Wow! I can't believe how much her books cost.

[AngieW in Texas]

I have been checking every week all summer long to see if there will be any books required for the two cc classes my dd registered for. All summer it has said "no books selected yet."

 

The last time I checked was on Friday. Another mom whose dd signed up for the same classes called me to tell me that the books had finally been selected and they were $$$$.

 

The art class has just one book, but it is $125 new, $100 used. The Japanese class uses a textbook, workbook, and cds that total $261 new, $183 used. I can't be sure that anything I ordered used online would arrive here in time.

 

The only good thing is that it looks like the same text, workbook, and cds are used for all 4 semesters of Japanese.

[Kareni]

When my daughter took Art History at the local community college, the professor permitted the students to substitute an earlier edition of the designated text. Instead of requiring students to purchase Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 13th edition, the professor allowed them to use the 10th, 11th or 12th edition.

 

This is one instance where it might be beneficial to wait for the class to begin before purchasing the text.

 

Also, my niece and others have recommended a college textbook rental service which might work for you. It's Chegg.com.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Quiver0f10]

I second renting books through Chegg. My dd rented her books and it cost less than half of new through the school.

[MamaT]

College books are just plain expensive. What my older boys have done is sell their books back to the bookstore at the end of their class (they have designated "buy back" days). This helps offset the cost of books for the next semester.

[Veronica in VA]

I found out the ISBN's and edition # and priced them through http://www.dealoz.com

Amazon was the cheapest, and we received all of the books within the week.

 

Veronica

[G5052]

The textbooks for the CC class I teach are around $160 new. This summer we switched to a "new" textbook that was really just an older textbook with a DVD. I compared them side-by-side, and other than a few typos in the older book (which I have an errata sheet for) and the DVD, they were identical. So for those students who asked, I told them that they could use a used older book and save some $40-50 "off the record." I gave them the errata sheet too.

 

Frankly I don't why the full-time faculty members picked the more expensive book. The students already have access to an online video library with very similar videos to those on the DVD.

 

So it pays to ask...

[JenGeorgia]

You might double check with the school and ask how many semesters the Japanese text has been used for and whether it will change before your daughter completes all four semesters. I was unlucky because I paid the $200 plus for used texts for the Spanish class I took and then had to purchase a whole new set one semester later. I was a bit miffed because we didn't use all the "extra" stuff (DVD's and CD's) at all and only pulled a handful of worksheets from the workbook portion of the package.

 

I second the idea of waiting until class starts to find out if you can use an older version of the text, especially if you aren't going to get three or four semesters out of the book. The Spanish department at the university where I took this class chose one book for all instructors (and all four semesters), so it might also be worth asking if all of the extra stuff will indeed be needed. I can't tell you how many CD's and books I purchased that were not even used in the course because of this.