Discussion Question: Buying Textbooks

[fashion_piranha]

I went back to school on Monday, January 5th.  I know it seems a little early, but my school runs on the quarter system, not semester, so we start class at the beginning of January and have finals near the end of March so that we can squeeze in the spring quarter from April - June.  I was feeling pretty confident because I'd already purchased most

Comments

[senuneheti]

The campus here does everything in its power to keep you from knowing what books you need until you go to the bookstore. The bookstore itself has a policy that they prefer you not to write down what books you need. But when possible, I try to buy my books online. Just because the costs are so high.
I wish my school was on the quarter system sometimes.

[fashion_piranha]

Quarter system does give the illusion that classes move faster than a semester system, but having done both I don't think there's much difference between the two of them. At the community college level, it still takes more than 2 years to get through unless you pack all your classes to an insane degree.

[deathjoy]

This is what I do. Go to bookstore and buy book (USUALLY WITH CREDIT CARD). Go home and order off amazon. When book arrives, return the other one to bookstore for full refund.

[fashion_piranha]

To cut back on that, at my school they've made a rule that you can only get a full refund if you return the book on the Friday of the first week; if you return it by the Friday of the second week there's a 10% penalty. You can't return books after that date unless you provide proof that you dropped the class.

[deathjoy]

I usually buy my books the week BEFORE classes start, so the always arrives by then anyways. I just cannot in any way afford campus bookstore prices, so even if I have to wait a day or two without a book, I do it. And even if you pay the extra few bucks for expedited shipping, you end up making out cheaper buying through amazon or ebay.