<p>I was just looking over my S's booklist and it looks like the only required textbook for Math 151 is the Matlab book. There are 3 other very pricey books that are "reccommended". What does that mean and is it necessary to purchase these? There are other classes that have both reccommended and required books but calculus by far has the highest priced "recommended" list. How do you decide whether or not to purchase "reccommended" books? Is it difficult if you make that decision after the semester begins?</p>
<p>You need to have the Matlab book and the Calculus Early Vectors book. The Matlab book I believe is just for the lab section of 151 and has nothing to do with actual calculus. But now that I look at it I see that they may be using an E-book version of the Calculus Early Vectors. I am also taking 151 and I just went ahead and bought the book along with the solutions manual, but I bought it from a friend who had already taken the course so I didn’t pay anywhere near full price for it. From what I understand you will use the Early Vectors book for a few semesters of Calculus.</p>
<p>I guess it is up to you to decide whether or not you want to buy the actual book, but from what it seems like right now you don’t need to. I bought it because I just want to have a physical copy of the book. I did a little bit more research and I see that they make everyone purchase the book through webassign so I’m assuming that you’ll be fine without purchasing the physical copy of the book. </p>
<p>Right now I would wait to see what they tell you.</p>
<p>Some of the professors send out this information to the student’s TAMU email. Have you S check his email.</p>
<p>Thanks, AllThisIsNEwToMe. Your name fits the way we are feeling! He has checked his email but nothing yet. </p>
<p>Listed as optional is the Solutions book and then the Vectors book in book form and again listed as “CALCULUS,EARLY VECTOR (LOOSE) >CUSTOM<” Is this the paper and electronic format of the same book? What is webassign?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>I think Webassign is the online package that they use for homework. My son is leading Fish Camp right now so I can’t ask him, but I’m 95% sure he only bought the required Calc book. We saved a LOT that first semester by ordering on Amazon (a LOT means > $500 off the bookstore prices). It’s well worth doing it - just be careful to get the exact book(s) listed. We did buy a Chem book that he ended up not needing (they had to buy an online package) but I know he got Calc, Physics & his Engr Intro books all on Amazon.</p>
<p>It’s a lot that first semester, but by the 3rd week they’re all settled in and having a blast!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>“Webassign” isn’t on our course materials list, where do we find that? BTW there were a couple of books we didn’t see on Amazon but found them on the B&N site at significant savings over the listed price on the reccommended materials page. That surprised me…We were also wondering, if you check off the used price if available is there one standard that used books accepted are kept to? We didn’t trust this on the TAMU reccommended page because we didn’t see an explanation of “used” as there is with Amazon.</p>
<p>Only get the required text(s) and the Matlab book (if not required). Recommended texts will not be needed. Additionally, the HW will be submitted online… so that’s what “webassign” is.</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P925 using CC</p>
<p>The Stewart Calculus book is expensive… but you can use it for three classes (Math 151, 152, and 251), and it’s worth it. I highly recommend the solutions manual too.</p>
<p>“CALCULUS,EARLY VECTOR (LOOSE) >CUSTOM<” sounds like a loose-leaf version of the textbook, which I would not get. Look for a hardback version instead. Like others I recommend looking for a used copy on Amazon or eBay… the MSC bookstore tends to charge more than these other websites. Don’t worry about getting the specific right version of the textbook - introductory calculus hasn’t changed much recently!</p>
<p>Webassign is the online service for submitting homework problems. Sometimes it is bundled with a new book purchase, but it is almost always cheaper to buy a used book and then buy webassign seaparately.</p>