Our Dear Readers,
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We hesitate to broach such a dreary topic when you, our young greenies, are thinking sand, surf, and refreshments of a specific sort, but it is never too early to begin preparing for your grand college adventure.
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We shall begin with some tips on the ins and outs of navigating your textbook list...
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The Professor reminds you that procuring course textbooks is YOUR responsibility; unlike high school teachers and the taxpayers of your school district, The Professor does not distribute textbooks on the first day of class...
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Uh, Professor, I do believe that our savvy audience is well aware of that fact.
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Carry on, Ms. Snark...
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Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Beginning now, and certainly two weeks before your parents chauffeur you to campus, dust off your college course schedule and book list. If you don’t own these two important documents, call the registrar’s office and find out how you can obtain them.
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If you cannot snag your book list online, call or e-mail the college bookstore. Be polite (no snarky "Yo, Man!" e-mails or calls to the bookstore manager, but more later on e-mail netiquette). Be prepared to give the bookstore the full course number, course title, and the professor’s full name.
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In return, you should get the book title and edition (important--big difference between 2nd edition and, say, 5th edition); author’s name; publisher; nine-digit ISBN, a publishing number unique to each book; year of publication; and final cost to you.
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Textbooks are shockingly expensive because college divisions of publishing companies know that they have a captive audience; add a 10-25% college bookstore mark up. When your parents receive your book bill, they will morph into Tasmanian Devils, questioning the very notion of parenthood: “What? You mean this is on top of the $20,000 I just paid the business office?”
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A bit testy, perhaps.
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They really ought to get over it, for they will be dipping regularly into the old retirement fund for next 4-6 years, times number of kids headed for the ivy league.
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With a little research, you can calm your parents down by purchasing some of your books cheaper at a chain bookstore or even online.
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For example, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Half.com, Yahoo! Shopping, Powells.com etc.
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You should never buy a trade book at the college bookstore.
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So what is the difference between a trade and college textbook? For trade books, think John Grisham and Stephen King novels. For college textbooks, think Introduction to Chemistry and American Literature Anthology. College textbooks are typically big, heavy, and boring and smell like $$$$. Literature books are often 1,000+ pages, and are often printed on paper stock only slightly heavier than tissue paper. Science books tend to be hardback with thousands of illustrations--in color. Your parents will need to take out a third mortgage.
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Trade books are relatively cheap, comparatively speaking, because they have been developed for a mass market; regular folks actually read trade books, so publishers publish millions of them, which drops the cost per unit.
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Many profs, especially in English and History departments, are sensitive to the high cost of books, so, whenever possible, they will make an effort to order trade books for their courses.
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To counteract, some college bookstores will pad more profit onto the cost of these books.
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But now that you have been armed with the author’s name, book title, and ISBN number, visit your friendly local independent or book chain. If the trade book is a classic or recent release, they may have your book in stock. If not, they will order it for you, often not charging extra for this service. Special orders take about a week, two at the most, but ask before placing your order.
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CAVEAT EMPTOR. Do NOT order any books right now (May); wait until about two weeks before you hit campus. In academia, summer is a time of flux: professors quit, courses get shuffled or even canceled, Harvard might come running after you. Therefore, I recommend that you wait and get your course and book lists updated just before the semester before actually ordering.
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Special ordering is not typically an option for hard-to-find or out-of-print books, however. If a professor insists on using out-of-print books, you may be stuck with buying from the college bookstore or from an online auction site.
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The Professor is embarrassed to admit this, but she adores Amazon.com. She even belongs to Amazon Prime; for a yearly fee, she can order books at the touch of her keyboard and have them delivered the next day, two days at the most. Amazon has saved her academic bacon more than once.
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Get real! Most college students are too indigent for such bookish frivolity. However, Amazon is worth your twice-yearly search; often, trade books are drastically discounted, and if you order $25.00 or more, ground shipping is free, no Amazon Prime needed.
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Don’t you just love capitalism?
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College textbooks are trickier. Amazon and other online bookstores do sell them new, but they are usually not discounted very much, if at all. In that case, you might as well buy them from your college bookstore, where you will enjoy fairly liberal return privileges.
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Sometimes you can buy college texts used, either from your college bookstore or online.
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The Professor is highly in favor of recycling textbooks, saving trees, entire forests, and all things green, primarily the green of $$$$.
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Alas! Your college bookstore will often buy back textbooks for a pittance and resell them at an inflated cost.
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So what is a college student to do?
-Stay tuned for Part II.
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Ms. Snark & The Professor would like to remind their readers that these tips are works-in-progress; therefore, these two collaborators cannot be held responsible for errors in content or form. The bloggers do invite comments and suggestions from people who know more than they do.
The Professor's snarky May 10 remark really smarted, especially regarding my "Ms. Snark" self-portrait.
