Textbook buying thread?

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by blueerica

I was actually able to get the ISBN numbers online - woooo! But, what I'm wondering is - will there be any problems with certain books that require online access. I know me, I barely use the books to begin with - I hardly know why I buy them...

And, often times older editions have the same material inside, just arranged slightly differently. Any opinions on that? Because if I get one that's a year older - Let's say - more than significant savings...

Licenses may be expired. Buying books with software can be risky but it's also a crap-shoot as to if the teacher is going to use the software to begin with.

[Alex]

My recommendation is always to wait and see if the books are truly needed rather than just buying them because they're on the syllabus.

My policy in college (both undergrad and grad) was to not buy the book until I ran into something I couldn't do without it. By doing that I ended up only buying about have of the books that were "required" and way less than that of the ones that were "optional."

I'm sure it varies by discipline, though. (Humanities I bought more books but they were also cheaper; sciences and math I rarely bought the book and I could generally find someone willing to let me photocopy the homework problems at the end of the chapter and then there were plenty of cheaper resources available for learning the stuff necessary for the homework not that I ever actually did the homework).

My experience is that 95% of what you need to know for tests will be covered in lecture so if you pay proper attention there you'll be ok.

[RStar]

My daugter first checks for used at the bookstore (and those are getting hard to come by because they manage to make a small change in the book and call it new) and the she gets the rest used on eBay at about 75% off.