I HATE people in the business of...

I agree. I had to get a music history book that my professor wrote. It's only 3/4" thick and a paperback. It cost $85! $85!!! For a book that was written by my professor about who is the greatest, Elvis or the Beatles? Give me a break.

Luckily I was able to get another book off Amazon for $16 that should arrive in the next 2 days. The rest of my classes, I'm not sure how much they'll cost. Last semester I spent over $500 on textbooks. Hopefully this semester won't be as bad.

 

Oh man, i'm with you on this one. I always buy mine second hand... that is when they (like you said above) don't change the f'n version on ya.

 

DON'T BUY THEM. Fight the MAN! That'll teach 'em!

 

As a music major, I think I lucked out. Most of the books I had to buy didn't cost that much. Less than $100. Some classes were all lecture and no reading. And of course in jazz band, orchestra, private lessons and other types of emsembles, you were given your sheet music. I just feel sorry for those in the sciences. Every class has a $120+ book/workbook/CDRom combo and the last 2 you never use.

 

I think Simon is on to something...

 

i just rarely bought books. worked pretty well for me through college and law school

 

I don't even get half of what I bought it for when I try to resell it back. pfft..

 

In all seriousness... if you read it, you got way more than 1/2 back.

 

Buy your books from Amazon or half.com. That's what I did. Either that or borrow the expensive books from friends that already bought them (i.e. $130 used biochem book).

 

I went for nearly two years of college without buying a textbook or a backpack. I borrowed texts from friends or the library and carried all of my papers and books in my arms. I often borrowed pens.

The best part about it was I was this crazy guy carrying my borrowed books and a 4" stack of crumpled-edged papers everywhere with me, but I got straight A's all the semesters I did that.

When I got a laptop for law school, I finally caved in and got a bag.

 

I believe most people forget that a college and/or university is a business like any other. Their business is to sell knowledge, experience and books to the student in exchange for a fee, very simple.

The textbooks are mostly written by alumnists or faculty, who have shared interest in the overall profit of the establishment at the end of the year.

 

lol, i never read the few books i did buy so i figured wtf am i buying them for?!?! casenotes worked just fine.

funny thing is that my first semester of law school i continued with my ways from college (ie, not buying books or really studying) and was in the top 15% of my class. i thought wow, if i really apply myself i can make law review. so i bought books my second semester, studied, took notes, rewrote my notes, made those stupid azz outlines everyone else did, listened in class... and ended up in the bottom 1/3 of my class that semester.

needless to say i went back to doing it "my" way...

 

I'm not saying anything about anyone's business any more!

 

Yes, it is a disgrace. Agree 100%.

 

This is one of those things that everyone in school deals with, it isn't right, it is just what you do.

Alot like paying your dues with nutty hours as an intern in medicine, or 80hours weeks as a law associate.

It is just they way it is....

 

For the first two years I did things the hard way, although I never really briefed - our section leader prof told us not to. Many people would show up to class only 2-3 times a semester then go and by Examples and Explanations and pull a better grade than me. I realized that it was because they just knew the straight law and some cases, rather than being bogged down with all of the theory talk of the class. When push comes to shove, most of all of the exams rely on black letter law.

 

agreed. Many of the lessons learned at school aren't about the actual subjects but how to work the systems. The book system, the exam system, the party system, the residence system, the work system, the parking system...

 

If you think about the intellectual outlay required to create the average college/postgraduate textbook (generally well-paid PhDs, academics and professors spending lots of time and effort researching then writing the books, then a knowledgeable editorial team tying everything together), then consider the potential market (a woefully small group of college age students), I think you'll understand the need to a) price the units high and b) keep renewing the editions to recoup costs.

I don't begrudge them this. My postgrad medical texts are priced high, ridiculously high in some cases, but when I think about how difficult it is to make the writing of textbooks economically viable compared to, say, writing fiction paperbacks, I lose all my resentment and all desire to pirate the books (as some students tend to do).

 

Having just shelled out $600 on 4 text books (CDN) i would have to +1 this post.

I bet the editions will change next semester.

 

Or how about this. Buy your books for the class, then they decide lets not offer this degree and not take the books back because I opened them, because I was not told the class was canceled until an hour before class.

 

Don't fight it - leverage it, and work it to your advantage. Every system has weaknesses, just takes a while to figure out which ones are worth exploiting. Rebellion without a purpose is wasted energy.

 

I don't buy books. I'm a computer animation major. Last book I bought was "The Guide to Getting It On" from goofy foot press for my human sexuality class. $18 and worth much more than that in my opinion.