DescentBB

Yes, I'm officially a college student! wooo.
I just went to my first class, where I learned that we don't have textbooks or tests. It's a good way to start the day, let's hope it stays that way.

Though I've already gotten sick

I'm starting my 2nd week today. My classes arent bad so far, but that could change Its been a fun new experience though, thats for sure.

yea right, you're not in college.

Nitrofox125 wrote:I just went to my first class, where I learned that we don't have textbooks or tests.

Hmmmm. Sounds like you are at one of those "Everyone passes with A's" colleges. Do they have a Ph.D. course in car driving? Or trailer reversing?

Nitrofox125 wrote:Though I've already gotten sick

Man... if I were more vulgar, I'd have lots of ammo from that one.

Enjoy those classes while you can. Once you get into the core classes, of a real major, that's when the professors move in for the kill. Buy lots of ointment and remember the words, "volume discount."

Second week of sophomore year here, and I'm already getting sick of classes. Got burned for over $600 in books, too; those publishers have a real racket going. Oh, well; at least I get a single room this year.

Yep. Core classes will kick your butt. Vibrations was the worst for me... I didn't have a clue what was going on after the first week. (Not that you're nec. engineering...) Top Gun: I never bought books from the book store... I shopped around online- Ebay, Half.com, Amazon.... they all sell used books for cheaper, sometimes you can half the cost. Also, talk to upperclassmen and see about buying, or borrowing, their old books. If at the end of the class you decide it's a book you want to hold on to, talk to the people in the class with you and see if any of them are willing to part with their book for cheap. I usually had over $600 in books I was supposed to buy, and I rarely spent more than $200 acquiring them.

college is more like an expensive daycare

Word from the wise: Make sure that if you plan on transferring to another institution, make sure your classes will transfer! That, and check with your instructors and make sure they won't be changing editions. That way, you can buy used books from someone else w/o getting screwed by the school.

My experiences involved a lot of professors requiring the brand new edition of a textbook, which killed the chance of buying it used or getting a hand-me-down copy from a friend.

Most expensive book I had to buy in college ran me 160$, but I heard that's nothing compared to what some people have had to deal with. Pretty ridiculous how much they charge for some of those books.

Darktalyn1 wrote:My experiences involved a lot of professors requiring the brand new edition of a textbook, which killed the chance of buying it used or getting a hand-me-down copy from a friend.

Most expensive book I had to buy in college ran me 160$, but I heard that's nothing compared to what some people have had to deal with. Pretty ridiculous how much they charge for some of those books.

Especially when you can get hardcover books of a similar size from Borders for no more than $30-$40. Textbook publishers are practically printing their own money.

Zoop! wrote:Enjoy those classes while you can. Once you get into the core classes, of a real major, that's when the professors move in for the kill. Buy lots of ointment and remember the words, "volume discount."

Agreed, the classes that actually count towards your major are a whole other ballgame from your average blowoff classes. I'm taking Dynamics right now, widely acknowledged to be one of the big flunkout classes in engineering here at SIU, so I just have to grit my teeth and plug away at it. Doing homework or studying with people in your class helps a lot. So does having friends who are upperclassmen who have taken the same courses before

Regarding books, the absolute best advice I can give you is to buy online. A month before school starts I go around to the bookstores getting a list of books needed for my classes, along with editions, ISBNs, study guides, etc, then I go to half.com and get em for cheap. I saved $150 this semester alone buying from half.com as opposed to buying even used books from the local bookstores.

I think the department heads are getting smarter about saving money on books here. I had the same calculus book from calc 1 to 3, which saved me a ton. Supposedly the thermodynamics book I have now can also be used for the next class after this one.

Top Gun wrote:

Darktalyn1 wrote:My experiences involved a lot of professors requiring the brand new edition of a textbook, which killed the chance of buying it used or getting a hand-me-down copy from a friend.Most expensive book I had to buy in college ran me 160$, but I heard that's nothing compared to what some people have had to deal with. Pretty ridiculous how much they charge for some of those books.

Especially when you can get hardcover books of a similar size from Borders for no more than $30-$40. Textbook publishers are practically printing their own money.

Are we assuming then that the knowledge contained within the books is only worth the face value? hmmm..seems like you could consider it an investment

My problem isn't the price of a textbook; it's the way they go through editions. I know of more than one textbook where the only difference between editions was a re-ordering of the chapters. Everything else was word-for-word identical.

Jagori wrote:My problem isn't the price of a textbook; it's the way they go through editions. I know of more than one textbook where the only difference between editions was a re-ordering of the chapters. Everything else was word-for-word identical.

ahhh...well that does suk

will_kill wrote:

Jagori wrote:My problem isn't the price of a textbook; it's the way they go through editions. I know of more than one textbook where the only difference between editions was a re-ordering of the chapters. Everything else was word-for-word identical.

ahhh...well that does suk

It depends on the class actually. Sometimes, books need 13,535 different editions just to stay current. My accounting textbooks (which I got to use for three classes, yipee), purchased back in January, are already out of date and have lots of incorrect material. It depends on your major...

Hi from from this Loyola College CS/Business double major!

Zoop! wrote:It depends on the class actually. Sometimes, books need 13,535 different editions just to stay current. My accounting textbooks (which I got to use for three classes, yipee), purchased back in January, are already out of date and have lots of incorrect material. It depends on your major...

Wow! that's starting to sound more fishy with each post...but I'll stay on topic
I attented MacMurray Jr. College(Jacksonville, IL), undeclared, but all my books and materials were free.

edit: I should mebbe say:"the college came to me" to be totally honest

Hiyas from Purdue's Engineering program.

Edit: Sick as hell.

I'll brag here and say that I don't have to take core classes, although I did buy textbooks today - used - and they ran me around $130... not too bad, really.

DC what year? And a double major seems like a hell of a lot of work. Good combo though, really.

Or trailer reversing?

I'm not so sure that would be an A class for me!

Man... if I were more vulgar, I'd have lots of ammo from that one.

Go for it, I wanna hear these...

Nitrofox: '09. Not only double major, but honors too. Got my work cut out for me (assignment given today: have all of the Iliad read by Monday). But my business concentration is in IS, so a lot of my classes overlap. Just to clarify, I'm in Loyola College in Maryland... we're taking in about 60 Loyola New Orleans students though... their campus was destroyed.

I liked my Greek Philosophy class today-- "If you want to know anything more about the Iliad, go read the Cliff's Notes."

Yep, I have 'em.