where do you order college txtbooks

[Alphabetsoup]

1. Please make sure to ALWAYS order the right edition. There is nothing that gets more frustrating at the start of the semester than students who come to me "Dr. Soup, I got the 3rd edition not the 4th, is that okay?" ...Well student snowflake, I teach to the 4th edition. If the 3rd edition has things in a different order or is missing examples, then you may have a problem following along. This is usually followed by "Well Dr. Soup, you can tell me when something is different right?" -- Um NO...that is not in my job description. If you have purchased the right edition in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem would it? (Can you tell I fielded several of these conversations today???)

2. If you are going to order online, ORDER EARLY. My MWF students already have reading due tomorrow and I WILL be giving a pop quiz (they know about it already). SO today I've been having the 'poor me' conversation with a variety of students "Yeah...Prof Soup...I ordered online and my book won't get here until Thursday, so can I make up the quiz"...NOPE!! You had a choice, buy the book from the campus store and have it on time, or order online, save a few bucks, but not be prepared for class. You made the choice, deal with the consequences. A smart student would find a friend who HAS the textbook and at the very least borrow it or photocopy theirs.

Oh yeah, then there is the "Does the library have a copy I can read until mine gets here"? Perhaps....but it may be checked out or may be the wrong edition. And NEVER ask the prof "Can you give me a copy of your reading notes until I get my book?" -- That one just floors me every time!!!!

As to marking up the text...I encourage students to write in the book. Students who say "I can study without marking in the book" usually don't do very well in my classes because they are only doing a superficial reading of the text. Studies have shown that highlighting and writing in textbooks helps students make connections between different parts of the material.

 

[ShesAPirate]

If you are able to answer any of these questions, that would be wonderful. Thank You!!

Are you allowed to highlight the books? Do they need to be returned in the same condition? For one class I need the textbook and then the study guide. They are both available from this site for a wonderful wonderful price, but of course I will be writing in at least the study guide. Can you not rent it then?

thanks again!

I'm assuming they don't want you to write in or highlight the books. The history text that I rented from them arrived in what I would call fair condition -- not perfect, but definitely not bad. I haven't noticed any highlights or markings in it yet -- but a few of the pages were folded/dog-eared. I assume as long as the book is close to the condition you got it in, they'll be fine with it. They do want to be able to re-rent them, of course.

I think for certain books, it's worth it. For my writing class, I can buy the book used for almost the same price as the rental, so I will just buy that one. My algebra class last semester required an online registration key, so renting it was not a possibility. I guess if you have any other doubts, send their customer service an email and see what they say.

Hope that helps!

 

[punkin]

I just ordered two texts today for DS from textbooksrus.com, hopefully their shipping is quick. I was hesitant about ordering off of half.com because you are dependent on the individual seller.

This is his first semester, and if he knows a little earlier next semester what he wants, I think I can get him/us better deals.

Yes, I was stuck this semester too because DD did not know what books she needed until she needed them. Half her book had to be bought immediately and that means the overpriced campus bookstore.

 

[fraggle551]

1. Please make sure to ALWAYS order the right edition. There is nothing that gets more frustrating at the start of the semester than students who come to me "Dr. Soup, I got the 3rd edition not the 4th, is that okay?" ...Well student snowflake, I teach to the 4th edition. If the 3rd edition has things in a different order or is missing examples, then you may have a problem following along. This is usually followed by "Well Dr. Soup, you can tell me when something is different right?" -- Um NO...that is not in my job description. If you have purchased the right edition in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem would it? (Can you tell I fielded several of these conversations today???)

2. If you are going to order online, ORDER EARLY. My MWF students already have reading due tomorrow and I WILL be giving a pop quiz (they know about it already). SO today I've been having the 'poor me' conversation with a variety of students "Yeah...Prof Soup...I ordered online and my book won't get here until Thursday, so can I make up the quiz"...NOPE!! You had a choice, buy the book from the campus store and have it on time, or order online, save a few bucks, but not be prepared for class. You made the choice, deal with the consequences. A smart student would find a friend who HAS the textbook and at the very least borrow it or photocopy theirs.

Oh yeah, then there is the "Does the library have a copy I can read until mine gets here"? Perhaps....but it may be checked out or may be the wrong edition. And NEVER ask the prof "Can you give me a copy of your reading notes until I get my book?" -- That one just floors me every time!!!!

As to marking up the text...I encourage students to write in the book. Students who say "I can study without marking in the book" usually don't do very well in my classes because they are only doing a superficial reading of the text. Studies have shown that highlighting and writing in textbooks helps students make connections between different parts of the material.

I can understand all that, but from the student side of things, life happens sometimes. Some people don't have an extra $500-$1,000 laying around to pay for books early. They need to get them the cheapest way possible, and sometimes it takes longer than expected even if they are ordered in advance. I have had many professors very understanding of that, and they are more than happy to help out a student when needed for the first 2 or 3 classes.

As for marking books, I don't mark them extensively, and yet i'm an A student. Some people just learn differently, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I've also had professors encourage us to get the earlier edition because its cheaper, and for their class doesn't make a big difference, and when it does they will let us know and copy that section. Almost all of my professors understand the economy is hard right now, and they know books are very expensive.

 

[fraggle551]

I'm assuming they don't want you to write in or highlight the books. The history text that I rented from them arrived in what I would call fair condition -- not perfect, but definitely not bad. I haven't noticed any highlights or markings in it yet -- but a few of the pages were folded/dog-eared. I assume as long as the book is close to the condition you got it in, they'll be fine with it. They do want to be able to re-rent them, of course.

I think for certain books, it's worth it. For my writing class, I can buy the book used for almost the same price as the rental, so I will just buy that one. My algebra class last semester required an online registration key, so renting it was not a possibility. I guess if you have any other doubts, send their customer service an email and see what they say.

Hope that helps!

Thanks, I was thinking along the same lines. Although it seems weird to me that they would rent a study guide. Maybe I can photocopy it or something. The prices on that site are worth it!

 

[Hannathy]

1. Please make sure to ALWAYS order the right edition. There is nothing that gets more frustrating at the start of the semester than students who come to me "Dr. Soup, I got the 3rd edition not the 4th, is that okay?" ...Well student snowflake, I teach to the 4th edition. If the 3rd edition has things in a different order or is missing examples, then you may have a problem following along. This is usually followed by "Well Dr. Soup, you can tell me when something is different right?" -- Um NO...that is not in my job description. If you have purchased the right edition in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem would it? (Can you tell I fielded several of these conversations today???)

2. If you are going to order online, ORDER EARLY. My MWF students already have reading due tomorrow and I WILL be giving a pop quiz (they know about it already). SO today I've been having the 'poor me' conversation with a variety of students "Yeah...Prof Soup...I ordered online and my book won't get here until Thursday, so can I make up the quiz"...NOPE!! You had a choice, buy the book from the campus store and have it on time, or order online, save a few bucks, but not be prepared for class. You made the choice, deal with the consequences. A smart student would find a friend who HAS the textbook and at the very least borrow it or photocopy theirs.

Oh yeah, then there is the "Does the library have a copy I can read until mine gets here"? Perhaps....but it may be checked out or may be the wrong edition. And NEVER ask the prof "Can you give me a copy of your reading notes until I get my book?" -- That one just floors me every time!!!!

As to marking up the text...I encourage students to write in the book. Students who say "I can study without marking in the book" usually don't do very well in my classes because they are only doing a superficial reading of the text. Studies have shown that highlighting and writing in textbooks helps students make connections between different parts of the material.

I think this is one of the most elitist posts I have ever read on the DIS.
Not every student can walk into the bookstore and pay full price for a book. Not every student has a parent making what a professor makes. WOW. Do you know how many hours at min. wage it takes kids to earn some of the books they are told to buy? If my DD had bought everything full price for Chem for this semester she would have spent over $300 for 1 class.
I am very glad the the professors at her school are more than willing to work with the kids and help them use older editions and understand not all of them has the book from day 1. Heck the bookstore was out of several books-what would you have done then? still be so hard nosed?

 

[dakcp2001]

I think this is one of the most elitist posts I have ever read on the DIS.
Not every student can walk into the bookstore and pay full price for a book. Not every student has a parent making what a professor makes. WOW. Do you know how many hours at min. wage it takes kids to earn some of the books they are told to buy? If my DD had bought everything full price for Chem for this semester she would have spent over $300 for 1 class.
I am very glad the the professors at her school are more than willing to work with the kids and help them use older editions and understand not all of them has the book from day 1. Heck the bookstore was out of several books-what would you have done then? still be so hard nosed?

You know, that seemed kind of mean to me as well. Ive never had a prof like that and I have a BS and an ADN. When I read that post I thought, good to find out who your dealing with during add drop and find yourself another class! lol

 

[Cat0727]

I always ordered mine off amazon.com and half.com. never had any problems.

 

[mamacatnv]

I think this is one of the most elitist posts I have ever read on the DIS.
Not every student can walk into the bookstore and pay full price for a book. Not every student has a parent making what a professor makes. WOW. Do you know how many hours at min. wage it takes kids to earn some of the books they are told to buy? If my DD had bought everything full price for Chem for this semester she would have spent over $300 for 1 class.
I am very glad the the professors at her school are more than willing to work with the kids and help them use older editions and understand not all of them has the book from day 1. Heck the bookstore was out of several books-what would you have done then? still be so hard nosed?

I was thinking the same thing, thank you for saying it!

DS had several friends whose book $$ was included in their student loan package and they didn't get the funds in hand until very close to when classes started. DS is taking several science classes this semester and his books were close to $1000 if we had to buy new - we borrowed from friends, purchased from half.com and had to buy a few at the bookstore when his Professors bundled their book requirements into a package.

We have had a few issues with half.com not shipping quickly so now he pays for the expedited shipping. The savings is well worth it.

 

[bballmom56]

My DH is a professor and tells his students they can buy an earlier edition. He also tells them where to find the book cheaper (which he is not supposed to do). However, if he was teaching math or science, it is possible that the professor above is correct. The problem sets change, the experiments change - you may need the edition the professor requests.

That being said, when we sent our kids to college, the cost of books is just one of the costs that needs to be included. People will pay the cost for tuition, room and board (even community college can still be expensive) but then balk at the additional cost for books. And students still seem to have all the toys of this generation - cell phones (usually with data plans), ipods, cars, computers (laptops and/or netbooks), cigarettes. There always seems to be money for those things, but then they squawk at buying the books for their education. Yes, I know it is aggravating when you put out the money for the book and then it is rarely used in class. I then turn around and sell it on half.com and can get 90%-over 100% of my money back in most cases.

. Not every student has a parent making what a professor makes. WOW.

Ummm, they do not always make what you think they might. You would probably be very surprised at what my DH makes with 4 college degrees including a PhD and 20 years of experience.

 

[punkin]

You know, that seemed kind of mean to me as well. Ive never had a prof like that and I have a BS and an ADN. When I read that post I thought, good to find out who your dealing with during add drop and find yourself another class! lol

That's what I thought too. If a prof is so rigid and lacking in compassion, I would rather deal with someone else.

 

[jrmasm]

I think this is one of the most elitist posts I have ever read on the DIS.
Not every student can walk into the bookstore and pay full price for a book. Not every student has a parent making what a professor makes. WOW. Do you know how many hours at min. wage it takes kids to earn some of the books they are told to buy? If my DD had bought everything full price for Chem for this semester she would have spent over $300 for 1 class.
I am very glad the the professors at her school are more than willing to work with the kids and help them use older editions and understand not all of them has the book from day 1. Heck the bookstore was out of several books-what would you have done then? still be so hard nosed?

See now I disagree. I see nothing wrong with a professor expecting students to be prepared for class from day 1.

Before the internet, we managed to get our books. Sure sources were more limited and they were expensive but we all dealt.

 

[daughtersrus]

A smart student would find a friend who HAS the textbook and at the very least borrow it or photocopy theirs.

I didn't think that was legal.

 

[Hannathy]

See now I disagree. I see nothing wrong with a professor expecting students to be prepared for class from day 1.

Before the internet, we managed to get our books. Sure sources were more limited and they were expensive but we all dealt.

Books were not as outrageous, we only needed books not clickers and access codes and CD's, AND you didn't find out the book until you got to class and got the syllabus. And often even the bookstore is out of a book so if the student wnt to buy it they wouldn't be able to. Does this instructor take that into account? And how are you to borrow books if you are a freshman and don't know anybody yet.

I don't care that they want the student to be ready for class it was the ATTITUDE of that post as if it was a bother to have to deal with students. That post reeked of tenure.

 

[jrmasm]

Books were not as outrageous, we only needed books not clickers and access codes and CD's, AND you didn't find out the book until you got to class and got the syllabus. And often even the bookstore is out of a book so if the student wnt to buy it they wouldn't be able to. Does this instructor take that into account? And how are you to borrow books if you are a freshman and don't know anybody yet.

I don't care that they want the student to be ready for class it was the ATTITUDE of that post as if it was a bother to have to deal with students. That post reeked of tenure.

I still disagree. The post reeked of expectation. That the students would be prepared on the first day of class.

Books were just as outragous back in the day. I remember a $150 accounting text back in 1989-90ish. That was outrageous. And I always knew what I was supposed to buy before class. We got booklists at registration. The only excuse for not being prepared would have been if the bookstore didn't receive a shipment. I'm sure that same consideration would be given in the the bookstore was sold out as well.

Look, students are lucky now. They have many, many possible sources for their books. Just make sure you pick a good one so that you can be prepared for class.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Two of my books my daughter needed come from the bookstore with CDs. I looked at several other sources including the ones posters have mentioned here and none of them guaranteed CDs so we sucked it up and paid more at the campus bookstore. Sure enough, her teachers are using the material on the CDs.

Have any of you encountered this problem?

Penny