<p>How will we know what textbooks to buy for our classes? The Vanderbilt Book Store's website provides information on the textbooks and materials needed for each class, but sometimes it doesn't give enough detail. For instance, I'm not sure what "ACP STEWART CALCULUS 6E FOR VANDERBILT UNIV" is supposed to be. While this would not be a problem if I buy from the Vanderbilt Book Store, I may have to buy my textbooks from other vendors...</p>
<p>I should probably let nicole answer this, but this is what I did. The calculus book arrived at my house today from a seller, oneluckyace, at amazon marketplace. I got it for $80 + shipping and handling, which is expensive, but it beats the used price on efollett.com of $155 (as seen on the Vandy Bookstore info). I googled ACP Stewart Calculus 6E for Vanderbilt University and got the ISBN number: 9780495841333. Then, I googled the ISBN number and got several book options with different prices. I chose the least expensive book. I know that without an image, and I hated to see “Sorry, No Image Available” on the Vandy website, this is hard. I love to match book covers. The book I received today has a picture of the Vandy building with the bell tower (Sorry, I haven’t visited enough to know the name of it.) with pansies in front. The title is Calculus, 6E: Custom Edition for Vanderbilt University by James Stewart, copyright 2008. I broke down and bought the recommended Student Solutions Manual from the bookstore, which has the answers to the odd numbered problems, for their used price. It has part of a violin on the cover. I hated to buy from them, but at the time I didn’t know what SSM meant, so my googling didn’t work. Now that I know it means Student Solutions Manual, I probably could find it on the internet. Please learn from my expensive mistakes! To make sure I had the right textbook, I matched up some of the problems with the solutions. Please don’t think I can work them; I just looked for commonalities. (I’m an English major, but it’s hard to tell because I’m getting old and slipshod!) They did match. BTW, my son is taking 155A because I believe the upperclassmen who post here. They are gods.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. I was able to get deals on everything but my son’s French Chez Nous package. I’m still working on that, though, since that’s the most expensive item of all. I’m a new poster, so if anyone would like to correct anything I’ve written, feel free. I used this method to bypass the Centre College Bookstore the last few years.</p>
<p>Thank you for telling me about the ISBN numbers, vandycentremom! I completely forgot about them.</p>
<p>The Book Store lists two textbooks, “Calculus: Multivariable” and “ACP Stewart Calculus 6E,” for my class (Math 175). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to specify which one I need.
…Unless I need them both?</p>
<p>“Students in Math 175 may instead buy “Multivariable Calculus”, 6th edition, by James Stewart, ISBN-13 978-0-495-01163-7. This just contains the last few chapters of “Calculus”, 6th edition.”</p>
<p>from: [Vanderbilt</a> Mathematics - Calculus Preparation and Placement](<a href=“http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/~undergrad/calculus/calculus.html]Vanderbilt”>http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/~undergrad/calculus/calculus.html)</p>
<p>I called and spoke to a 175 professor. He said to buy the first one, NOT the vandy edition. I would suggest half.com; it is the cheapest. I found one for $96, and the guy even gave me a free SSM and study guide: [Half.com</a> / Books / Multivariable Calculus](<a href=“Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay”>Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay)</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, karabee. It’s good to know that my son will be using the book for future classes in his calculus series. That’s one less book we’ll be looking for over winter break! </p>
<p>Half.com, abebooks.com, and amazon.com are all good places for textbooks. Thanks for reminding me about half.com, marchmadness. Maybe they’ll have that elusive, expensive French package I’ve been looking for…</p>
<p>how do we find out what books we need for classes? do we get a message via email or regular post mail? is there a website we can look at? OR can we just go to class and buy our books at Vandy?</p>
<p>I would definitely suggest buying your books on half.com or amazon.com</p>
<p>What I always did was go to the bookstore and see the book itself so I knew what I was looking for online. I also wrote down the ISBN number while I was there. Professors usually don’t require you to have the book the first day of class and will sometimes even say you don’t need to buy the books they have listed for the class. So it can be beneficial to wait until the first day of class to buy books in some cases.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help, everyone. </p>
<p>So, if I wait until the first day of class before purchasing certain textbooks, would the books arrive on time?</p>
<p>And another quick question… How do freshmen put themselves on the waitlist of a course? Since freshmen cannot seem to use OASIS to add/drop/ect. courses, does it also mean that they also cannot use the waitlist?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the class as to when you should buy books. If you’re in engineering or math classes, you will need them the first day (and likely get your first assignment). When you order used books online, you’re at the mercy of the seller to get it shipped out soon, so the sooner you order the better. I’ve found that it usually takes 1-3 weeks to get my books through half.com…if you order the first day of class, you may not have the book for 3 weeks.</p>
<p>If you’re buying from the bookstore, you can probably wait and get the book the first week of classes. Most professors are understanding if the Vandy bookstore runs out of their book…they are not understanding if you’re waiting on your book to ship from Timbuktu.</p>
<p>The Vandy bookstore definatley makes it difficult to bargain shop by not providing ISBN numbers on the website. The problem with matching up titles/covers is publishing companies often keep the same titles/covers for different editions with different ISBN numbers. </p>
<p>I called the Vandy bookstore and asked for ISBN numbers but they do not give them out – such a shame as that is really the only way to ensure you have the correct textbook.</p>
<p>For most books, they list an edition number. I’ve noticed often if it’s a new book and a first edition, they will not list anything for the edition number (but double check online to make sure there aren’t multiple editions floating around). You really don’t need the ISBN if you know title, author, and edition (and knowing what the cover looks like is an added bonus, but not even really necessary).</p>
<p>What’s really fun is when everyone in the class has the same edition, but halfway through the semester everyone realizes that some of the problems are different or swapped around for about half the class.</p>
<p>The really tricky ones to figure out are bundles.</p>
<p>dubcongress, go to the Vandy bookstore & look up your class. It will list the books - you have to search by section, too. My D had a couple classes last semester that had quite a few books. One of these classes added books to the list after the first time we looked - so make sure to check back for an English class or a history class, for example.</p>
<p>My favorite site for finding books is dealoz. It lists everything available from many different sellers (including half & amazon). I like books with remainder marks … these are just marks made on the outside of the pages (the part you DON’T read) when a buyer returns a new book to a seller. Sellers can’t sell them as new, and the book resellers will sell them. These books don’t have any highlighting or markings. I also have found great deals on borders.com - search for coupons. Right now, there is a 40% off coupon. You can get a new book for 40% off, and shipping is free if it’s more than $25. Yes, they carry textbooks.</p>
<p>When purchasing from online vendors, is it possible to ship the books directly to Vanderbilt? Or should I have the books sent to my house, and then mail them to Vanderbilt myself?</p>
<p>Ship them to your Vanderbilt adress… why would you ship them twice?</p>
<p>Sorry for the silly question, but according to these instructions, [Vanderbilt</a> University Mail Services](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/mailservices/freshmanMail.html]Vanderbilt”>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/mailservices/freshmanMail.html)
you have to number the boxes 1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc. (Online vendors probably won’t number the boxes for you…)
But it’s nice to hear that these directions don’t have to be followed to the letter.</p>
<p>Oh I see your confusion. Yeah, you should be fine having the vendors ship them to Vandy.</p>
<p>What exactly is a response card xr clicker? Do I need a different one for each class?</p>
<p>Clickers look similar to remotes. Instructors can utilize them for attendance and can solicit student feedback, as well as administer quizzes, using these devices.</p>
<p>Do I only need one?</p>