<p>So this is prolly a stupid question but do most kids order texts books before they go to college or wait until they get there? Is it expected that students should have textbooks for their first day of class? Thanks</p>
<p>Judging by the lines at the campus bookstore, most people wait to buy textbooks the first day of class.</p>
<p>In most cases you can get away with not having the book immediately when classes start. Some professors assign homework out of the book due quickly so you'll need the buy the book in the first couple days. Our campus bookstore has been known to run out of textbooks for certain high demand lower devision courses, and low-enrollment upper devision courses - in that case the professors hold off on assigning book assignments. For those reasons, I normally buy books at the bookstore a few days before classes start - avoid the long crazy lines as much as possible & be able to buy a used book that wasn't scribbled in before they run out.</p>
<p>My daughter's school allows you to pre-order. Apparently the professors note on the computer what textbooks go with what classes and the students who want this service provide a credit card number and the bookstore ladies pack you a box of your books to be picked up. Daughter responded early and got several used books, so the cost was almost $200 less than we had budgeted.</p>
<p>don't wait until the weekend before classes start! The lines are long, and some books are sold out because kids on the waitlist buy the book knowing they can get a full refund if they don't write in it.</p>
<p>I agree - buy them early if possible. My D got hers about a week before class and got to pick through the used books and got excellent ones with no writing or highlighting in them. We looked at buying them on the internet but were a bit wary of buying used books unseen. Fortunately a friends son went to the same school and told her about a bookstore in town that sold the used books a bit cheaper than the school (hey $50 is $50). Try doing a google search for your college/town/used books.</p>
<p>If you buy books before classes start (which is what I always did) just be sure not to write your name in them or do anything which could make them "used." Most places have good return policies so you can return new or used books if you find you don't need them. If there are only a limited number of a used copy of a certain book, I would buy it and take the chance and return it later. Many times books are listed as required but when you get the syllabus they really aren't.</p>
<p>I don't understand why everyone above thinks buying at the campus bookstore is your only option, and that professors think this.</p>
<p>I would order my books used/international editions/whatever's cheap online after the first day of class when the professor hands out a syllabus and explains exactly what's needed and if an older edition will suffice.</p>
<p>Many students check what books are required for a course online first, see that maybe 5-6 non-fiction shorts or novels are "required," and buy them, only to realize that the professor absentlymindedly selected "required" for all the selections. You end up never reading the books and wasting money.</p>
<p>You then can order online priority and have everything in about a week. Until then, do any homework from a friend's book or from a library copy. Although many professors just don't make homework due in this initial period.</p>
<p>I ordered my algebra and chemistry books online about a week ago, only because they were cheap already.</p>
<p>S & D order most of their books online, used, so they have them before classes start. However, cewillum makes some good points above.</p>
<p>A couple of problems we've run into:
-profs meant to say "recommended", but put "required" so bought used books that weren't needed at all.
-unanticipated dropping of a class that will mean book not needed. Since they usually try to get used ones, can't sell back to the bookstore until end of semester.
-professor changes his/her mind..this just happened to my D. So great deal on the used book not looking so good since she now needs to resell it.</p>
<p>It's a tough balancing act because they like to have the books before class to eliminate the long lines in the bookstores, and trying to get the book elsewhwere is good in theory but doesn't always work.</p>
<p>They approach it by only buying the ones for classes they're pretty sure they won't be dropping/changing. That seems to work most of the time.</p>
<p>I'll buy a book if the course is tough, the prof is tough, or if I feel that the course is useful.</p>
<p>Disagree completely with everyone who says buy early...absolutely the wrong thing to do.</p>
<p>You should ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wait until you've been to class before you buy your books especially in this day and age where you can buy books online. Profs change their minds, add/remove books from the required text list, or frequently never use textbooks at all. Getting to class and hearing a prof say that all test material will come from lecture and the $125 text with $60 solutions guide you just bought is worthless is pretty disheartening.</p>
<p>The other thing is sometimes profs will tell you things like the 4th edition just came out, but the course is based on the 3rd edition (which is now much cheaper). </p>
<p>The only exception to waiting is if you have some sort of scholarship that pays for all your textbooks. Then you might as well get everything as early as possible.</p>
<p>Or, like me, unless you have classes which will pretty obviously be using the book (chem and algebra), not some weird humanities class, and there's only one book assigned for each class.</p>
<p>I have almost never seen a class where you need a textbook in the first week, except for one in which we were warned way in advance. Wait until you know for sure the classes you're taking and the books you need, look up the exact ISBNs, then buy the books on half.com and used on amazon. It's the cheapest way and if you order early enough you should get them pretty early on in the term.</p>
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Or, like me, unless you have classes which will pretty obviously be using the book (chem and algebra), not some weird humanities class, and there's only one book assigned for each class.
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<p>I had plenty of science classes in which the prof came in the first day and said that every thing on the exam would come from lecture and the textbook wasn't worth the money.</p>
<p>Wait to buy books until after the first day. The lines are not that bad (I actually met a special young lady while in line), and you will be absolutely sure you need them after the professor discusses them. </p>
<p>Plus it sort of gives you a priority listing (for people who are strapped for funds, like myself).</p>
<p>You order textbooks as soon as possible when you know your textbooks list. You don't have to wait until you arrive on campus to start buying textbooks. There are several online retailers that sell textbooks at a fraction of the cost that you find at college bookstores. Some people start buying in the middle of summer break. College bookstores are reallly big ripoffs, so I recommend that you try half.com or cheapbooks.com to purchase your books.</p>
<p>It depends. I knew I wouldn't drop my science classes or psych class so i bought those right away. I wasn't so sure about spanish, so i waited, flippped through the text at the bookstore, went to two classes, decided the class wasn't for me.</p>