Renting a textbook a good idea?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
1

<p>Is renting a textbook a good idea? The rental site says the book may not come with access codes or cd's that would come with a new book.</p>

2

<p>It would depend on the class and the instructor. I would only rent a textbook if it is for a lower-level non-major class, and if the instructor has indicated that they will not be using or requiring any of the supplemental materials normally included with the book. In the first case, textbooks for major classes become professional resources later on, and you should plan on keeping them. In the second case, while you can usually skip any supplemental materials some professors will go out of their way to utilize them, in which case not having them would be a real problem.</p>

<p>Hope that helps!</p>

3

<p>Comicfish put it well. Another thing that many people do is order the books online for a good deal, and sell them to the bookstore after you’re done using them to possibly make a bit of profit.</p>

4

<p>We found that we could buy some books new online at a significant discount…even cheaper than used or renting.</p>

5

<p>I have my courses scheduled but where do I find which books I need for each course? and also except from amazon is there any other good website for buying books?</p>

6

<p>To find your required and/or recommended books:</p>

<pre><code> For Universiy Park: go to Welcome to Barnes & Noble at The Penn State University*Bookstore and click the “Textbooks” link at the top. From there, fill in the boxes according to your official schedule.

   For any other campus: You'll have to google "penn state [your campus name here] bookstore" and click the first link.

</code></pre>

<p>The best place that I’ve found to buy books is at [Half.com:</a> Textbooks , Books , Music , Movies , Games , Video Games](<a href=“Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay”>http://www.half.ebay.com/) . At the top of the page, it has a box where you can paste the ISBN of the book (penn state bookstore will provide the number for each book) and it will find you tons of people who are selling that book on ebay. You can choose from new, like new, very good, etc… Unlike average ebay sales tho, you must use a credit card to purchase your order. No paypal login :(</p>