<p>Do most freshman order textbooks before arriving on campus? Is the campus bookstore’s database usually up to date or is there a better source for required texts? New? Used? Rented? Bookstore vs. Amazon? Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>The one drawback to getting books in advance is the bother of returning/replacing them if you decide to change a class after the first meeting. But my D always took the risk and ordered most all her expensive textbooks online, primarily through Abebooks, a used book aggregator, and Amazon. (Once the profs make the book lists available, you’re be able to use the ISBN codes to search the sites.) One or the other would have pretty much everything she needed in the condition she wanted, usually at a very substantial discount from the list price. The AU bookstore also sells used books, but not at as good a price as you can get on your own. D would order her books a couple of weeks before classes started and have them delivered directly to her dorm. (I seem to recall that AU gives you a date when it will begin accepting packages at the dorm, so be careful not to start the process too early.) When it came to paperbacks for lit courses and other inexpensive books, she would just buy them at the bookstore. I know in a few cases the bookstore either ran out or didn’t get its delivery on time and she had to make do at the library for a week or two.</p>
<p>At the end of the year the AU bookstore will buy used books, and while what they pay is not as much as you could get on your own, in the rush and chaos of packing up after finals my D always found it very appealing to just unload all her books on them rather than drag them home. </p>
<p>The bookstore also does rentals, but the one time my D rented a book, she completely forgot its status by the end of the semester and sold it to the bookstore, then came to her senses and had to go to great lengths to reverse the transaction. Yup, that’s my D.</p>
<p>My D had a bad experience renting at the AU bookstore so she won’t be doing that again. Despite claims that “notes and highlights are cool with us”, the bookstore charged my D extra for this. They don’t tell you that up front so you think renting is the way to go.</p>
<p>Some of my D’s professors did not submit their booklist even up to two weeks before class started so it was not possible to purchase the books ahead. But this wasn’t a problem. If it was cheaper at Amazon, we purchased it online and Amazon delivered it very quickly (especially if you have Amazon prime). Several of the books she needed she just purchased at the bookstore since they were comparable in price with Amazon or were not available at Amazon. And I agree with MommaJ, your student may need to change classes so getting it closer to when classes start is fine.</p>
<p>If you know your professors, I would email them like the week or two before you arrive to see if they are necessary or not. I usually rented so I never really had a problem with returning used or new books</p>
<p>My daughter has rented many of her textbooks from Chegg, and about a third of them from the AU bookstore. As far as I know, she hasn’t had a problem with the campus bookstore, but Chegg is usually less expensive.</p>
<p>my son’s experience was that many professors had “packs” that were sold only in the bookstore–which included chapters from various source as well as maybe a CD and some access codes for online resources.</p>
<p>The packs ranged from downright cheap to ridiculously expensive.</p>
<p>Renting is definitely the way to go, unless you think you’ll need the book for future reference or another class. My D has used campus bookstore, Amazon (for used texts) and Chegg.</p>
<p>My D never had “packs” that had to be purchased at the bookstore–maybe these are primarily for STEM courses?</p>
<p>I imagine renting is indeed the cheapest route, but I think my D liked owning because she didn’t have to worry about maintaining the condition of the book (could scribble everywhere, even tear out pages) or losing it (she’s the kind of person who loses stuff), with the only downside that then she couldn’t re-sell. All in all, even with only renting once, she really spent very little on books over the four years, a trivial amount compared to all the other costs, but then she wasn’t a STEM student, and many of her classes didn’t use big hardcover texts at all.</p>
<p>I often wonder how the movement to used and rented books (neither of which existed when I attended college) has impacted the textbook industry.</p>