Hello guys, this is my first year in McMaster. I used the link on the homepage of Macinsiders to find all textbook I need. But I am not sure how exactly should I buy them.
I can only arrive in McMaster on Sept 5th, so I guess I will have to use the following weekend to buy the books. Is the time enough to buy all the books I need? Do I buy only term 1 textbooks or both terms? The used textbooks are all out of stuck on the website, where could I buy one?

Many thanks in advance!

you can only buy the textbook for courses that are available term one (some books can be used for multiple courses). try to get as many as you can used, it saves you a ton of money

Since you are in computer science you are part of the engineering faculty and there will be a book swap happening on September 9th in ETB where you can buy a ton of textbooks for super cheap! If you can't find books there or want to purchase them before then you will have a lot of time from when you arrive to get them. The campus store is open on weekends during textbook purchasing season and that is where you will get your textbooks. If you print off the list of books and go there someone will be able to help you find all of your books.

Don't worry about buying term 2 books until January. You might be able to trade with a friend who already took the class or meet more upper year students who can sell you books for a reduced cost.

One semester at a time. Buy them used especially since you are first year. never buy a book before class starts and you confirm that's the book (or the older edition is acceptable)

Originally Posted by erinn

Since you are in computer science you are part of the engineering faculty and there will be a book swap happening on September 9th in ETB where you can buy a ton of textbooks for super cheap! If you can't find books there or want to purchase them before then you will have a lot of time from when you arrive to get them. The campus store is open on weekends during textbook purchasing season and that is where you will get your textbooks. If you print off the list of books and go there someone will be able to help you find all of your books.

Don't worry about buying term 2 books until January. You might be able to trade with a friend who already took the class or meet more upper year students who can sell you books for a reduced cost.

Thank you for your info. Can you tell me more about the book swap in ETB?

Not sure about ETB but there's an engineering one for sure at JHE at the start of the year. There will be posters and check the engineering page

Originally Posted by AlicJ

Thank you for your info. Can you tell me more about the book swap in ETB?

https://www.facebook.com/events/366153246821670/

Do you need books? Do you have books? Do you value money? Yes? Good! The McMaster Engineering Society's semi-annual Book Swap is the place for you!

Don't pay thousands of dollars for new books from Titles (sorry... "The Campus Store") when you can buy them for significantly cheaper (and often in a package deal!) from upper year students!

As for you upper years, don't get scammed into selling your books back to "The Campus Store" for a few bucks, when they are just going to turn around and sell it for 10 times that.

The lower year students get cheaper books, and the upper year students make more for their old books! It's a win-win!

If you are bringing books to sell we will have tables set up for you. If you are looking for books, bring some money and your book list with you. However, don't feel obligated to empty your bank account before coming. It's always good to bring money with you, but if you didn't bring enough you can always just get the seller's phone number, and meet up another time to make the exchange.

This year's Book Swap is happening Monday, September 9th (the first Monday of school), from 7-9 PM in the Engineering Technology Building (ETB). Exact location to be announced soon.

Sometimes selling back to the school got me more than the market value. It was weird.