
M
ak
ing
Sound Decisions
about Textbooks
As if tuition, room & bo
ard,
and your pile of mount
ing student lo
ans were not putt
ing enough f
inanci
al str
ain on you
and your f
amily
as you beg
in college, here is some more b
ad news: textbooks
are not che
ap.
In f
act, they
are downright expensive. While some high schools do m
ake their students p
ay for their books, you h
ave prob
ably never encountered
anyth
ing like shopp
ing
in a college bookstore with
a list of
all the books you need for your full sl
ate of courses for
a semester. For the cost-conscious student there
are w
ays to s
ave money on your textbooks.
For st
arters, t
ake
a look
at
all your syll
abi
and decide which books you c
an borrow from the libr
ary. If your libr
ary only h
as one or two copies of
a p
articul
ar book, go
ahe
ad
and buy your own copy. You do not w
ant to be scr
ambl
ing for
a book the d
ay you
actu
ally need to turn to it. Keep
in mind th
at most college bookstores will send b
ack copies of unsold books to their distributors, so simply buy
ing the book l
ater
in the semester is not
a s
afe bet. M
any libr
aries will compile
a list of books th
at h
ave been ordered by professors for
a given semester
and keep them on reserve. This me
ans th
at you c
an look
at the book
in the libr
ary, but you c
annot t
ake it out. Consult
ing your libr
ary’s c
at
alog is
a w
ay to
access some of the books you need for free.