<p>I'm an incoming freshman, and I have no idea whether the recommended books will actually be useful. </p>
<p>Does the usefulness of the books depend on which particular classes you are taking, or personal preference, or is there some general consensus that they are usually worth purchasing?</p>
<p>I have actually already reserved the recommended books for my classes, so the more appropriate question might be whether I should return them.</p>
<p>And before anyone says so, I know that many people to buy their books from sources other than the UCSD bookstore, and that it is cheaper. I'm depending on grants through the school, though, so I think I need to buy them from there. Regardless, the money isn't coming out of my pocket, but even so, I do not want to spend more than necessary.</p>
<p>i’ve never found a recommended book to be of any use. in any case, you can always find them on reserve at the library and you can peruse them there and make xeroxes of any pages you want.</p>
<p>In four years at UCSD I only found like 3 recommended books useful ever. Reserve the required books for your first quarter- it’s stressful for freshman to navigate the bookstore.</p>
<p>But wait til you’ve actually attended the class- then you can walk to the bookstore and flip thru the recommended books and see if you actually want them.</p>
<p>Also if you make friends with someone in class, then you can split the cost of a recommended book and trade off.</p>
<p>Is it required to have our textbooks before classes start?</p>
<p>Everyone seems to have already gotten their books, but since my schedule is iffy and my classes are probably going to be changed, I don’t want to buy books and then not be able to return them.</p>
<p>Do you guys think it’s okay to wait until the first week of school to order our books? </p>
<p>depends. for some classes, you’ll have quizzes or homework due early in the quarter. in that case, you’re gonna need the book. you can always borrow a friend’s or library copy and xerox the necessary pages. usually with poli sci, music, history, etc. classes all that’s due is reading so you could wait. but with science and math classes, you probably need the book fairly soon. so secure a way to quickly get all the books you need. at the worst, you can buy them all from the bookstore (instant, no wait) and return them. i think the deadline for returns is week 2? so you could use those until you receive your books.</p>
<p>oh btw when i say buy them from the bookstore, i mean USED copies.</p>
<p>I would generally say it’s not required to have them for the first day especially when you’re not sure if you’ll be taking the class. It just depends.</p>
