Ways to Reduce Cost on College Textbooks
Content
Ways to Reduce Cost on College Textbooks
Amazing how the prices have spiked during the last year alone, along with professors who require new editions of previous textbooks every semester (ditto same, nothing changed). Apparently this is the structure of universities and book publishers to conspire against us, the students, and monetize on our need to obtain an education. Most of the time, book stores just plainly rip us off as I have compared prices against prominent websites. In addition, the return policies for most University Bookstores are stringent where the returns are ineligible if the semester starts. What if I wanted to drop classes, what happens to the $168.00 statistics book that I no longer need? And there is new edition out next semester. Apparently I am screwed as are many students across United States. Being in my senior year and on the Dean's List, I am about to complete one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. I have been able to manage myself and continue education at the very finest level. As a Business student with developing business acumen, I try to save cost on any and everything I can. This character of frugality is inspired by the biggest names in history. They have offered me the essence of Money and Time (Thanks to English Literature Class). It is through these principles that I can sense a savings factor contributing to my wealth. If you read this article, you may inhibit the prudent mentality it requires to become successful and hard working. Starting this behavior early and developing this attitude will rain numerous rewards and appreciation. Stage one: Obtain Book ISBNs, Title and Authors As soon as you register for classes, make a list of required textbooks that your professor is going to follow. Nearly all universities these days have dynamic linkage of information from the instructor to the bookstore. What you need are the three important things to find a relevant textbook; the title, the author(s) and the ISBN number (located below the Barcode, not above). Make a note or fancy it with excel, whatever just get this important piece of information however you can. Stage two: Class and instructor analysis This is one of the critical stages where a student needs to analyze the schematics of his/her class and teaching methods of a particular professor. What I meant is, when I take a marketing class I know it is an easy class as it does not include rigorous calculations or strenuously long problems. So I know I can dominate this course through smart memorization with devoted note taking skills. On the other hand, my quantitative decision making class which is a tough one, I need to be tactical in my approach. This is where a professor needs to be present (at least for me in math) and pass on knowledge through demonstration including an active dialectic method. Before I even register for class, my social network in school gives me an added advantage as to choose which professor is worthy. Another tool I use are sites like ratemyprofessor.com, as to find the best ones with the not the easiest ratings but the professors who are well rounded overall
because I like to challenge myself and it is through these difficulties and inevitable mistakes that I learn. Once you have an idea of how your classes operate and at what scale of difficulty, your focus should deviate towards the Instructor. Here I judge them through several attributes based on leniency, strictness, articulation, memory, references, clumsiness, openness, appearance and professionalism. Your teacher is the dictator here, whatever perception they have of you, you will get that grade. And my theory is to be friends with the enemy similar to Sun Tzu's approach 'Know your enemy.' I like to achieve common grounds and outshine as a protagonist amongst other students. This technique accumulates; I would say 'imaginary bonus points' towards the end of semester, very resourceful once you obtain this bond, this linkage. This scenario of winning motivates me and I relate winning in battle as getting an A in class. The teachers throw difficult questions at you; different tactics every now and then like pop quizzes, research papers, group projects or pick on your contemporaries.
Analysis Continued : Professor X Coming back to the topic, how does this theory correlates with you saving money? This is where I further dissect the attributes of a professor. For example; Professor X whose poodle face, goofy personality emits sort of leniency and clumsiness, I know I can get away with 'stuff.' Onetime, I had this instructor, really a genius who helped me figure out several problems and giving all of us individual attention, very helpful, he lacked proper discipline and organization during many of his conversations. He could be easily persuaded on matters outside his field. His book where he kept his notes seemed like a rubbish mess of weary graded papers in-between the pages, as if he didn't care. Professor X also does not require you to bring the textbook to class but wants to lecture you on topic of maturity and the opinion of student responsibility that we should be responsible for our homework and attendance. For this type of instructor, I hold the priority of buying the book very low, unless course material is difficult itself. Analysis Continued : Professor Y Then appears at the podium, Professor Y, Why? Why! Why! That's what I said when I got this one. She was the aggressive, straight forward middle-aged women who could insult any student at any time, oblivious to any respect for anyone. She set her tone skillfully as she picked on the weakest students and questioned them for their unnecessary questions. Her remarks were down-right sarcastic in a condescending manner, and the rest of us would try to laugh but we couldn't because her head always swiveled and her eyes jumped out of her skull, like a hungry cat when interrupted during its meal. And then moving back to scorning the poor student. For this professor, many students drop out and clearly miss the significant part of self-development. I believe I got a chance to interact with a difficult person. During the course of her semester, I
developed a defense against her arguments and learned to tolerate the belligerence. I was afraid to even go in class without looking at the calendar and checking upon my assignments as she kept no room for error. I respect this teacher as she virtually spanked all the students in learning one of the hardest courses in my degree plan. She solidified the foundations of this course; as a result I calmly breezed through the next courses. She provided a crash course in disciplining (Thank You!). Professor Y thus radiates the notion of fear and punishment and for this professor I would buy the book right away. Analysis Continued : Professor Z Of course followed by Professor Z, The loveable kind. As if a philanthropist in disguise, if you get this one you're really lucky! Very rare, I only had one during my five years. Overflowing with comfort and accommodations, my professor never took role, always enjoyed joking about recent issues and the time would expire within our discussions. We were watching more movies in class than actually reading anything. Assignments were due on certain dates, and brightest of us submitted it on time. While most students considered the freedom and gullibility of this professor, they always submitted assignments late, they arrived late in class; there were no punishments, no points taken off. The soft spoken professor was very predictable in his actions. The class was a stroll through the park, an easy A. I don't even recommend purchasing a book for this Instructor. Analysis Continued : Professor XYZ For the last kind, Professor XYZ, presumably the most familiar type you will find throughout your Universities. They have a common philosophy yet they are available in plenty of assortments. Not all lecturers are the same; they have their own temperament and a routine of teaching. They have a balanced character comprised of empathy, leverage and firmness while they carry out the sacred hand over of valuable experience and knowledge. These professors are in abundance and they are what we need. XYZ as you can tell is derived from previous three professors. Well proportioned (speaking academically), they know whose taking advantage; they know when to be tough and elaborate; and they know how to enforce rules and principles. Some voluntarily foster students as means of fulfilling an altruistic need within their personality. I believe that to be the greatest property of any teacher, to be concerned about and encourage the students to engage in their course. Perhaps there are exceptions to these professors, where one chooses to buy the book or not and hold the buying priority just right. This professor gives enough time to search for books, so students can locate the cheapest ones available. This point then leads to my next stage of actually searching for cheaper books. Stage three: The Search for textbooks There are five ways I hunt for textbooks; through friends, search engines and websites,
halfprice book stores, libraries, and through the infamous university bookstore as a last resort. First of all, I scrap out all the contacts of friends out of my phone who go to same university or make new ones so that I can borrow books for the semester. Honestly the trend I have seen these days is that many of us don't sell our books. Most of my friends don't, who believe these books to be guides during later in life. They hang on to the book and read it on instances whenever they need help in that field. The book closes the missing link during the absence of a teacher. Even after graduation, one can polish their skills and understanding of the subject. The borrowing of material through friends is a reciprocal act where each contributes to one another. And it is through this circuitry that we all friends share the mutual savings. After filtering out the books, the ones that are left, I then spend a good two or three hours searching for them online. The art of searching online begins from a need and desperation, which is to save our (or our parent's) hard earned money and study of course. This driven force steers us in the right direction. This latent fuel begins the art of creativity online once we have a substantive motive behind our need. Under this motive combined with persistency, anyone can be successful at their attempt. Here are the bookmarks I use every semester to purchase the bulk of my textbooks listed below. Always print a receipt when purchasing online and don't buy books from overseas, it takes forever to reach here. 1. Ebay.com - it's 2009, you should know what EBay is. 2. Half.com EBay owned company, direct buying from seller without the bidding. 3. Bigwords.com The best textbook searching website 4. Chegg.com Rent textbooks for less than half the price and return them. 5. Google Book Search Efficient book searching and price comparison 6. Abebooks.com Great sellers here with dirt cheap prices on new textbooks. 7. Powells.com Used, new and out of print books available 8. Biggerbooks.com Discount book store, used, new, best sellers and textbooks 9. Textbooksrus.com Buy Cheap textbooks and sell them 10. Betterworld.com Buy used books to fund literacy worldwide 11. Bookbyte.com Family style college bookstore but online.
Stage four: The Search for alternatives Two out of four course textbooks have been sourced for Professor Y and XYZ; I need two more books for Professor X and Z. Victim of being poor, I allocate the rest of the money to peculiar alternatives. For both these Professors, I have decided to obtain textbooks that are an edition older. Instead of having nothing to read and striving for an A, I go forward and look for books that are old edition but from the same author. I try to read no less than one book a month out of mere interest and it is why I visit a place called ‘Halfprice Book Store' once a month. Halfprice Stores are an extremely valuable destination for book aficionados. There I have noticed a nice little section of textbooks in
every department. I wonder why? To my surprise, I found the textbook that pertained to one of my courses for only $11.98. Even though it was an older edition, they changed minuscule details when I compared it against the new version. Achievement here is welldeserved; after all it takes nerves to search inside at every Halfprice Store and dig through the din of books. Stage Five: Desperate Measures It is the third week of school and you are still missing one book. The Bookstore is charging you an arm and leg, your first assignment is due this week, you can't wait till Friday for your next paycheck, and you have failed in finding this textbook through the resources mentioned above. What do you do? Drop your class and extend your graduation date for another semester or have a heart attack at home. The serendipity I have experienced during my search was through endurance and self-reliance. I did not give up hope and I endlessly rummaged around to get a hold of this textbook. What I discovered was the power of local libraries and their network of libraries across town. There are two different libraries I found; library inside the university and local city libraries. Both evenly useful and free of charge. A website called worldcat.org provides a better search of books online and checks the availability according to proximity of each library. Borrow books from the library; they have old editions and new ones (rare). I have done it twice and I have easily save around two hundred dollars per semester. This was my last ultimate resort to save as much as I could. The reward is worth more than its value because going to the libraries I was attracted towards reading other books. I gained wealth of knowledge as well as money. Textbook Perception Textbooks are a core fundamental unit of knowledge and intellect. Textbooks offer clarity and instruction in subjects new to our minds along with a challenge to our thinking abilities. The thickness and length, the cover and colored pages and even the price of the book do not determine the true value of the manuscript. Significance of a book is derived through the perception of a person in the right ways. It may become a scene of heavenly formation, books may virtually appear on clouds with a golden shimmer, holding a pristine value to a striving student. Where as an uninterested student will touch it with no emotions but only through the demands of his curriculum. Book authors, some perceive it to be a mundane task as if a writing slave of the book, though many authors truly contribute and perceive textbooks to transfer their scholastic roots. On the other hand, printing press personals may see it as a profitable product for their investors; a few publishers (I mean a handful) produce books in good faith and in defense of providing a tool for an education and not a burden. Fellow students and respective readers, this set of guidelines of values and emotions do not condemn any source where a book can be bought, but it does disagree with the structure of our system that places the priorities of things above a student and a scholar. This document is an outreach to those affluent minded people who can't buy some of their books but who will in return volunteer to
offer their knowledge without a price tag.
Author: Umair Miraj, Phone#(832)661-7100, E-mail: [email protected]
Amazing how the prices have spiked during the last year alone, along with professors who require new editions of previous textbooks every semester (ditto same, nothing changed). Apparently this is the structure of universities and book publishers to conspire against us, the students, and monetize on our need to obtain an education. Most of the time, book stores just plainly rip us off as I have compared prices against prominent websites. In addition, the return policies for most University Bookstores are stringent where the returns are ineligible if the semester starts. What if I wanted to drop classes, what happens to the $168.00 statistics book that I no longer need? And there is new edition out next semester. Apparently I am screwed as are many students across United States. Being in my senior year and on the Dean's List, I am about to complete one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. I have been able to manage myself and continue education at the very finest level. As a Business student with developing business acumen, I try to save cost on any and everything I can. This character of frugality is inspired by the biggest names in history. They have offered me the essence of Money and Time (Thanks to English Literature Class). It is through these principles that I can sense a savings factor contributing to my wealth. If you read this article, you may inhibit the prudent mentality it requires to become successful and hard working. Starting this behavior early and developing this attitude will rain numerous rewards and appreciation. Stage one: Obtain Book ISBNs, Title and Authors As soon as you register for classes, make a list of required textbooks that your professor is going to follow. Nearly all universities these days have dynamic linkage of information from the instructor to the bookstore. What you need are the three important things to find a relevant textbook; the title, the author(s) and the ISBN number (located below the Barcode, not above). Make a note or fancy it with excel, whatever just get this important piece of information however you can. Stage two: Class and instructor analysis This is one of the critical stages where a student needs to analyze the schematics of his/her class and teaching methods of a particular professor. What I meant is, when I take a marketing class I know it is an easy class as it does not include rigorous calculations or strenuously long problems. So I know I can dominate this course through smart memorization with devoted note taking skills. On the other hand, my quantitative decision making class which is a tough one, I need to be tactical in my approach. This is where a professor needs to be present (at least for me in math) and pass on knowledge through demonstration including an active dialectic method. Before I even register for class, my social network in school gives me an added advantage as to choose which professor is worthy. Another tool I use are sites like ratemyprofessor.com, as to find the best ones with the not the easiest ratings but the professors who are well rounded overall
because I like to challenge myself and it is through these difficulties and inevitable mistakes that I learn. Once you have an idea of how your classes operate and at what scale of difficulty, your focus should deviate towards the Instructor. Here I judge them through several attributes based on leniency, strictness, articulation, memory, references, clumsiness, openness, appearance and professionalism. Your teacher is the dictator here, whatever perception they have of you, you will get that grade. And my theory is to be friends with the enemy similar to Sun Tzu's approach 'Know your enemy.' I like to achieve common grounds and outshine as a protagonist amongst other students. This technique accumulates; I would say 'imaginary bonus points' towards the end of semester, very resourceful once you obtain this bond, this linkage. This scenario of winning motivates me and I relate winning in battle as getting an A in class. The teachers throw difficult questions at you; different tactics every now and then like pop quizzes, research papers, group projects or pick on your contemporaries.
Analysis Continued : Professor X Coming back to the topic, how does this theory correlates with you saving money? This is where I further dissect the attributes of a professor. For example; Professor X whose poodle face, goofy personality emits sort of leniency and clumsiness, I know I can get away with 'stuff.' Onetime, I had this instructor, really a genius who helped me figure out several problems and giving all of us individual attention, very helpful, he lacked proper discipline and organization during many of his conversations. He could be easily persuaded on matters outside his field. His book where he kept his notes seemed like a rubbish mess of weary graded papers in-between the pages, as if he didn't care. Professor X also does not require you to bring the textbook to class but wants to lecture you on topic of maturity and the opinion of student responsibility that we should be responsible for our homework and attendance. For this type of instructor, I hold the priority of buying the book very low, unless course material is difficult itself. Analysis Continued : Professor Y Then appears at the podium, Professor Y, Why? Why! Why! That's what I said when I got this one. She was the aggressive, straight forward middle-aged women who could insult any student at any time, oblivious to any respect for anyone. She set her tone skillfully as she picked on the weakest students and questioned them for their unnecessary questions. Her remarks were down-right sarcastic in a condescending manner, and the rest of us would try to laugh but we couldn't because her head always swiveled and her eyes jumped out of her skull, like a hungry cat when interrupted during its meal. And then moving back to scorning the poor student. For this professor, many students drop out and clearly miss the significant part of self-development. I believe I got a chance to interact with a difficult person. During the course of her semester, I
developed a defense against her arguments and learned to tolerate the belligerence. I was afraid to even go in class without looking at the calendar and checking upon my assignments as she kept no room for error. I respect this teacher as she virtually spanked all the students in learning one of the hardest courses in my degree plan. She solidified the foundations of this course; as a result I calmly breezed through the next courses. She provided a crash course in disciplining (Thank You!). Professor Y thus radiates the notion of fear and punishment and for this professor I would buy the book right away. Analysis Continued : Professor Z Of course followed by Professor Z, The loveable kind. As if a philanthropist in disguise, if you get this one you're really lucky! Very rare, I only had one during my five years. Overflowing with comfort and accommodations, my professor never took role, always enjoyed joking about recent issues and the time would expire within our discussions. We were watching more movies in class than actually reading anything. Assignments were due on certain dates, and brightest of us submitted it on time. While most students considered the freedom and gullibility of this professor, they always submitted assignments late, they arrived late in class; there were no punishments, no points taken off. The soft spoken professor was very predictable in his actions. The class was a stroll through the park, an easy A. I don't even recommend purchasing a book for this Instructor. Analysis Continued : Professor XYZ For the last kind, Professor XYZ, presumably the most familiar type you will find throughout your Universities. They have a common philosophy yet they are available in plenty of assortments. Not all lecturers are the same; they have their own temperament and a routine of teaching. They have a balanced character comprised of empathy, leverage and firmness while they carry out the sacred hand over of valuable experience and knowledge. These professors are in abundance and they are what we need. XYZ as you can tell is derived from previous three professors. Well proportioned (speaking academically), they know whose taking advantage; they know when to be tough and elaborate; and they know how to enforce rules and principles. Some voluntarily foster students as means of fulfilling an altruistic need within their personality. I believe that to be the greatest property of any teacher, to be concerned about and encourage the students to engage in their course. Perhaps there are exceptions to these professors, where one chooses to buy the book or not and hold the buying priority just right. This professor gives enough time to search for books, so students can locate the cheapest ones available. This point then leads to my next stage of actually searching for cheaper books. Stage three: The Search for textbooks There are five ways I hunt for textbooks; through friends, search engines and websites,
halfprice book stores, libraries, and through the infamous university bookstore as a last resort. First of all, I scrap out all the contacts of friends out of my phone who go to same university or make new ones so that I can borrow books for the semester. Honestly the trend I have seen these days is that many of us don't sell our books. Most of my friends don't, who believe these books to be guides during later in life. They hang on to the book and read it on instances whenever they need help in that field. The book closes the missing link during the absence of a teacher. Even after graduation, one can polish their skills and understanding of the subject. The borrowing of material through friends is a reciprocal act where each contributes to one another. And it is through this circuitry that we all friends share the mutual savings. After filtering out the books, the ones that are left, I then spend a good two or three hours searching for them online. The art of searching online begins from a need and desperation, which is to save our (or our parent's) hard earned money and study of course. This driven force steers us in the right direction. This latent fuel begins the art of creativity online once we have a substantive motive behind our need. Under this motive combined with persistency, anyone can be successful at their attempt. Here are the bookmarks I use every semester to purchase the bulk of my textbooks listed below. Always print a receipt when purchasing online and don't buy books from overseas, it takes forever to reach here. 1. Ebay.com - it's 2009, you should know what EBay is. 2. Half.com EBay owned company, direct buying from seller without the bidding. 3. Bigwords.com The best textbook searching website 4. Chegg.com Rent textbooks for less than half the price and return them. 5. Google Book Search Efficient book searching and price comparison 6. Abebooks.com Great sellers here with dirt cheap prices on new textbooks. 7. Powells.com Used, new and out of print books available 8. Biggerbooks.com Discount book store, used, new, best sellers and textbooks 9. Textbooksrus.com Buy Cheap textbooks and sell them 10. Betterworld.com Buy used books to fund literacy worldwide 11. Bookbyte.com Family style college bookstore but online.
Stage four: The Search for alternatives Two out of four course textbooks have been sourced for Professor Y and XYZ; I need two more books for Professor X and Z. Victim of being poor, I allocate the rest of the money to peculiar alternatives. For both these Professors, I have decided to obtain textbooks that are an edition older. Instead of having nothing to read and striving for an A, I go forward and look for books that are old edition but from the same author. I try to read no less than one book a month out of mere interest and it is why I visit a place called ‘Halfprice Book Store' once a month. Halfprice Stores are an extremely valuable destination for book aficionados. There I have noticed a nice little section of textbooks in
every department. I wonder why? To my surprise, I found the textbook that pertained to one of my courses for only $11.98. Even though it was an older edition, they changed minuscule details when I compared it against the new version. Achievement here is welldeserved; after all it takes nerves to search inside at every Halfprice Store and dig through the din of books. Stage Five: Desperate Measures It is the third week of school and you are still missing one book. The Bookstore is charging you an arm and leg, your first assignment is due this week, you can't wait till Friday for your next paycheck, and you have failed in finding this textbook through the resources mentioned above. What do you do? Drop your class and extend your graduation date for another semester or have a heart attack at home. The serendipity I have experienced during my search was through endurance and self-reliance. I did not give up hope and I endlessly rummaged around to get a hold of this textbook. What I discovered was the power of local libraries and their network of libraries across town. There are two different libraries I found; library inside the university and local city libraries. Both evenly useful and free of charge. A website called worldcat.org provides a better search of books online and checks the availability according to proximity of each library. Borrow books from the library; they have old editions and new ones (rare). I have done it twice and I have easily save around two hundred dollars per semester. This was my last ultimate resort to save as much as I could. The reward is worth more than its value because going to the libraries I was attracted towards reading other books. I gained wealth of knowledge as well as money. Textbook Perception Textbooks are a core fundamental unit of knowledge and intellect. Textbooks offer clarity and instruction in subjects new to our minds along with a challenge to our thinking abilities. The thickness and length, the cover and colored pages and even the price of the book do not determine the true value of the manuscript. Significance of a book is derived through the perception of a person in the right ways. It may become a scene of heavenly formation, books may virtually appear on clouds with a golden shimmer, holding a pristine value to a striving student. Where as an uninterested student will touch it with no emotions but only through the demands of his curriculum. Book authors, some perceive it to be a mundane task as if a writing slave of the book, though many authors truly contribute and perceive textbooks to transfer their scholastic roots. On the other hand, printing press personals may see it as a profitable product for their investors; a few publishers (I mean a handful) produce books in good faith and in defense of providing a tool for an education and not a burden. Fellow students and respective readers, this set of guidelines of values and emotions do not condemn any source where a book can be bought, but it does disagree with the structure of our system that places the priorities of things above a student and a scholar. This document is an outreach to those affluent minded people who can't buy some of their books but who will in return volunteer to
offer their knowledge without a price tag.
Author: Umair Miraj, Phone#(832)661-7100, E-mail: [email protected]
