<p>Since most of us freshmen have registered for classes, how do we purchase textbooks? And by "how" I mean...
1. Which textbooks to purchase?
2. By when?
3. Where? (I know CO-OP and online sell textbooks)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>If you know who the instructor is, you can do a search on the UT web to see if they have a website w/ their Fall 06 syllabus on it. It will usually list the textbooks required.</p>
<p>There is also the Co-op website which shows testbooks by course.</p>
<p>It only shows the books for Summer 06 but if there are no newer editions of the books listed, it is likely that instructor will be using the same books for Fall 06.</p>
<p>If you can't find the books through the above, email your instructors and ask. They are usually pretty responsive and they will be impressed that you are interested in their class and are planning ahead.</p>
<p>As to where to buy books, try Half.com. You will need the ISBN. When you are buying on line, be sure that you are buying the U.S edition of the book. Sometimes there is an International edition that may or may not be the same as the U.S. edition. Look for books that are described as having no marks or highlighting in the books. Amazon.com has books too but Half.com has a greater selection.</p>
<p>By buying on line, you can save approximately 60% overall compared to the Co-op new book price. Used books at the Co-op are priced at approximately 75% of the new book price. You can buy new books on line and still save 45% overall compared to the Co-op used book price.</p>
<p>A good example is the book for CH 301, ISBN 0-7167-5701-X. You can buy it on Half.com for around $50-55 w/ shipping. The Co-op sells the same book for $163 new w/ tax and $122 used w/ tax.</p>
<p>BTW, the Co-op will only pay $37 to buy this book back.</p>
<p>ut0rns,</p>
<p>I think you should wait a week or two to order your books. In the next 2-3 weeks, the Co-op will probably list the books each professor has ordered for his/her Fall 2006 classes. The Co-op's list is typically the most correct since professors sometimes change their minds about books prior to giving the final list to the Co-op. Once the list goes to the Co-op, however, it rarely changes. </p>
<p>That doesn't mean you have to buy your books at the Co-op but it's a good place to start price-shopping. Some of the Co-op's books are more expensive than those at other internet sites but others are about the same. The one positive note with shopping at the Co-op is that if the professor changes the book list, the Co-op will automatically update your book order.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reponses m1817 and DRJ4. They are very helpful. I'll look into both CO-OP and online.</p>
<p>By the way, which one do you recommend? Used or new textbooks.
And I assume it is better to have all the textbooks ready before the classes start?</p>
<p>Definitely buy used books if you can. It's helpful to have your textbooks before classes start so you don't have to rush around at the last minute, but sometimes that's not possible. Last year, my son's professors in two courses were still adding books in the first week of class. (I don't think that's common, however, so don't worry.) </p>
<p>I don't believe that professors in lower division courses expect you to read assignments prior to the first class - unlike some upper division, graduate, or law school courses where you can have assignments due the first class day. The first class is usually where the professor or TA hands out a syllabus that explains the assignments and due dates, gives you general information about the course, goes over the tests/projects/grading information, and many professors will begin lecturing on the subject matter.</p>
<p>Used books are preferred if can find ones that have no marks or highlights in them. However, if you plan to keep the book after the course as a reference, you may want to buy a new book.</p>
<p>If you are not a hurry to buy a book, keep going back to Half.com and Amazon.com for a few days. You may find a new book selling at the same price as a used book. The sellers and the inventory are constantly changing. </p>
<p>Give yourself two weeks leadtime to receive a book. A lot of the sellers send their books via media mail. I have received books in as quick as four days while others have taken as long as two weeks depending on how fast the seller ships the book and where they are mailing from.</p>
<p>Listen to m1817 - He's the pro on book-buying.</p>
<p>haha. thanks.</p>
<p>Knowing what textbooks sell for on line versus what campus bookstores charge sure puts the campus bookstores in a different light. </p>
<p>I know that campus bookstores employ a lot of students but they do so at the expense of high textbook prices to other students.</p>
<p>Buying a textbook from a publisher for $50, selling the textbook to a student for $163, buying it back from that student for $37, and reselling that textbook to another student for $122 just seems wrong when many of those students are taking on tens of thousands of dollars in loans and subsisting on ramen noodles.</p>
<p>With the 200% mark ups that bookstores are getting on books, I am surprised that Walmart hasn't gotten into the textbook business yet.</p>
<p>Anyway, this thread is my way of "sticking it to the man".</p>
<p>Yes, Indeed.</p>
<p>I have never bought anything online, so trying to buy textbooks online will be a new experience. How satisfied were you with the quality of your online purchases? To do some comparison shopping, I went to Half.com and looked up the price of the government book I used last year, which I bought for $70-ish used at a college bookstore, and saw the same book online for $1 plus shipping, and I'm thinking how can this be true? There were others online priced $90-ish used. Is it a trap for the unexperienced? Though seeing that it was a reliable source from its reviews, I still have my doubts.</p>
<p>To make sure you are buying the right book, shop by ISBN. </p>
<p>If you are shopping by the title, you may be looking at an outdated edition of the book or you may be looking at the study guide that accompanies the book. That could be why you see such a range of prices.</p>
<p>If you buy from Half.com, you have recourse if the book that you buy is substantially different from the description in the listing.</p>
<p>Is there any way I can obtain a list of the books' ISBN before school actually starts, other than driving to a bookstore and looking it up there?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.universitycoop.com%5B/url%5D">www.universitycoop.com</a></p>
<p>look up your classes and the books should come up!</p>
<p>Here is also the Co-op website which shows testbooks by course.</p>
<p>What happens if one of your teachers did not release his information on books to the coop site yet? When do you think we will need the books in our respective classes? The very first day or a few days from then?</p>
<p>Per the guidelines in the following URL, books for the Fall were supposed to be submitted to the Co-op by last April.</p>
<p>It would be pretty irresponsible of an instructor to have not turned in the required books for a course by now. Who knows if the Co-op would even be able get the books if they were unique for the course.</p>
<p>That's interesting. Maybe my class does not require a textbook? However, I don't think that's the case as this is a government class.</p>
<p>Does anyone have GOV 310L this semester with White?</p>
<p>if i need a few textbooks during the school year...would it be possible to get it mail to your personal residence hall mail box? i dont want to mail it home when home is 200 miles away and i have class the next day...lol</p>