Cheap textbooks and other issues that interest college students blog » textbooks

Discount Calculus Books

Eugene Aronsky — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:51:39 +0000

By the time a student reaches Calculus level courses in college they have already knocked off quite a few of the mathematically challenging courses such as algebra and geometry. They are ready for some serious math now! Preparing for the first Calculus class can bring with it a rude awakening. It hits just about the time the student completes enrollment, grabs this semester’s schedule and heads into the bookstore to purchase the required mathematics textbooks. If only purchasing discount Calculus textbooks could be less mathematically complicated.

Advanced Calculus

Actually, most students are not aware of the money that can be saved when they buy cheap textbooks online. The bookstore is set up to make as much money as they can on unsuspecting students who do not know that there are other ways of obtaining required textbooks for their classes. The bookstore isn’t going to give students a discount; they are going to try to get as much of the student’s school money as they can because they know that the books are necessary for those who are serious about attending classes and maintaining a successful college career.

Thankfully there are online resources where students can purchase discount textbooks. These are the same books that are required for their college classes, as well as the same book that the bookstore has available for an incredibly high price! Students can save a lot of money if they choose to buy textbooks online. Buying textbooks online can also save time. It’s the best way to eliminate a trip to the campus bookstore only to stand in line for a very long time to pay for overpriced books.

The school budget is tight enough already with all the other costs associated with attending school. And purchasing textbooks can almost be like adding insult to injury until now. Purchasing inexpensive Calculus books online can seriously help reduce the financial impact of returning to classes. It is as simple as knowing the title and the author. You can buy textbooks online and put the money saved toward all the other many necessities that will come along while you pursue your coursework! It will give you one less thing to have to worry about.

Cheap College Trigonometry Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:14:30 +0000

Taking college Trigonometry can be quite the mental chore for any serious student. It is still considered at the lower end as far as the level of mathematical difficulty goes, but it can wreak havoc in the minds of students who are trying to figure it out. Purchasing an inexpensive College Trig textbook should not be just as puzzling as the course, but many times it has been until recently.

Many campus bookstores ask ridiculously high prices for their college textbooks knowing that students are required to have them for classes. But the campus bookstore is not the only option for students. However, many students assume that they are stuck with paying these over inflated prices. There are other options available. Students can find and purchase affordable math textbooks online.

The public is well aware of how high the costs associated with obtaining an education are getting. And there seems to be no relief in sight during these tough economic times. Then to add to the student’s dilemma of how to pay for college, the government proposes even further cuts to the education department. This leaves many students trying to figure out how to pay for all the added expenses of attending the university. Books are just one of the many expenses on the list of necessary items that must be purchased when attending a facility of higher learning.

Algebra and Trigonometry: An Early Functions Approach

Since purchasing books is not optional for the success of a college student, finding cheap textbooks can help to ease the money woes of the student’s educational budget. Discount textbooks are abundant and available to purchase online. Finding affordable textbooks online can help take the pressure off of the budget so that that any extra money can then be used for other items that are necessary for attending school.

Don’t take the campus bookstore’s word for it – they are not the only source. Students can buy textbooks on line and for a much lower price than what the bookstore will ever offer. Inexpensive College Trigonometry textbooks are only one of many college level books that can be found and purchased on line.

Cheap Business Law Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:23:22 +0000

Of all the expenses that are incurred when going to school purchasing textbooks can be the largest concern for students and parents alike. It follows closely behind tuition and housing costs as some of the most strenuous expenses on the educational budget. After completing most of the basic courses required for obtaining a degree, upper level courses and degree specific classes can carry some of the priciest titles. This is true no matter what field of study a student is pursuing. Business Law is a requirement for Business majors and many may also choose to take it as an elective, especially if they are going to be in any kind of business setting. It is an excellent course to help a worker, supervisor, or employer be aware of existing laws and finding cheap Business Law textbooks doesn’t need to be a hassle.

Business Law: Text and Cases ? Legal, Ethical, Global, and Corporate Environment

Affordable textbooks are readily available for purchase online. It can save quite a bundle of money to buy textbooks online as opposed to purchasing them at the campus book store. The most common titles of courses generally required are available for those studying different areas of Business Law. Below are a couple of titles from such required classes. It is possible to find and buy textbooks online at discount prices. Cheap textbooks can help to ease some of the largest financial woes of students who are attending college classes.

Business Law

Some of the more common Business Law titles listed include “Business Law” by Henry Cheeseman and “Business Law: Text and Cases ? Legal, Ethical, Global, and Corporate Environment.” There are many other affordable textbooks from which students may choose. Take a look at the titles and you’ll find that the same books the campus store has are made available at greatly reduced prices. You can save money and time when you choose to buy textbooks online.

Cheap Ancient History Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:51:10 +0000

We all know the post enrollment drill. Take the list of required books to the university bookstore, search for hours through stacks and stacks of books to find the ones needed. Then we carry them to the checkout and stand for another enormous amount of time just to pay a hugely over inflated amount of money. Until now it has been part of the necessary evils of college enrollment. But now college students can find cheap Ancient History textbooks online. This will save the student tons of both time and money.

The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern

Prices for everything are climbing higher each day and the expenses associated with obtaining a college education are no exception. After paying tuition costs, finding affordable textbooks tops the list of budget woes for students seeking to further their education. However, now there is an easier and less expensive way to obtain cheap textbooks. The college student has the option to buy textbooks online. These are the same ones required for college classes that the university store has available. But they are discount textbooks available at a price that is affordable.

Students can find and purchase cheap Ancient History textbooks online. It’s as easy as searching through the titles to find the one required for class. Then purchase it at a much discounted price. The online process is pleasant, quiet and saves money and time. What more could the anxious college student hope for? Perhaps an A in the class? That may just be possible since the mind will be at ease concerning expenses for textbooks!

What is An International Edition?

Eugene Aronsky — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:54:42 +0000

Looking for cheap textbooks has become more of a necessity as the costs associated with obtaining an education continue to soar. Many are finding that purchasing International editions of textbooks is a valid option which can help reduce college expenses. International editions of commonly required textbooks are much cheaper to purchase than those published and printed in the United States.

Cheap criminal justice textbooks

International editions of textbooks are printed and distributed in international markets. They contain exactly the same information as their US counterparts. Many of them will come with a soft cover rather than the traditional hard back covers. They also use a different type of paper which helps to reduce the cost of production but the information included is the same.

These affordable textbooks are manufactured for distribution in the foreign market, basically outside the United States. This does not mean that it is illegal to obtain a textbook from publishers outside the US, just that they were made to be distributed outside the United States market. This simply means that they are manufactured at a fraction of the cost of the typical textbook. They can be purchased for use in the US but only made available through the overseas market.

When ordering an International textbook simply search for the title and author. You can also use the ISBN number in a search but sometimes International textbooks have different ISBN numbers than the same books published in the United States. This is simply because it is made available in a different marketplace. It does not affect the quality of the information. The International market uses a different system for enumeration.

After searching for the title and author make sure to check the edition number. Frequently college textbooks are updated with pertinent information prompting a new edition. This is important to ensure that the material is up to date and that it has the same page content as what is required for classes.

Most of the textbooks that are required for college basics and other classes are available on the International market. Core subjects such as Psychology, Biology, and mathematics courses are readily available on the International market.

These affordable textbooks can help students save as much as fifty to seventy-five percent off regular textbook costs. You will need to do some planning and allow for standard shipping times, but these inexpensive textbooks can help relieve the pressure on the already stretched school budget.

Cheap Introduction to Business Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:45:01 +0000

Going to school is not cheap no matter what course of study is taken. There are so many expenses that have to be budgeted to make it work financially. There are application fees, deposits and a wide variety of other fees and charges plus tuition and housing. After paying tuition and housing costs probably the biggest expense a student faces is the purchase of the necessary books to complete all of their required class work. They can nearly cost a small fortune, especially if the student is enrolled in several classes. Finding affordable textbooks can be a challenge.

Introduction to Business

There are all sorts of fields to study in the business world. No doubt if you are taking any track into the study of business you will be required to take and pass at least one type of Introduction to Business class. The goal of course, is to lay a strong foundation for further business related studies and classes. Cheap Introduction to Business textbooks are available and students can buy textbooks online.

Being able to purchase cheap textbooks can help to ease some of the financial burden of school costs. And in these financial times we must find as many corners to cut as possible without compromising quality. There is a wide variety of Introduction to Business textbooks which professors may choose to make as a requirement for class. Commonly required titles such as “Introduction to Business: How Companies Create Value for People”, and “Introduction to Information Systems: Enabling and Transforming Business” are conveniently listed below. These are available at discount prices to help the pocketbook last until all coursework is completed.

By purchasing textbooks online the student can save a bundle of money and also come out ahead time-wise. You will not have to face terribly long lines at the book store just waiting to make your all-too-expensive purchases. Simply Select and click and the textbook is on its way.

Cheap Organic Chemistry Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:39:31 +0000

As students prepare to start classes for each new semester, one of the most stressful financial considerations that must be made is the purchasing of textbooks for all of their classes. Affordable textbooks can be very difficult to find. The campus store usually carries all of the main required texts but at terribly over-inflated prices. Students certainly have enough to worry about and plenty of other things to strain their school budget without having to worry about securing expensive supplies for the classes they’ve enrolled in. Books can be one of the greatest expenses after tuition costs and living expenses are deducted from an already tight budget.

Organic Chemistry

Science textbooks in general can wear a large price tag. There are several common Organic Chemistry books that may be required for those who enroll in class. Even though they may be used for more than one semester’s studies they can carry along a very hefty price tag. Presently, there are some cheap Organic Chemistry textbooks available on line. These affordable textbooks are the same as what the campus store may carry but at a greatly reduced price. When students buy textbooks online it can be a great relief on the budget as well as the mind.

There is a very wide variety of Organic Chemistry textbooks online at affordable prices. Some of the most commonly required titles include “Organic Chemistry I: Translating the Basic Concepts” by David R. Klein. Also included in the online selections is McMurry’s “Organic Chemistry”. Cheap Organic Chemistry textbooks are available for purchase. Finding affordable textbooks online can help ease some of the money woes of attending school. Not only will buying your textbooks online it can save you a bundle of time too. It’s much easier to select and click the required text’s title than to dig through mounds of books at the bookstore. Then all you have to do is pay and click to ship. No waiting in long lines at the store.

Cheap World History Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:24:08 +0000

Have you purchased gasoline lately? Did you notice the price? Actually, almost everything has jumped up in price lately. For the college student this means tuition hikes as well as housing increases. Textbooks are no exception. For those attending colleges, purchasing textbooks required for classes can be the only thing that is as troublesome on the educational budget as trying to pay tuition. Sorting through the process of trying to find cheap World History textbooks can cause headaches and money troubles. But now the student can buy these textbooks online.

College bookstores are known to charge outrageous prices for supplies that are required for classes. But now the student can find affordable textbooks online. Purchasing discount textbooks can relieve a lot of pressures on the pocketbook of the student. All that is needed is the title of the book required for the course and the author. The mind can now be filled with knowledge about world history without emptying the bank account.

Peruse through titles and authors to find all the affordable textbooks that will be needed to complete the course. They are accessible and easy to find as well as easy to purchase. Buying textbooks online can also save students lots of time that can be quickly absorbed looking through stacks of books at the bookstore. Even if the correct text is found it can still mean very long wait times in line just to pay a huge amount of money. Finding the same title online can save both tons of money as well as equally important time.

Reasons Why You Should Avoid The College Bookstore

Eugene Aronsky — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:14:19 +0000

This guest post was provided by Liz C.

Liz is the editor for FindCollegeCards, a student credit resource, helping students with tips, advice and more.

No student can attend college without having to purchase books, and when you’re ready to purchase your textbooks for the first time, or maybe even the fifth time, I wanted to tell you why you should avoid the bookstore.

#1 Always compare prices – I’ve done so many price comparisons when it comes down to the college bookstore. I would say 99% of the time, you’re going to be able to save outside of your bookstore. Use price comparison websites.

#2 Watch the buyback process – When you want to sell your books back, it’s great to get money right away, but what if I told you that you could get 20% back online? A great way to see what you can get for your books is simply by going to a site such as We Compare Books.

#3 Used isn’t a good deal– Most college bookstores will offer used books as well. While the pricing is attractive, again, you’re going to want to look online to ensure that it is the best price. With used books, I have found that there are good deals sometimes, but not all the time.

#4 Supplies are the same way – Most college bookstores have pencils, notebooks and many other various items that you can purchase. This is what you’re going to want to avoid as well. While it’s great to stop by before class if you forget something, you will find that your local dollar store will have all the supplies you need at a great discount.

#5 Out of stock quite often – When I was attending a local community college, I had found that the books that I wanted were always out of stock. Since I didn’t want to wait, this is when I found out that the Internet was a lot cheaper. Sometimes, you may find that even if you want to buy in the bookstore, they may not even have your book!

#6 No long lines – If you want to purchase your books in the college, and you’re attending a rather large college, you’re going to find that everybody else in the school is going to do the same thing. You will find that the lines are extremely long, and will be nothing but a headache. When you purchase online, you can do it at anytime, and have it arrive right at your doorstep!

While I think all of us make the mistake of purchasing books at the bookstore, you’re going to find that the Internet is the way to go. Since I’m sure you’re already on a strict budget, you will find that these six tips above should be the reasons you should shop online, rather than in the store.

A Guide to Surviving College

Kate — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:50:15 +0000

Kate is a guest poster from the blog Arguing with a Doughnut. It’s just as weird as this post.

Congratulations! You have been accepted into college! NOW WHAT?

Now you will experience everything you’ve ever dreamed of, right? Almost! Almost. While college definitely has a lot of “fun” going for it, there are an awful lot of pitfalls, differences, and out-and-out lies that you’re going to have to figure out as you go.

UNLESS.

You read this.

First, let’s cover your dorm room. It will not look like this:

It will look like this:

Brace yourself. Don’t go out and buy a lot of stuff; there won’t be any room for it. Equip yourself as if you’re going to prison because that’s about the amount of space you’ll have. If you think you’ll have room for a craft corner or a bookshelf made out of anything but hastily wrought IKEA furniture from failed and abandoned efforts to have “real” furniture and cinderblocks, you’re sadly mistaken.

Eventually, you’ll need to crack a book.

Don’t forget to buy your text books.

Buy them online. Forget the campus bookstore. Just FORGET IT.

Texts online are cheaper, way cheaper, easier to get, and not a waste when you resell (or keep!) them. Just get the book list as soon as you can, either by e-mailing your professor or by hacking the internet until you find a syllabus for the class and stealing it covertly for the sole sake of saving a few cents.

Once you have your books, you will want to study need to study.

You will also want to make sure you aren’t accidentally trying to live the lies you were told about college. For example, the brochure image? This one?

Yeah. About that. You’re going to school HERE:

Or, if you’re in the North East?

And remember when you thought you could get up and wear pajamas to class?

You can’t.

And finally, one last sage piece of wisdom…

Walk very, very carefully when you get your diploma.

How to Find Cheap Textbooks

Eugene Aronsky — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:52:07 +0000

In recent decades the cost of a college education has had an astonishing annual rate of growth, this rate far exceeds that of inflation and is even greater than that of health care! What is worse, the value of a college education has steadily decreased in recent decades, where once a college degree meant that you could find a well paying job that would allow you to have a nice house, raise a family… today, most college grads are lucky to find a job, and those that get a job are lucky if they are able to pay off their student loans by age 40! Despite this, for most of us a college education is still a necessity, and we must therefore try to find ways to make college more affordable. Given that students do not have the power to negotiate their tuition, technology fees, dorm costs… students must look for other places where to save money, and one of the easiest places for a student to save a ton of money is by locating affordable textbooks

Save money on textbooks by shopping online

finding cheap textbooks is often more of an art rather than a science, there are many tricks to do this, you can buy books directly from students who took the course during the last semester, or you can agree to share a textbook with a friend who will be taking the course with you. (University libraries will often allow you to borrow any textbook from the library of another university, and this is a great way to get free textbooks!) But the best way to get cheap textbooks still remains shopping online, doing your research and buying your books early (often before the start of the semester if you are looking to get the best deals).

When it comes to going online to buy your books, there are many online bookstores that sell new and used books, and often they compete with each other to have the lowest price, additionally many of these stores allow individuals to sell their used books for any price, so you are likely to see a large price difference on almost every book when looking at different sites. In order to find the best prices you have a few options, you can go to each online bookstore manually, and compare prices by hand, or you can use a textbook price comparison service that will compare prices at the largest bookstores on the web and will give you the best price on any book.

When it comes to timing and buying your books early, there are a few reasons for this, the first is b/c shipping takes time, and you want to have your books as early as possible to do the work. But the bigger reason (at least when it comes to the price question) is b/c you are not the only student looking for cheap textbooks and the cheapest books are typically gone very early in the semester.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts I had about finding cheap textbooks, if you know of any other tricks to getting a deal on books that I did not discuss please mention it as a comment below.

Are We Addicted to Books?

Eugene Aronsky — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:49:38 +0000

We live in a society where the value of the written word has steadily eroded in recent decades. This erosion can be seen in a number of ways, starting with the rise of text messaging and instant messages as a form of communication in which shortening words is the norm, to the steady decline of basic formality. Not only are most freshman college students incapable of spelling, but many have to be taught standard ways to address one’s elders in a letter (or an email to a professor). Given such a decline, combined with the increased time that most of us spend in front of digital media (TV’s, computer’s video games…) one might think that the book- that indispensable, tome that has helped to shape our society, would be in decline as well, yet the contradictory is true.

Our society is one that has elevated literacy as a human good, and has, as a consequence of this elevated books. We all have bookshelves filled with volumes of hard cover books, some of these we have read, but many (either given to us as a gift, or bought by us in a fit of passion and desire to change ourselves) will stand there for years collecting dust without having a broken spine; indeed, we often collect books as a sign of our intellectual prowess. What amazes me is that in our world- where abbreviations are steadily replacing many words, we still value the spoken word as an “end in itself”, so much so that we judge developing countries on the literacy rate of their population. The HDI (human development index), an annual report that rates countries from most, to least developed, looking at nations’ standards of living, mentions the issue of literacy as a key indicator of a States’ development.

Talking about the cost of books, this too has changed, from the days where all books were affordable, to today, where the cost of some books (almost anything printed 50 years ago or more) has shrunk virtually to $0, with e-books being freely available online, to the costs of others skyrocketing to a point where one is almost required to take out a second mortgage to afford a few textbooks (this may sound funny, but I kid you not, the cost of many accounting or business textbooks is upwards of $200, and students are required to purchase 4-5 of these books a semester!)

It is my hope that with the increased use of technology, e-books and other media, such as We Compare Books, book prices will again shrink as publishers realize the un-sustainability of such increases and figure out other ways to profit from our addiction to books (perhaps using product placement in examples, If Jimmy buys a bottle of Coke for $… and a bottle of Pepsi costs…, but here I am of course joking).

How not to buy textbooks and still have access to them

Eugene Aronsky — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:12:00 +0000

Every college student hopes to have professors that will choose either free or at least cheap textbooks. Unfortunately those are rare, and many professors simply do not care that the book that they are selecting for the class will cost $200, while in other cases they simply do not have a choice since that may be the only good book on the subject. We already discussed some of the mechanics of textbook pricing and college bookstores. Today I give you a few tricks on how to get cheap textbooks. Some of these tricks are well known, and often used, others are only known to a few, and this fact will enable you to take full advantage of these tricks.

In regards to cheap textbooks many of the tricks have already been covered in previous blog posts, that is: used textbooks, older editions, etc. The trick I want to discuss with you today is how to find ways to avoid buying books altogether, while still having access to the contents of the books. The classic solution to this problem is simple: find a friend in the same class and share the textbook. Unfortunately this is not always possible, and when it is the friend may want you to help pay for part of the book, something completely understandable and a much better deal than having to pay the full price.

Another idea to keep in mind is that school libraries, or department libraries, typically keep copies of every textbook in reserve (this means that you cannot take them out of the building). This means that if you do not mind doing all of your studying at the library, than you do not need to buy the textbook. The downside to this is that you cannot take notes in the book, but you can always make copies of pages, and depending on the subject that may be good enough.

Another much less known trick is that most university libraries in the United States participate in some type of EZ borrow program. This means that they share books with other university libraries and are able to request books from other schools. This is great because you can request your textbooks from another university library, sign them out and bring them home. Depending on your library’s load duration, you will probably have to renew them mid semester, but that is not a problem. You will still not be able to take notes in the book (and out of respect for other students, please abstain from doing so), but at least this way you can read the book in the comfort of your home. This is a little known scheme, but trust me it works great! I had a good friend who went all through graduate school never having to purchase a single textbook.

This last trick applies to all of you out there who took humanities majors, or who are being forced to take litterature, philosophy or history classes. Many of your books, particularly novels are available in the public domain online: all you have to do is search for the name of the book and add “ull text” and if you are lucky it will be right there.

Well I hope that this blog post has given you some ideas as to how to avoid buying books, stay tuned for other postings where I will give you even more ideas on this and other book related issues. If you have tricks or ideas you would like to share, please leave a comment.

The down and dirty on textbook publishers

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:06:00 +0000

The way that the publishing business works has changed much since the early days of the Internet. The way that it used to work was that textbooks were more affordable, and since the used book market was very private, publishers were content with their profit margin. It is important to note here that publishers profit only from the sale of a new book; when a used book is sold and resold the original publisher of the book does not see a cent of the money generated. In the case where a bookstore sells used books, the bookstore gets the profit from the sale of the used book but has to buy it from someone. In the case of college bookstores, they have a constant supply of books since every year students graduate and want to get rid of their textbooks. On the other hand, whenever you purchase a book from certain sites online, the profit from the sale goes to the person selling the book, most likely another student.

As the used textbooks market developed with the rise of the Internet, and students were finally able to take control of the used book market by being able to sell their books online, publishers realized that fewer people were buying new textbooks. The solution that publishers devised was to put out a greater number of new editions or to put out new editions more often. It is important to note that many changing or rapidly evolving subjects such as computer science or biology require a new edition to be released yearly because the field changes constantly, but many other subjects such as literature, philosophy, and even business, in other words subjects that are not in a state of great flux and do not change rapidly do not require frequent edition updates. I can recall an ancient history class I took as a sophomore where the textbook that was available at the bookstore was the latest edition, and cost $80. Since I was fairly confident that ancient Greek history had not seen any major changes in the past few years I purchased an older edition online, saving $60 in the process, and had no problem keeping up the pace with other students of the class.

What many publishers do these days is that they put out a new edition regardless of whether or not any changes were actually made to the content of the book. If no changes were made than what they do is they will move around chapters, or maybe change a few chapter titles. The other strategy that publishers have developed is to include a CD or DVD with the textbook. This is seen as increasing the value of the book; however what they fail to tell you is that most, if not all, of the information on the CD/DVD is available on the publisher’s website for free, plus I have yet to meet a teacher who puts these CDs to good use.

The advice that I would offer students is to buy used and buy old editions whenever possible, and if you want to shop online I recommend you use a book price comparison website, in order to make sure that the price you are getting is the best one. In general, you should not stray further than 2 editions prior to the current one. If you are unsure as to an older edition of a textbook, I would advise that you consult with your professor, many are starting to come to the realization that books are putting a real economic strain on students and are starting to care, so they may be able to help.

Textbook advice for new students

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:54:00 +0000

The best piece of advice on books that I can offer new students going to college for the first time is, do not buy all of your textbooks at the college bookstore! If you order your books online on the same day that you receive your syllabus, you will typically receive your books before your first assignment. You can even choose to pay for overnight shipping, this is a bit more costly, but usually still cheaper than buying at the bookstore. If you are worried about receiving your books late, you can always try to contact your professors a week before the start of class and ask about the list of book(s) you will need. Most importantly, you should always shop around, and using a book price comparison site such as We Compare Books when shopping around makes it much more easier.

If you are forced to buy books at the bookstore, buy used. In fact, given the option, you should always choose used instead of new when it comes to textbooks. This has multiple advantages, for one you have the obvious price advantage, for another, often the previous owner of the book underlined or highlighted the important sections, and this means that skimming becomes easier (this is of course if you trust that the previous owner of the book was smart enough to have underlined the correct passages).

The best way to buy books is directly from previous students. This ensures that you pay less for your books and also that the students selling their books receive more money for them. Remember that the less intermediaries there are, the less money you spend and the more money goes in the pocket of the seller.

Finding Books at Discount Prices: A professors Guide

Eugene Aronsky — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:41:44 +0000

I have a pretty good relationship with many of my former professors, and sometimes I ask them to contribute their thoughts to some of the issues that students face.
Here is a blog post written by a former professor of mine, I hope that you find this useful.

Professor Colette Mazzucelli, Department of Political Science, Hofstra University and Center for Global Affairs, New York University

The more we teach, the more we learn about… discovering ways to save money for our students as book prices increase. Examples from my courses this semester are helpful illustrations. The comparative politics coursefor the Hofstra undergraduates, features three texts, which Norton sells as a package. The e-Book option is one the company’s sales representative helped me to identify as much less expensive for students. This package features efficient access to content on personal laptops in class as well as ease in note taking and markup right in the e-Book margins. Students who prefer to purchase the print copies of the different texts are encouraged to buy the much cheaper second editions even though new third editions just appeared in print. For those eager to compare, the new third editions are now placed on reserve as well in Hofstra’s Library. The Facebook reference to We Compare Books is available for undergraduates in my different class sections as they shop for cheap textbooks in various courses. Bookstores may prefer that students purchase individual textbooks, instead of packages, because these texts can be resold when the same classes are offered in subsequent years. In the immediate term, however, buying texts in packages or in bulk, as the next example illustrates, offers genuine savings for students. At New York University, my international relations syllabus for those graduates new to the M.S. Program in Global Affairs features extensive reading. This is a foundation course, which should also offer students ideas to develop research interests as the program of studies progresses to the thesis requirement. In this fall’s learning community, one of the members works for Pearson and offered to sell the others one of the required volumes for purchase at a discount price. Another option to keep costs low is to require texts for purchase that are available in paperback edition. In courses with such a wide selection of readings, the effective and efficient option in terms of savings and organization is to assign a minimum number of texts for purchase, let’s say five, all available in paperback. The rest of the readings are posted on the Blackboard learning system as PDF files for students to access from their home computers each week. The international relations syllabus also integrates progressively the wealth of public education materials available free of charge online, including multimedia resources and written transcripts. In these ways, the course retains breadth and depth in the readings, excessive trips to the Library Reserve Desk are unnecessary, and students do not spend as much for required course purchases. The future holds the promise of additional savings as many books are made available on the public commons by universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this era of ever-rising tuition rates for higher education, every option to save counts during college years. Students should be able to afford the books for the courses they pay a substantial tuition to attend. This adds to the teacher’s responsibilities in course design to continue to identify savings options without sacrificing quality in higher education.

textbooks for a few Masters’ of Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University

Eugene Aronsky — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:52:04 +0000

Figuring out which textbooks are required for class is often an arduous and tedious task, but this is still the best strategy to get your textbooks cheap, b/c if you wait to buy your books until the first day of class the cheapest ones will likely already be sold out and you may have to buy them at the bookstore at bookstore prices.
There are a number of ways to go about finding out what books are required, you can talk to a friend who took the course last semester, or try to see if the bookstore has the information… but the best way still remains, asking the professor. Given this difficult task, I decided to simplify a small part of this process by talking to one of my professors and having him give me his required textbooks for his courses. Here is the list of books that are required for a few of the masters’ in Public Administration courses at Seton Hall University; these are all of the courses taught by Professor Paul Cavanagh this semester.

PSMA6005NA

Management Control In Nonprofit Organizations
Book ISBN: 0072508256

Balanced Scorecard: Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies
Book ISBN: 9780470180020

PSMA7321NA

Foundation Fundamentals
Book ISBN: 1595420061

Grant Management: Funding for Public and Nonprofit Programs

Book ISBN: 9780763755270

PSMA6004SA

Economics of Social Issues
Book ISBN: 9780073402802
Annual Editions: Economics, 35/e
Book ISBN: 9780073528564

The never-ending question, is it better to rent or to buy textbooks?

Eugene Aronsky — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:17:28 +0000

In recent years renting textbooks has grown to be very popular. A recent article published onWebwire broaches the issue of is renting textbooks economical?

The rush by students to rent college textbooks may be misdirected

WEBWIRE – Thursday, August 06, 2009

Contact Information: Tammy Kassner; Director of Admissions; Andrew Jackson University; 205-871-9288, ext. 107; tkassner@aju.edu

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – College students are flocking to companies that rent textbooks rather than buying them at bloated retail prices from campus bookstores. Some students have the impression that they are saving money by renting textbooks. But research done recently by Tammy Kassner, director of admissions at Andrew Jackson University, indicates that many rental fees are frequently more expensive than buying books second-hand.

Since Andrew Jackson University www.aju.edu delivers its low-cost courses online, and their students can’t just walk into a traditional campus bookstore, their admissions and student services departments have been helping students find good deals on textbooks. After checking prices posted online by Chegg www.chegg.com , BookRenter www.bookrenter.com and Amazon www.amazon.com for textbooks used in eight popular courses, Tammy Kassner’s staff found that few rentals were bargains when compared to the used-book prices posted on Amazon.

Five out of the eight textbooks were less expensive to purchase, based on Amazon postings, than to rent from either Chegg or BookRenter. A textbook for a criminal justice course (CJ316) at Andrew Jackson University, for example, could be bought used on Amazon for $5.24 while rentals on Chegg and BookRenter were $45.09 and $58.40, respectively. The rentals have to be returned with minimal highlighting and no writing in the margins or the student is charged full price for the textbook, according to an article in the July 31 edition of Inside Higher Ed by Stephanie Lee. “That turns a lot of students off as they want to be able to make notes in the margin as well as highlight certain things,” commented Kassner.

Kassner says that newer editions can be cheaper to rent than to buy used as there aren’t as many newer editions flooding the market to drive down prices. One instance she found where renting made sense was a textbook required for the university’s BA 541 business course. The least expensive Amazon posting was $84.94 while the same book could be rented from Chegg for $51.50 and from BookRenter for $$27.40. “But a buyer of the new edition can also expect to sell the textbook for a pretty good price when they finish the course,” Kassner said, “so the actual net cost could be substantially less than the cost of renting.”

So what does Kassner and the Andrew Jackson University staff recommend? They encourage students to shop around and compare prices, including shipping costs. “And be sure to read the fine print if you’re renting,” she cautions. “We also suggest that our students check www.wecomparebooks.com for their pricing comparisons. After all, we’re trying to provide our students with a quality college education at the lowest cost, and overpaying for textbooks just doesn’t fit in with that philosophy,” Kassner concluded.

WebWireID100861

Related Links: Andrew Jackson University website; Inside Higher Ed article “Rent, Read and Return”; WeCompareBooks website

Article was originally published in:

http://takeeducationanywhere.com/2009/08/06/the-rush-by-students-to-rent-college-textbooks-may-be-misdirected.aspx

Avoid costly mistakes

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:35:29 +0000

When I was an undergraduate buying textbooks, or any books for that matter, was straightforward, I went to the bookstore and bought the book, or I went online and bought it on Amazon. If I could not afford the book I got a student loan to pay for textbooks (close to $12000 of student loans over 7 years of education went to textbooks). Sometimes I even got a textbook scholarship, but this was rare. All and all I did not have to concern myself with worrying, and had a complete disregard for how I would pay back my student loans. Moreover, the financial aid department at my school often encouraged me to think this way.

Today things are different. Sure you can still act as I once did, and many students do just that, but the reality is that student loans are harder to come by, and the job market being what it is, everyone is struggling and will likely continue to struggle after graduation. This is why I want to share what little wisdom I have acquired during my years as a student.

It has been brought to my attention that I do not make any money from the maintenance of this blog, this is totally true. This blog exists, and We Compare Books itself was founded because I want to help students. I feel an affinity with students, and I do not want them to repeat my mistakes. On that note I would urge you to read this blog, if you are a student, and please take the advice to heart. If you are a professor who cares about your students, you can share this blog’s URL with them. If you are a parent, or know anyone who could benefit from the information here, I would urge you to spread this news. The world has changed, and we cannot afford to keep living as though it has not.

All this to say: compare prices. It is imperative that you check prices, all over the Internet and at your local bookstore. This is the only way you can be sure to get the best prices for all your books.

How to get the best prices on textbooks for summer classes

Eugene Aronsky — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:44:47 +0000

Getting cheap textbooks for summer classes is an especially unique challenge. This is because of the duration of summer classes. A normal class that you might take in the fall or spring semester lasts about 4 and half months, and most of the time the first week is spent on the introduction. This means that if you were to not think ahead, and order your textbooks online on the first day of class, you would get them in time for your first, or second assignment (and if you were to plan ahead, contact your professor before hand, or ask another student, then…)

Summer classes, on the other hand work differently. Most summer classes last 4 weeks, although some may last 6, and you typically have class 5 times a week, with assignments from day one. Given this short duration it becomes difficult, if not impossible to order a textbook online and wait for regular delivery, and no one wants to pay for overnight shipping. In this case most students end up going to the bookstore and paying full price for the textbooks.

The solution to this problem is one that is quite simple, but one that few students think of – plan ahead. Summer classes are rarely a last minute thing, therefore, the same day that you register for a summer class contact the professor (email usually works best) and find out what the required books are, and order them 2 weeks before the start of class, this way you can be sure that you will receive the books in time for class.

Planning ahead and ordering your books online before the start of class has another advantage, and will help ensure that you are getting the absolute lowest price. Towards the end of every semester students start to sell their textbooks online; given the increase in supply and the fact that demand for textbooks typically peaks after a course starts, this is the optimum time for you to get the best prices on textbooks! And the best way for you to ensure that you are getting the best price on new/used textbooks is to use a textbook price comparison site such as We Compare Books