College and books

[Sevaede]

Today was my first day of college! It went pretty well. I just cannot believe how much it is costing! I mean, these are some of the folks who can least afford to throw out a bunch of money and that's what's going on.

For example, I purchased a doughnut and one pint of milk. Total? Three dollars and five cents. (I have all four of my classes on one day. Consequently, I am three all day long. I will remember to pack my own snacks from here on out, however.)

My point... I spent nearly TWO HUNDRED dollars on my French text. There was another twenty or so for the English to French grammar book. Now, the teacher wants us to purchase TWO English to French dictionaries - a "big, clunky" one for home and a small one for us to carry around. Additionally, I guess we aren't submitting very many assignments on paper. We're having to submit assignments online through a workbook on Quia. You have to purchase the code for the online book. How much? Over fifty dollars!! I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if they had bothered to let me know ahead of time that I was going to have to spend this much money on books so I could budget for them. /end rant.

All in all, I am enjoying the experience. I cannot wait to see what else there is in store!

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Congrats on your first day of college! Do you know what your major is going to be yet?

Yes, it is quite expensive, and the books are a total rip off. I would recommend buying used through amazon.com or another online vendor- you will save hundreds of dollars each semester. I also really like bigwords.com, where you can search for the cheapest prices (but you don't have to buy there). The best way to look these up is find the ISBN first through your college book store- then you know you have an exact match!

I also used to buy slightly older additions of books online and saved tons- most of the time they update the books yearly to make more money but change almost nothing content wise. You may run in to different page numbers, but I think it's a small price to pay for saving $$$$$.

The only drawback to purchasing online is that you need to do so ahead of time to be ready for the semester, but it's very worth it.

Good luck with all of your classes, I'm sure you will love them!