College Textbooks

[super_teabag]

What's cheaper and why. Either buying college texts from an second hand shop/bookstore, or getting an ereader; such as, an Ipad or google nexus 7 2 and renting the texts on there.

 

How does the forum go about getting their college books?

[Samdb]

I'm from the UK and I have no idea how much textbooks cost.

[Breakdown]

I think the hard copy version of a book is better, especially for use in schools.

 

At the college I went to, most persons had the hard copy versions, whether second hand or brand new. We weren't allowed to use devices in class, so that's why.

[Volbet]

We get textbooks for free in Denmark, so I have no idea what is cheapest. I would think the cheapest way would be to buy them used from eBay.

[Jamdude]

Do people still use textbooks?  Everything at my College is online, so are the rest of the Colleges in my Borough.

[Mac]

In school in the UK, we get to borrow them for free.

[super_teabag]

I live in the United States, so I realize that people in the U.K. and other european countries can get their texts for free or much much cheaper. You're all lucky that you don't have to pay, but at the same time it can be pretty hard to get into your universities, as well as, the permanent record associated with such a system. Not being able to retake classes would suck

[Volbet]

I live in the United States, so I realize that people in the U.K. and other european countries can get their texts for free or much much cheaper. You're all lucky that you don't have to pay, but at the same time it can be pretty hard to get into your universities, as well as, the permanent record associated with such a system. Not being able to retake classes would suck

• It's not hard getting into university at all in Denmark. You only need a high school diploma
• There is no such thing as a permanent record in the danish school system
• And you are able to take whatever class you want however many times you want. I have a friend who as been attending a philosohy class for the 6th time now, just because he loves philosophy.
• Bonus: In Denmark you get paid to study 

But to get back to you textbook problem. You would have to check with the school if e-readers are allowed, because that might be the cheapest way. Else you would have to guess that the cheapest way would be to borrow them from other students or buy them through eBay.

[super_teabag]

Thanks, and i realize different countries have drastic ways of handling secondary/higher education. Yes, E-readers are definately allowed on the campus i'm attending. I was speaking from my misguided study of U.K. secondary ed. system because that's the one i know a tiny bit about LOL. I think i'm going to buy some from the college bookstore because they're cheaper used and a few texts i can get for way dirt cheap on ebay.

[fishymamba]

I'm going to be renting them from Amazon this semester. My college does have a rental option but it is still very expensive.

[fishymamba]

 

• It's not hard getting into university at all in Denmark. You only need a high school diploma
• There is no such thing as a permanent record in the danish school system
• And you are able to take whatever class you want however many times you want. I have a friend who as been attending a philosohy class for the 6th time now, just because he loves philosophy.
• Bonus: In Denmark you get paid to study 

But to get back to you textbook problem. You would have to check with the school if e-readers are allowed, because that might be the cheapest way. Else you would have to guess that the cheapest way would be to borrow them from other students or buy them through eBay.

 

 

Damn, you guys are lucky. How is the quality of education over there?

[Volbet]

Thanks, and i realize different countries have drastic ways of handling secondary/higher education. Yes, E-readers are definately allowed on the campus i'm attending. I was speaking from my misguided study of U.K. secondary ed. system because that's the one i know a tiny bit about LOL. I think i'm going to buy some from the college bookstore because they're cheaper used and a few texts i can get for way dirt cheap on ebay.

Just make sure you get the right copies of the books you need. I have close friend who is at collage in the US. Atleast at his college there are specialized textbooks only for his college and you won't be able to take the exams unless you have the books

[Volbet]

Damn, you guys are lucky. How is the quality of education over there?

There are three danish universities in the worlds top 100 and we get a lot of students from all over Europe and Asia that comes to study here. So I would say the quality is pretty good, considering the countrys size and everything  

[YellowDragon]

What's cheaper and why. Either buying college texts from an second hand shop/bookstore, or getting an ereader; such as, an Ipad or google nexus 7 2 and renting the texts on there.

 

How does the forum go about getting their college books?

I personally get ripped copys of the textbooks, only reason the prices are that high is that they can get away with charging that much. My School is a "partner" local Pearson Book Company and this "partnership" involves them changing a book for a class every semester. This is just a blatent money grab as I would have to pick up $350 books that I wouldn't use or would only use once, its infuriating take the fact that I would have to buy 4-5 of these things and your looking at quite a bit more tacked onto your already sky high tuition. I say screw the college book companies wherever you can as they are really out there to rip money out of your wallets, knowledge should not cost a fortune :( .

[super_teabag]

Yeah, I've been screwed out of the resale of my books as well when they change "editions" i.e. changed the fucking paragraphs around a little bit and corrected minor spelling errors. It suddenly becomes an eternal sin to use the old edition.

 

Is it that hard to get ripped copys of the textbooks, what i mean is are they relatively up-to-date versions, as well as, relatively easy to search out?

 

And i just found a few local craigslist sources that are selling their old books, looks like it won't end up costing me an arm and a leg after all :P

[YellowDragon]

Yeah, I've been screwed out of the resale of my books as well when they change "editions" i.e. changed the fucking paragraphs around a little bit and corrected minor spelling errors. It suddenly becomes an eternal sin to use the old edition.

 

Is it that hard to get ripped copys of the textbooks, what i mean is are they relatively up-to-date versions, as well as, relatively easy to search out?

 

And i just found a few local craigslist sources that are selling their old books, looks like it won't end up costing me an arm and a leg after all :P

Anything is better then buying into their scam business model, its fairly simple to get ripped copy from pirate bay, theres lots of other sites out there as well. They exist because alot of college students are fed up paying for books that they don't use or reference only once and get charged an arm and a leg for. 

 

On my campus in particular I help alot of students get there books as the price of tutition and housing on my campus is about $40,000 a year so no one wants to spend another $1000-2500 dollars for books per semester. I only charged a cup of coffee and a friendly chat :P. In the USA secondary education should be a right and not a privilege 

[ultimatemythbuster]

Amazon Prime. Enough said.

[chaozbandit]

I try not to buy my books from my university's bookstore and go secondhand when I can (usually cheaper this way) but the mandatory online access codes often make it not worth the effort to go search for used books. At least if you buy a hardcopy, you can always potentially sell it off to get some money back. Though, doesn't help that a lot of courses are also changing textbooks rendering books from previous years useless.

[ofr057]

I buy and keep my text books  -  I've used them for work alot

I found that there is a balance between the amount of time it will take in postage compared to uni which is alittle more expensive

[super_teabag]

If anyone cares I looked up the ISBN numbers, and ordered some of my texts through ebay, and some from amazon. Got a Nexus & (2013) edition and love that thing as well.

 

I like hard copies for texts other rather than put them on my tablet.

[SuperOwnJK]

I'm at Uni in UK studying Computer Systems Networks and my text book list is ridiculous. The lecturers give us a list of around 20/30 text books that they think we should get and read. They star some books they that claim are required to complete the course, but they really are not needed. I have torrented around 4 of the text books for the course as the books were £120+ each. One time I added up the total of the books and it was in excess of £1,400