BY DEB SCHLEEDE
If you’re a college student, then you — or
someone with deep pockets who loves you very much — just finished shelling out
large wads of dough for tuition and fees. You’re probably feeling great,
even though your bank account is quietly weeping in the corner. Then comes the
first day of class, and you read those terrifying words looming at the top of
the syllabus: “required text.” In other words, “another huge
dent in your bank account.”
Prices of
textbooks have been increasing at an unsettling rate in recent years. A study
conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that in the
last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of
inflation, following close behind tuition increases. Most schools in the Rochester
area increased tuition by roughly 4 percent or more this year. You’re paying
more for tuition, and the double whammy is now you’re paying more for books.
While it’s
not unheard of for textbooks to run some students more than $700 per year, you
can avoid at least some of these costs. There are ways to not buy the book at
all, and tons of things you can do to cut corners and save that important cash,
allowing you to save that moolah for late-night shots
of caffeine during intense study sessions. Sometimes jumping through a hoop or
two is worth it to save a couple hundred dollars.
Wait and see
The first step is to gauge each class. Don’t run out of the
classroom with your book list and go straight into the bookstore. Wait it out.
Go through the first week or two and see how heavily the textbook is used. In
some classes your lecture is an enormous recap of the previous night’s assigned
reading, and most of the time the information sinks in better through lectures
anyway. Why spend $100 just to be re-told what you read? Learn to take better
notes, pay close attention, and get involved in the discussion. Hell, you may
even drop the class after a week and then be stuck with an expensive book.
If you don’t
want to wait, try asking the professor how heavily the class’s textbook is
used, or if you can just share one once and awhile or find other sources for
the material. You might be surprised where he or she may point you, such as the
textbook’s website. Many textbook websites have large chapter overviews,
chapter review questions, and other study material on every single chapter. Why
spend an hour every night reading a whole chapter when you can spend 20 minutes
reading the recap and get the same material? Be sure to keep these sites
bookmarked regardless of whether you buy the book; the extra review material is
often a godsend come time for exams.
In some
classes you may need the textbook just once or twice. The professor might
assign you pages that you need to present to the class, or chapter questions
that you need to do a few nights scattered through the semester. See if you can
borrow the book from a friend or classmate for one evening, or write down that
night’s questions before you leave class. Make some friends in the class and
share the book; you’ll get a great study buddy to boot.
Free books!
So you’re two weeks into the semester and you really do need
the text for your class on maple syrup (that’s an actual course you can take at
Alfred), but your bank account is on its knees, begging you not to spend the
money. Before you grudgingly buy the book, exhaust every other means of getting
the information first.
Check your
library. It’s not just a place to make out after class, or a quiet place to
study outside of your bedroom; it’s where schools may house copies of
textbooks. Unfortunately, not all of the Rochester
area colleges have copies of all the required textbooks due to the cost (oh,
the irony; check the sidebar for specific library policies). While most school
libraries don’t have many books, nearly early every school has a portion of
textbooks available depending on whether your professor put a request in for
the text, or if the professor provided the book himself. Check with the
circulation desk at the library or ask your professor. You won’t be able to
take the book from the building, but you can surely spend half an hour in the
library getting the information you need.
Google is
your friend. On Google, you can do a blog search, a
book search, and a scholar search. Many bloggers and
other websites include downloads and links to legally scanned or electronic
copies of textbooks. Textbooks often pop up on Google Books, a large database
with actual scanned pages. Then there’s Google Scholar, where you can find
links to book chapters. Before buying anything at all, Google search it. It
doesn’t always yield results, but don’t get frustrated. You can still get free
information elsewhere.
In addition
to Google Books there is an open source — that means FREE — book database
called Wikibooks. A professor who was sick of costly
textbooks started this site, and thousands of books have been scanned or
transcribed since its birth in 2003. Many books are not complete, and may only
have certain chapters or short sections, but if that’s all you need then you’re
all set.
If you’re
really feeling puckish and want to break a lot of rules to get what you need,
go take pictures of the book. Some students have been known to take photos of
select pages of books, either from inside a bookstore or from a friend’s copy.
Despite the fair use clause of the federal copyright law, this is most likely
illegal, and we do not recommend or condone this option.
The last resort
OK, fine. Surrender. Wave your white flag in shame and just
give up. Jumping through all these hoops and running in frantic circles during
exam time can be extra stress you just don’t need. It’s cool. Your bank account
will forgive you eventually. You can still cut corners and save loads of cash
on the books you do need to break down and buy.
Make some
friends and split the cost. If there’s someone in class who you have easy
access to outside of class, and who has a schedule that matches yours, become
study buddies. This works especially well if your roommate or floor mates are
in your classes. Ask to split the cost of the books between the group, and make sure to share it evenly. If you can’t get
matching schedules to study together just work out a schedule for custody of
the book. Say you get the book Thursdays and Fridays, and your partner gets it
Saturdays and Sundays. You might have to do some work ahead of time, but at
least you only paid 20 bucks instead of $40.
A good
money-saving way to get books is to buy used copies. You can score used
textbooks at your campus book store; however, they often still carry a hefty
price. You should definitely compare prices with other Rochester
used textbook stores, such as Rochester Textbooks (2995
W. Henrietta Rd, 427-0740, rochesterbooks.com).
Even math books can be a steal used; screw paying $90 for a new book when you
can get a slightly dog-eared copy for $35. Don’t forget to go back to the
previous editions when you buy used. It is generally safe to go buy a used book
that is edition eight instead of edition nine. Just be sure to check with the
professor for page discrepancies that might occur in newer editions.
You can also
buy used books online. Many folks use half.com, a spin-off of eBay, to buy and
sell used books. Sure, they can be cheap, but figuring out who is selling and
whether they can be trusted is another question. The same goes for Amazon.com.
I’ve had books from Amazon take two months to arrive; that’s going to be a
problem when your first exam is the fourth week of class, and you bomb it
thanks to some lazy jerk on the internet. The diamond in the rough of online
book websites is BigWords.com. Search for your book on this site and its search
engine will scour the dark depths of the World Wide Web to find every single
website selling the book. The site even looks into any coupons or discounts
available to you.
An
alternative to buying from an online store and waiting for shipping is
BookMaid.com, a book-trade website. It’s a local website, similar to Craigslist, where Rochester-area students can list their
used books or search for books in the area. Instead of an online checkout, you
communicate with your peer directly. You might even be able to talk the seller
down a few bucks, especially if the book has been listed for a while. The
website was created and is managed by an RIT student.
Short of
flat-out buying a book there are a handful of online sources where you can rent
a book for a semester, Chegg.com and Bookrenter.com are popular sources. Renting
lets you pay a fraction of the price, and receive most of your money back at
the end of the semester when it is returned. The downfall to renting a textbook
is the generally rigorous guidelines on how the book must be kept and returned,
so if you’re a heavy highlighter or are rough on your books, you might end up
losing money. Be sure to price check rentals, too; sometimes renting the book
costs more than buying it used.
If you do
end up buying a few books here or there, don’t forget to sell them at the end
of the semester. You can do this at many bookstores or online (again,
bigwords.com) to make back some money. Either take the money and run, or use
the money to buy textbooks for the following semester. Paying $200 for books in
the fall, then regaining the money to use for next semester’s books, saves a ton of cash over the course of a college
career. It’s like recycling your money to yourself!
SIDEBAR:
Local college library textbook policies
Finger
LakesCommunity College Textbooks only available if professors bring the book themselves.
MonroeCommunity College No
textbooks available. Very rare if professor brings them to be
put on hold.
NazarethCollege Textbooks only available if professors bring the book themselves.
RIT Does have a number of books. If the
professor is the author, requests the book, or brings the book in, then the
library will have it. There are a number of reference books available in place
of textbooks.
Roberts Wesleyan Carries some books. Some
general education books and books brought in by professors are available.
St. John Fisher No textbooks available. Very rare if professor
brings them to be put on hold.
SUNY Brockport Some textbooks available, only
if department orders them.
SUNY Geneseo No textbooks available; very rare
if professor brings them in to be put on hold.
UR Some textbooks available, only if professor requests that the book is carried
or provides the book to the library.
This article appears in Aug 19-19, 2009.
