Books For College

Most college freshmen are very excited about starting their university experience.  They walk wide-eyed around campus, making mental notes of clubs, organizations, and activities that catch their interest.  Almost as an afterthought, they travel to the campus bookstore, thinking they may just pick up their books really quickly before heading back to their dorms for an afternoon of meet and greet; little do they realize the tremendous amount of money they (or, more likely, their parents) are about to spend.  However, there are some ways of decreasing college textbooks expenses, if students are careful.

Used College Textbooks

As fun as it may be to open up a freshly printed, new smelling textbook, consider purchasing as many used textbooks as you can.  The reality is, you probably will not want to keep most of your books, anyway, especially those needed for classes that are not in your program of major study.  Why spend a lot of cash on a book that you will only use for a few weeks?  And here’s something else kind of interesting to think about:  the student who had the book before you may have actually highlighted and underlined important material—maybe that even took good notes!—so you will not have to do it.  Before you purchase a used textbook, look through it carefully to make sure it is in a condition you can live with, and that will not be distracting to you.  If you are buying your books from an online used books dealer, you will not be able to see the books beforehand, so be careful.

Buy (Or Borrow) Your Friends’ Old Books

This is a great option for students who have friends who already took the classes that have used the books they now need.  Perhaps economics majors may already realize what a logical option this is for students!  If your friends have a book you need, ask them if you can buy it; your friend will probably make more from it than the campus bookstore would give them, and you can probably purchase it for less than you would get it from the store.  If you have a really good friend, they may let you simply borrow the book during the class.  This works either if you are both in the class, just at different times, or if you are taking the class during different semesters.  Be sure not to damage the book in any way, if it is on loan!