<p>Since SOAR orientation was about a month ago for me, should I have acquired textbooks for my classes by now? Will professors expect that I have them the first week of class? Is there any other way besides checking the bookstore racks or waiting til the first day of class to see what books I will need? Any help would be greatly appriciated, thanks!</p>
<p>about getting your books during the first week? I am soooo impressed.</p>
<p>Get them early. Some will sellout and you will be behind from the getgo.</p>
<p>I would really prefer to get them early (though only about 1.5 weeks til the first day..!) - But how do I know which textbooks to order before getting the syllabus? Number I can call, website listing, or anything?</p>
<p>In the olden days you went to the bookstore ASAP and looked under your course number and prof--they would have all the books there in a neat stack. I really don't know if they still do that or have it all online but I bet the stacks and notecards are still there. Just get to the store as soon as you can. It's really pretty quick as they have lots of checkouts set up.</p>
<p>Looks like the same old system pretty much--they are doing a new students day.</p>
<p>Every book has an ISBN number and once you have the number you can shop online and get better pricing and still have your books in time.</p>
<p>I thought some studies showed that the savings were not much on textbooks and service sucked. Plus you still need the reading packs and other stuff. If you want to have a good bookstore on campus buy your books there--they will even buy them back at the end of the class.</p>
<p>If you are already living in town then just go to the bookstore to find out what you need. The two main bookstores are University Bookstore (just across from Memorial Library and at the end of State St.) and Underground Textbook Exchange (just a few doors up, on the lake side of State Street). There are also two smaller independent bookstores that have access to a few classes that these larger two don't (Room of One's Own and Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative) but those are very few and usually for upper division/grad courses. </p>
<p>Once you have the list of books you will need for each class you can decide to buy them from the bookstore, buy them online, use them at the library reserve reading room, or check them out from the library if someone hasn't already done so. Professors usually put at least one copy of each required text on reserve at one of the campus libraries.</p>
<p>Many students do not have textbooks by the first day of class, though sometimes teachers do assign a few readings early on. Since students can actually switch courses during the first week, that phase of class is usually fairly informal and not having the textbooks isn't normally a major problem.</p>
<p>The advantage of buying online is that you can save money. The advantages of buying from a bookstore are its convenience and the option of returning the book if you decide to drop the course/borrow your roommate's book/find it at the library/etc. Underground Textbook Exchange's policy is that books can be returned for full refund for any reason when accompanied by a receipt up through the first week of classes (except for photocopied readers - which are not returnable, and packages of new books that have been unwrapped from their shrinkwrap - which will be refunded at the used-book price), and can be returned for full refund through the second week of class when accompanied by receipt and proof that you've dropped the course (computer printout of your schedule showing that the course is not on it). The other bookstores' policies are probably the same.</p>
<p>So. Will selling a book totally highlighted vs. a book with absolutely no marks at the end of the year make a difference in how much money u get for it, if you sell it back to the store? Do u recommend selling it back to the store or should i sell it some other way?</p>
<p>Bookstores do not deduct value for highlighting. I think the only damage that lowers buyback value is water damage, missing pages, and missing covers/broken spine.</p>
<p>Most students sell it back to the store. As with most endeavors, you can make more money if you are willing to put in extra effort, but it's a tradeoff for your time. It is possible to advertise your books to next year's students, either by showing up to that class next semester and hawking your old books at the door as the new students come in, selling them through the student book exchange often held at Memorial Library, or putting up your own posters advertising the titles and having students contact you. </p>
<p>Personally I think it's a lot of work for the extra money you get, but it depends on how much free time you have.</p>