<p>When do people find out what textbooks they will need for class???</p>
<p>The list of required books as usually posted on the class website. The professor might send out an email. My college’s bookstore has an online tool for finding textbooks (just search for the class and the required books will show up). A last resort would be to email the professor.
Edit: Oh, you’re asking about when. For me, it would be when the professor sets up the class website and uploads the syllabus (which depends greatly on the professor).</p>
<p>international editions and pirated solution manuals FTW.</p>
<p>My college is notoriously bad about this. You either have to go into the bookstore in person, email the professor, or make a lucky guess at what url the bookstore manager uses to dump his work-in-progress files at.</p>
<p>You won’t know for sure until you are in class and/or the professor tells you personally.
Why? Some professors’ web sites have material added by their departments, and departments can add books professors don’t use. Also, a syllabus may be written by a department and contain books individual professors don’t use.
Yes, it’s not only frustrating and difficult for students, but it’s inefficient and wasteful of the colleges.</p>