<p>My DS will be a Freshman in Fall 2014, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and in the Honors College. Do any of you have recommendations for the type of computer that would be best for a ME major? I’m thinking he will need a high powered processor for CAD software and graphics. </p>
<p>And another question about textbooks. Is it better to obtain books after going tothe first class? New or used? Only buy from UA bookstore? Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>The school, even the engineering school, only recommends students have a computer capable of internet access and running basic word processing and spreadsheet software. All of the highly specialized, processor intensive software students will need is available in the computer labs in the engineering building. That said when my son (a civil-e major) was a HS senior in 2012 I bought him a 2011 discontinued laptop with a deep discount. He’s been using that laptop for his first two years and still hasn’t mentioned a need to upgrade and he is also able to run a student version of Autocad on it with no problem (I’ll try to find the specs somewhere). If your child is a gamer, then they will want a more powerful computer for that.</p>
<p>As for books, for the humanities and other non-engineering courses, we tend to rent the books. I like Chegg.com, but there are now many other sites doing rentals including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and even the Supe (the UA bookstore). We buy all his engineering books so he can keep them for reference material if he wants, but we do buy used whenever available. I compare prices on many internet sources and buy where I find the lowest cost. </p>
<p>I prefer to buy my S’s books in advance so he has them the first day (some instructors do give assignments the first week of classes), but I have read that others prefer to wait. I think that’s a personal preference. I find if I wait, then he generally has to go to the Supe store to get them quickly and I can’t price compare.</p>
<p>If you want to save on used textbooks, I would buy in advance (if not renting). You can wait in regards to books that you’re not sure will be used, but some will obviously be used so no need to worry. </p>
<p>When my older son was an incoming frosh and I didn’t know about all the alternative ways to buy books, so I just ordered everything from the Supe store. Yes, it was probably a lot more expensive but it was super easy and a couple days before classes started, son went to the Supe Store and they already had everything bagged and ready to go for him. Very easy, but expensive. lol</p>
<p>If you do buy from the Supe store save the receipt and don’t open any packaging if you think something might need to get returned within the time limit.</p>
<p>For laptops, any good one will likely be fine. My eng’g son used a Dell that he customized (this was 5 years ago), and now he has an ASUS laptop with a touchscreen that he really likes. it was about $1000 at Costco. </p>
<p>Have your students save all of their receipts for tax purposes, too. </p>
<p>My engineering son’s experience as far as math textbooks are concerned is that everything is online and no need to purchase the book. I would not buy any math books ahead of time. </p>
<p>If you have Amazon Prime, there is free 2 day shipping on both new books and used books that are shipped by Amazon. If you don’t have Amazon Prime, students can sign up for Prime at $39 for the year <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info?ie=UTF8&refcust=Y5KJJYFEXIQEOS6D3UHN7OJBFU&ref_type=generic”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info?ie=UTF8&refcust=Y5KJJYFEXIQEOS6D3UHN7OJBFU&ref_type=generic</a></p>
<p>Chegg book rental has a pick up location in T-town (not on campus, but a mile or two away). </p>
<p>So there are ways to get books to your student in a reasonable amount of time other than buying at the Sup.</p>
<p>As far as the computer goes, there will be some courses where he’ll need to bring his laptop to class, so make sure you buy something that is not too heavy to tote around. UA has no required specs.</p>
<p>My freshman son ask several upper level ME majors the PC vs. Mac question and it was overwhelmingly in favor of PC, so that is the direction we went. No regrets so far!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the information. It will be helpful when it’s time to go computer shopping. And another question, if a student’s computer has issues, is there a computer repair site on campus?</p>
<p>Computer ‘repair’ on campus is only for software-related issues. If you have a bombproof extended warranty for hardware issues, you will likely have to send it away to the original manufacturer, in order not to void any warranties.</p>
<p>Textbooks</p>
<p>Chemistry 101 is very specific to Alabama and you likely will only be able to buy it on campus. It was VERY expensive for the binder ready (ie not even a bound book) and DS sold it back for next to nothing. If your son does not AP out of Chemistry, try finding a parent here whose kid is taking it now.</p>
<p>Renting – Renting from Amazon varies by state. It was considerable cheaper to rent using our home state and have delivered before the semester started then if DS had delivered to Bama. If you are out of state, price it both ways. We did very well with the Physics book rental. Check Amazon often too; I found the price varied every few days ( I assumed it was based upon stock)</p>
<p>For the first semester, DS bought most of his books from the Supe on campus. A few have been bought used thru Amazon.</p>
<p>If your son is starting Math at Calc I, then that book may be very worthwhile to buy. The same text is used for Calc I, II and III.</p>
<p>I personally start looking at prices as soon as the texts are announced. If I see used books cheap, I pounced on it without consulting my son. I figured I could always resell if he didn’t want/need it.</p>
<p>Some UH courses do not need any texts. That was a bonus!</p>
<p>Textbooks:</p>
<p>Lately I have read horror stories about online rentals. Seems like if the student is going to rent books it’s best to do so from the campus bookstore, where it’s easier to work out a problem in person.</p>
<p>Do go online to purchase Math and Engineering textbooks. You’ll save money, particularly on used books. Search the school/course website to determine which edition is being utilized currently by professors. Read the reviews on Amazon to get an idea of the difference between the latest edition and the immediate prior version. The prior version may be essentially identical to the “latest release” but priced at a steep discount. Like MCKs said, confirm the book that is assigned and buy it early. Hint: a textbook published in 2012 likely will not be updated until 2015 and even then a professor may not require the new edition until the following year, so you’re good to go if you buy your book in the spring or summer before fall classes begin.</p>
<p>Also, I am a fan of International Edition textbooks for STEM classes. You can get the latest version of a required STEM textbook for a fraction of the price of the standard U.S.edition of the same book. I just purchased a new Chemical Engineering textbook from a retailer in Thailand through Ebay. The quality is no different from that of the book sold by the campus bookstore. Saved $100.</p>
<p>Re textbooks: As they get into upper classes, students might want (indeed need) to keep their textbooks for reference for other upper classes, so rentals will not always be the smartest option there.</p>
<p>I see that a few required freshman textbooks at Alabama are available from Textbooks.com, for example, at a significant discount. Essentials of Calculus/STEWART (MATH125) is selling for nearly $115 less than the UA Bookstore item. The same is true for the freshman Chemistry and Physics textbooks. You would need to check to determine the difference between the standard edition of the Chemistry textbook and the “Alabama” version of the book. Unfortunately, specially made editions of textbooks provided to specific colleges is becoming more common as publishers seek for ways to enhance and maintain revenue. They lock up the colleges/professors with sweetheart deals that exploit the market.</p>