Woo-hoo, classes with no textbooks

[Hilltopmom]

Went to pay tuition at CC today (must do in person after submitting residency form) & buy books.

 

Turns out there's NO book for ds's computer science class.

 

I was so excited! Especially after forking over tuition! (No subsidized DE here)

 

Even sprung for a $5 clearance rack college tee:)

[G5052]

Yes, no textbook for physics, which is actually a 2-semester sequence with lab.

 

I got his economics textbook used on Amazon for less than $10.

 

He already owns his PE textbook which we bought some time ago for $15.

 

BUT...sigh. His international business textbook is a custom bundle and is $350.

 

If his database class makes, it's a custom bundle for $150. If that doesn't go, the backup is a finance class where the text is $15 new on Amazon. Less if you buy used.

 

What a RANGE!

Edited July 29, 2016 by G5052

[quark]

VERY nice! If DS takes the advanced version of the intro CS class he took at CC 2 semesters ago, they will use the second half of the same textbook. I thought that was a good deal! :laugh: They did make DS buy another textbook for that intro class (thankfully, below $20) that he never used! I suspect it was because that book was written by one of the faculty. :glare:

 

So keep the receipts and always check in with the instructor if they will actually use some of the books you are buying.

 

Sorry for the ignorance and semi-thread-hijack...do the rest of you get tax breaks on DC's college textbooks?

[G5052]

Sorry for the ignorance and semi-thread-hijack...do the rest of you get tax breaks on DC's college textbooks?

 

We did in 2015 because tuition and fees were below the $4000 you need for the full American Opportunity Credit because of scholarships. So I was able to add them in to tip it over.

 

I'm going to have to look at it again because he got even more merit aid this fall. We may buy his spring books in late December. Sometimes you get to class in January and find that the professor says not to buy the book or to that older editions are OK, but he can of course email them in December before we do that. I know that he has a $150 access code, another cheap economics book, and at least one other text that hasn't been finalized yet.

Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but how do you teach something like physics without a text?

[angela in ohio]

We are spoiled because oldest is at a school which is doing things so differently they can't really use many textbooks, so professors provide materials for most classes.

 

For second dd, we assumed it would be bad. I budgeted $600 for first semester, knowing she only had three classes. One class has no text (professor provides it), one has a cheap rental, and the other has a cheap used book available.  We will spend under $100, including buying an optional solutions manual. :D

[G5052]

Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but how do you teach something like physics without a text?

 

She also teaches at the science magnet high school and apparently has access to some superb online material that she also uses for the college classes she teaches. The students at both schools adore her.

 

Both of DS's math classes last year were "text optional." The professor provided everything they needed other than an access code for the homework system. We bought the text for the first semester and rented for the second (thankfully only $35). He needed it the first semester, but only used the second semester one three times.

 

He doesn't have math this semester, but when he takes stats next semester from the same professor, we're not going to get the text at all. 

[elegantlion]

What a great deal, ds will spend about $600 this semester that does not include the $180 text from last semester he'll use in his programming class. My books will be about $100.