both semesters.
One of the things my S15 ran into for classes is unbound books - his Chem & Calculus books were loose leaf, so once opened, there was no returning even if you dropped the class & there was no book buy back for those either. His Chem then also required a subscription to ALEKS & a clicker. His total just for the one semester of Chem was over $400. His Calculus book was at least good for 3 semesters, so that wasn’t that bad. Luckily, D17 is heading to the same university & will be using his Chem & Calculus books. She’s made a deal with him to pay for the books by cooking for him. Otherwise, both kids utilize online shopping to get most of the textbooks.
Exciting news that S’s entire first semester books were < $100. We did buy one optional book on Amazon because son wanted a hard copy of it. Most of their books are online and included in tuition
Graduation: We finally got through the Graduation and Graduation party. It was very hot but my daughter was really excited for both so it was a nice way to end the year. Now we all go on a little shore vacation, get some much needed R&R, and then back to prepping and endless paperwork before the fall semester!
Orientation: Wow, a few check-ins and orientations already! D will not have orientation until the week prior to classes starting.
Classes: D had to register for classes at the beginning of the month online. She had little choice regarding required classes, she just needed to choose the times. She’ll be taking Cultural Foundations, Social Foundations, Intensive Writing and Intensive Elementary French - it’s a full course load at 18 credits. Since she is a science girl, it’s a bit tough for her to put off those classes until next year, but she plans to bring her endless supply of side reading to fill the void! I suggested she also bring her AP Calc and AP Physics study guides to review throughout the year and keep the content fresh in her mind (what happened to the little emojis? - imagine one here - she would never take that suggestion!)
Books: She is not able to order materials in advance although I did order one book on Amazon that I believe is a reading requirement over the summer (they have yet to confirm). My understanding is that she can get what she needs during orientation week.
D won’t be buying textbooks until after classes start. With a late registration date, she’s going to need to make good use of drop/add period to get the classes she wants. No sense in buying books until she has clarity on which professors she’ll have.
I find the various freshman schedules interesting. For example dfbdfb D has Bio & Chem, freshman at my D’s school are not allow to take Bio first semester.
Here is my D’s summer schedule
What is the Good Life (required Humanities course) 3 credits
General Psychology 3 credits
Introduction to Library Research 1 credit
Fall is still a toss-up while she waits on AP scores.
It is turning out to be an interesting first week of classes with the baseball team winning the National Championship Monday evening.
Does any one have any thoughts about prepaying tuition to lock in this years tuition rate for the next 4 years?
For those who are just starting to think about dorm rooms, I wanted to share that Marshalls had a better selection of XL bedding than BB&B. (At least from a female perspective. My sons didn’t care.)
@botcom If you prepay, I would make sure you get tuition insurance or would be able to get your money out if your student decides this is not the right college or something else happens. If that can be handled, then tuition certainly does go up every year at most colleges.
how about finding pdfs of textbooks? 
@botcom My understanding is that prepayments would involve a contract with the University that would stipulate what would happen to unused and/or prepaid funds. The Bursar’s Office at your daughter’s school would be the best place to find out their specific policies.
If funds could be returned, keep in mind technically they would be in the student’s name, and the student would be able to withdraw upon request. Not saying that would ever be a problem. :-?
Once again, stealing a question idea from FB. Who’s waiting on AP scores next week? AP Chem and Calc BC here.
We are in the first release group this time around. Does anyone in a later release state (CA is in the last group this year) plan to try and use a friend in another state or another way to get their results earlier?
It’s a bit silly in this time of modern computing that the college board can’t release them all at once.