When do students get books?

<p>I know that's probably a dumb question, but I can't help but picture a crazy spectacle of 1500+ students trying to get into the book store for books on move in weekend. Is that really what happens? </p>

<p>Some of my odd questions are because all the rest of the family has gone to college local to wherever we lived at the time. NOLA is NOT local for us, LOL. </p>

<p>Btw, can I say it is SO strange to see the banner ads for Montana Tech on CC? The school is a couple of hours from us, D was accepted there, honors program, scholarships, but has decided to decline in favor of Tulane. They do have a great employment rate for graduates, but have very poor retention and graduate in 4 yrs rates. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>A lot of us probably don’t see the MT ads. Web sites like CC and the advertising programs they use are sophisticated enough to detect your general location and display an ad that matches.</p>

<p>Books are no problem. Your D will receive a book list based on her courses (or can check against her schedule, I forget which) well ahead of the start of school. Then you can either buy the books at alternate locations like Amazon or sites that offer used books, or pre-order from the Tulane book store, requesting used books when available if you are looking to hold down costs. Then the books will be already boxed and waiting for her, so it goes pretty fast.</p>

<p>If she looks on Gibson, in the student center, it states which books she needs for each course and gives you the opportunity to order them.</p>

<p>“A lot of us probably don’t see the MT ads. Web sites like CC and the advertising programs they use are sophisticated enough to detect your general location and display an ad that matches. FC” </p>

<p>That had briefly crossed my mind, interesting that they would spend the $$ for targeted ads. </p>

<p>Thank you for the info on books! Totally different from the U here (where you really do have the entire freshman class mobbing the bookstore). A follow up question then, is it actually possible to get some books used? Our experience with other D in college locally was that they have specific editions of books for this particular U, and they update them annually, and they include professor-required internet portions with ID# which can only be used by the original purchaser of the book. Not only could D not get these used, she was smugly informed by the bookstore that she wouldn’t be able to sell them back or to another student either. </p>

<p>So, realistically, Tulane’s required texts can, at least possibly, be purchased used? That would be wonderful for us!</p>

<p>Yes, my D has gotten some used. You are right, though, that that may make it impossible to sell back. But as you say, you might buy it new and still not be able to sell it back. It is a long running “game” by the textbook people to change editions if not every year, then often enough to keep generating revenue. Hopefully the Kindle, iPad, etc. will change all that and bring textbooks into the real world of affordability. In the meantime, I believe there is a service (online) where you can rent books, but I have no experience with it. [Chegg.com:</a> Cheap Textbook Rentals. Best way to Rent Books for College](<a href=“http://www.chegg.com%5DChegg.com:”>http://www.chegg.com), and it looks like they have a couple of competitors now. Check it out, that may be the way to go.</p>

<p>I think CC tracks the pages you visit, at least on CC because the banner ads I see are mostly from the colleges that my twins applied and I was actively checking out…</p>

<p>Won’t everyone be reading their rented texts on an iPad? :)</p>

<p>Soon, idad. Soon.</p>

<p>Thanks for the website, FC, looks interesting!</p>

<p>I have used Chegg and know many others that have rented from them and it is a great deal. Delivery is fast and when it is time to return them you just pack them in the box, print a free shipping label from the Chegg site and drop off for UPS. You also have the option to extend the length of time you need the book and only pay for the days you go over. They offer quarter and semester rental. If you drop a class you can return them within 30 days for a full refund.Renting will save you a lot of money and I have never had any problems with Chegg.</p>

<p>That’s great to have the first-hand testimonial heltonmom. We have not tried it. Maybe we will this next semester.</p>

<p>Most students wait til their class schedule is out and the books are listed , over the summer). My s ordered books mostly on line and had them delivered to school (you will get your PO Box # over the summer) </p>

<p>You can order new or used from the college store and pick them up when you get there (they will be in a box waiting for you in the college store), but they don’t guarantee that you’ll get a used one. Students do also resell books, and there is a guy who sets up a table on campus to buy back books at the end of the year. He probably has an online bookstore and makes a fortune selling these, but its quick, easy, he buys almost anything and my s feels his prices are fair.</p>

<p>For some classes, some books are written by the prof so you have to buy in the college store. Some are new editions and you get stuck paying a LOT, unless you are comfortable ordering the international editions, which are very cheap and perfectly fine-- occasionally the page numbering is different or the photos are different, but the text is identical. Only caveat- you arent supposed to resell international books in the US so if you are inclined to resel on half.com or amazon or something it might be an issue.</p>

<p>There have been occasions when my s bought books and then changed his schedule and dropped the class. He’s usually been able to sell the book to someone in the class.</p>

<p>BTW, there used to be an online bookstore started by TU grads, but I don’t think its still around.</p>

<p>There’s a group on facebook that current undergrads have started that people will use to sell their books to other students as a deal essentially for both students. The students who buy them get the books for cheaper than in the book store and the students selling them sell them back for more than the book store would give them. It might seem a bit inactive now, but it’ll likely pick up in activity as soon as classes end. </p>

<p>[Tulane</a> Book Trade | Facebook](<a href=“Facebook Public Group | Facebook”>Facebook Public Group | Facebook)</p>

<p>Does the book list provide the ISBN? I have to buy books for high school and have saved a lot of money buying used on-line. Having the ISBN insures that you get the right book.</p>

<p>Tulane doesn’t give you the ISBN online… it sucks!</p>

<p>Chegg is the way to go. So much cheaper than buying used. I think they deliver in 48 hours or so, so you really can wait till you get the final book list when you arrive at school</p>

<p>So how do you know if you are getting the right book, from Chegg or buying used online, if you don’t have the ISBN?</p>

<p>Tulane gives you the title of the book, the author and edition… you hope from there. </p>

<p>If you’re really worried you can go to the bookstore when you get to school and copy it down and go from there…</p>

<p>ellie-
It isnt Tulane that witholds the ISBN # – its the bookstore, that is managed by Barnes & Noble. For obvious reasons they want to nake it difficult to take your business elsewhere, but thats their mode of operation for all the college bookstores they manage.</p>

<p>That said-- its pretty easy to figure it out. DS has had no problem. Just be careful not to accidentally order teacher editions of books-- its against the honor code.</p>

<p>Okay well than it’s the Tulane Bookstore… either way we don’t get the ISBN for the books when we register through Tulane. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter who’s the reason behind why it’s withheld…</p>