<p>Back when I showed up at VT for the first time 28 years ago, I remember spending a good portion of a day before classes started in the University Bookstore with my schedule finding my textbooks, deciding which of the optional ones I actually wanted to buy, and searching for used ones in good condition, etc.. Now I see information flowing into our house that says they'll do all that work for you via textbook reservations and have your box o' books ready and waiting for you to pick up when you arrive on campus. Apparently you don't pay anything for this service (at least, explicitly ... maybe you do pay for it in higher textbook costs), and you don't have to buy everything they put in your box -- if you don't like a used book they've chosen for you, you can swap it for another used one (if available), or decide to purchase a new one instead. Back in the dark ages, the campus bookstore was the only viable option for purchasing textbooks; now, with the internet, in theory you could purchase textbooks from amazon or wherever, as long as you have the ISBN. </p>
<p>So, what is really the best way to do textbook purchases? And if you wanted to go it alone and do it yourself online, where do you find out what textbooks are required? Again, back in the day the bookstore was your only source of that info; is it published elsewhere now? </p>
<p>For the sake of sheer convenience and one less thing to deal with, we may advise DS to go on and do this while he is at orientation if it is a decent deal, and then let him figure out the "better" way to do it for spring after he's been on campus and talked to others about what they've done in the past. Any thoughts on that?</p>