<p>Just thought I'd write a note, RE: textbooks, as it can be a rude awakening when you embark on the mission....my incoming freshman D ordered used copies of all her textbooks this evening. (You can find the ISBN numbers of the books listed on Testudo). We did a comparison.... if we bought them (total of 8) NEW at the campus bookstore, the total would have been (pre tax) 762.50. Buying USED at the campus bookstore was 602.40. She ordered them from bookholders.com for a total of 447.08. She's having one book shipped here (she's a bit worried about calculus), and will pick the rest up when she gets to College Park (Bookholders is across the street from the Maryland Book Exchange). She was going for the good+ ratings, with no writing, highlighting, or tears. If she'd picked books in fair condition, it would have been even less $$.</p>
<p>We also found directtextbook.com which searches 30 other used book sites to find the best prices. (includes half.com, amazon, b-n exchange, etc. She could have saved about $25 if we'd ordered from the various vendors we found (one for each book), but with the shipping and handling, it got really close, and since other D has had good luck with bookholders, we went with them. (Plus, it's one less box of books we'll have to move her in with!) directtextbook.com also had sites that "rent" books to you, but the prices were still pretty close to the used price.</p>
<p>After first semester, students find all kinds of creative ways to get books. The best way to get a book for Spring, 2010 is to find someone who's taking the same class fall 2009. The money paid back to you when you sell a book back is a rip-off. So, you can pay the classmate more money than they would get selling it back to one of the bookstores, and you can get it for less money than you'd be able to find it online. (older D has had better luck selling back to bookholders than anywhere else, but it's still a fraction of what you pay at the beginning of the semester.)</p>
<p>Hope this helps. For those with the B/K book stipend, it's a set amount of $ deposited into your account. It won't be enough to completely cover all new textbooks.....</p>
<p>I’ve also found that Facebook marketplace and the new textbook marketplace on [OurUMD</a> - Students in charge of their education | OurUMD](<a href=“http://www.ourumd.com%5DOurUMD”>http://www.ourumd.com) are great ways to get a fair deal on books.</p>
<p>Always buy the used books because it is like legally cheating since the prior student has highlighted the important stuff for you. Also, sell them back, back in my day we didn’t because they were great tools for using on term papers, but now with the internet you can find the info quicker. There is really no reason to keep them unless you want it to clutter up your very tiny dorm room ;)</p>
<p>Astro, thanks for the info. My S is going to be taking Applied Calc, and already completed AB and BC theoretical calc as AP courses over the last two years. If your D wants some help, I’m sure he’d be happy to help her study and go over concepts. He tutored a bunch of kids from our band and his calc classes over the last couple of years.</p>
<p>ha, thanks Centh! She’ll probably try big sis first, but that hasn’t always been a successful bonding process in the past(the mixture of math and those two personalities = fireworks!!)…it seems to me it was a boyfriend of said sister that helped out in high school math classes!!! I’ll let you know if we need to get them together!!!</p>
<p>Thanks astro! My S and I were just discussing books this morning. And thanks to CC, I did a quick key word search under UMD and found this thread! Good stuff!</p>
<p>Is it better to wait until after your first day of classes to see if there is something the teacher prefers you get? Or are the books lists on testudo accurate in those terms?</p>
<p>Also, if you end up switching classes is it hard returning/getting a new book?</p>
<p>Most people recommend waiting until after Day 1, in case the professor says that some of the books are optional. That being said, both D1 2 years ago and D2 this summer were too hyper to wait until then. Ordered D2’s books from Bookholders; she’ll pick up in College Park when she gets there.</p>
<p>Isn’t there a date (a couple weeks into the semester) that you can return books (e.g. you drop the class, etc.? Need a UMD to confirm…</p>
<p>When I went on Bookholders, they don’t have the schedule up for Fall 2009. Do you have to go on Testudo and find the books then go on Bookholders and order them by ISBN?</p>
<p>^You can also just “search books” and click “other search options” and it will show books that have been used for a class before. Using Testudo, then bookholders works fine too.</p>
<p>I’m having trouble locating books for my Biology and Chemistry colleges. The ISBNs don’t show up on bookfinders, and it’s difficult to actually decipher the names of the books from what is written on the booklist. Anyone else having similar problems or know how to fix it?</p>
<p>maybe i just got lucky with the books i had to get but the total on testudo was around 300 but i got all my books on amazon for under 80 lol</p>
<p>thing is you needa buy it from the individual sellers and not amazon itself … got my calc and econ book which are both around 130 140 for 15 dollar each lol</p>
<p>gina, I had the same trouble. DS explained that UMd often creates its own ISBNs when a professor requests a specific package that may include a CD or online component or only certain chapters or problem sets from a textbook. In that case, you won’t find the identical package elsewhere.</p>
<p>So, I bought my books for GVPT100H about two weeks ago, based upon the list on my.umd.edu, and they’ve been arriving for about a week from amazon.com, and I looked at the booklist again today and all the GVPT100H books had changed. </p>
<p>If you’ll excuse my language, ***? Is this common?</p>
<p>Yes. To eliminate that risk you’d have to get your books from the campus bookstore which will automatically update your preorder if the professor makes any changes. Obviously there’s a price to pay for that security because the book cost will be higher.</p>
<p>That is NOT common but it DOES happen. Sounds like you may have had a last minute switch of professors, and the new prof has a different syllabus. That’s what happened with my GVPT100 class, funnily enough - and that was the first and last time that’s happened to me. Thankfully I usually don’t buy my books until the day before class, though :P. If you buy books from Book Exchange/Book Holders/the UMD book store then you can return the books within 1 week of class or something. I assume you got your books off Amazon zShop and you checked to see if you can return them? If you can’t that really sucks.</p>
<p>If you can’t return them…</p>
<p>Guess in the future you will have to either go with BookHolders (That’s my favorite) and then supplement with the UMD bookstore/book exchange, or if you go the Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay zShop route you need to wait until after class starts to make sure those are the books you’ll be needing.</p>
<p>I suggest selling your books back to BookHolders. Maybe there are other GVPT classes still using the books and you can get a decent price for them upfront or through their online sales.</p>