<p>I was looking at the required books for the different classes (at least the ones I'm sure I'll take) and some of them have like 10 books (an Engl class). Is it necessary to purchase all of them? Now?</p>
<p>Also, any tips?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Does anyone know how we do the ordering through the school thing? Someone handed me a white sheet about it at CTOPs, but I lost it :(</p>
<p>^ Start looking at places like Chegg, Half, eBay, etc. for you books if you’re 100% sure you’re taking the class. Or you could do the thing through the school. That’s on the white sheet. Which I can’t find at the moment.</p>
<p>I would recommend renting the books for the semester. If you want to buy through the school go to the school book shop, there is a link on there.</p>
<p>The word at CTOPS was this … you can find books cheaper, sometimes you don’t have to buy them all, you can wait until first day of class to find out. If you buy through the school, they will deliver them to you (I think). If you can afford it, seems like it is much easier this first semester to buy through the school and not have to deal with it- when you have to deal with so many new things. YOu can only buy through the school your freshman year, at least that’s what the student panel said.</p>
<p>I’m a senior, so I’ve had a lot of experience buying books. For the first three years, I bought textbooks through the school (you can buy through the school all four years). A lot of people think it is way too expensive or whatever, but Student Stores will have all the books you need and it is convenient. You can pre-order your textbooks through the Student Stores website. Log on to the Student Stores website (I think you need your onyen and password) and then you can look up your classes and it will have the books listed for each class. Then you can order them online and Student Stores puts them in a bundle for you and you go pick it up before classes start (like that Monday before). Make sure to check all your books before you leave Student Stores - they sometimes mess things up. Then see what you definitely need once your classes start, and you can return the books you don’t need and get your money back. Ta da!</p>
<p>This year, I am ordering all of my books except one through Amazon. My books were just drastically cheaper on Amazon this year and I’m brave enough to do it this time, lol. One of my books is a brand new edition and the same price everywhere, so I’m probably getting that through Student Stores.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>^ I just pre-ordered my books through the website because you can just write one check that covers your tuition + textbooks? It’s all charged to the same place?</p>
<p>If you pre-order through the Student Stores website, you pay with a credit card. Or I always did. You pick your books and then “proceed to checkout” or something along those lines!</p>
<p>nah, you can get it put with your tuition bill. that’s what i’m doing with mine.</p>
<p>Oops, I had no clue that was an option. Guess I am credit card happy, lol!</p>
<p>Are the “custom packages” (both my math and Engl have them) required to be purchased through the student store? Is there are way to find out the individual books in them?</p>
<p>It’s definitely not necessary to purchase all of the books, especially right now. And I hardly ever purchased the books through UNC because they’re so expensive. I wouldn’t worry about any of the classes requiring you to bring your books on the first day. I’ve never heard of that happening. In order to cut down on the amount of money you spend on books, I would recommend the following:</p>
<p>1) Never buy from Student Stores unless you have to. They are super, super expensive. Use the ISBNs from the student stores website to buy them used off half.com. If you English class has individual, widely-published books that are just bundled together in some kind of “custom package” then I would try to find them all on half.com. </p>
<p>2) You should probably go to a class and make sure that you want to stay in it before you buy the required books. </p>
<p>3) Look up your books and see if they’re available at UNC Libraries. If they’re already taken out, you can try requesting the book from another college’s library. They’ll ship the book to UNC for you for free.</p>
<p>4) If you’re taking the same class as a friend, a lot of times you can share the textbook.</p>
<p>Hope that helps and good luck!</p>
<p>So i looked on my ConnectCarolina student account, and I only have $98 left in financial aid (after the tuition, meal plan, housing, and some random fees have been charged). I’m a Carolina Covenant scholar by the way. Should I just stick to buying the books on amazon to save money? Or can i buy the books though the student stores but paying them later by putting the costs on my student account so that i can wait until i have saved enough money from my work-study job to pay the book costs off? is that called deferment? Does anyone understand what I’m saying? :)</p>
<p>^I would go ahead and buy the books from Amazon. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but every single book I bought NEW from Amazon (free shipping if you spend more than $25 and no tax, by the way) has been cheaper than the exact books USED from the student stores. Also, the lines for the student stores books can be quite outrageous (not always, of course), and Amazon delivers to your door.</p>
<p>So I was looking up what books I needed for my SPAN 203 class, and it looks to be about three, but only one is required. The other two say OC=Optional Choice and OS=Optional (Sold at Reg). Does anyone know the difference between these two labellings and whether or not these books are really needed in this class? :)</p>
<p>I hate it when certain books are “optional.” Just tell me if I really need them, ha ha! I would buy the required book and ask on the first day of class if you really need the other two books (you will not be the only person with that question, I promise). Some professors will be really nice and post the readings from the “optional” books on Blackboard, so it ends up being pointless to buy them. I would double check on the first day and go from there.</p>
<p>does anyone know if it is tax-free if you buy your books through the Student Stores? :)</p>
<p>I placed the order online from the student store and it charged me a painful 7.75% of NC tax, so I guess the answer is nope. At least online. By the way, my total was $800+, which made my day gray, sad and rainy lol</p>
<p>On another note, I’m so going to return three of those books when I get on campus. I looked them up in Chegg.com and I save such an obscene amount of money that it’s almost funny (renting, my total is $300+).
I ordered them from the student stores because I didnt know that these textbook rental places (like Chegg) give you 30 days from the moment you order to return the books and get a refund (minus shipping). I called the student stores and they said that their refund timeline goes from 2 weeks prior 08/24 and 2 weeks after. So if I rent, let’s say, on the 24th, I’ll have even more time to return the book if I drop the class.</p>
<p>
AuburnLatina, this weekend is tax-free weekend in NC so from the 6th-8th you can get the books tax-free through the student store!!</p>
<p>oh come on!!! dont tell me that! really?? and online too?</p>
<p>Saphire, yes I’m pretty sure that it applies to online book sales too!</p>