So i am kind of in shock at the total price of all my textbooks...over $700... do i really need to buy the custom package? Econ 1B03 and computer science 1B03 are custom package and i dont want to spend $200 for each, can i just buy the used textbooks alone?

Originally Posted by eebs95

So i am kind of in shock at the total price of all my textbooks...over $700... do i really need to buy the custom package? Econ 1B03 and computer science 1B03 are custom package and i dont want to spend $200 for each, can i just buy the used textbooks alone?

Do not buy new books, buy used ones. Econ 1B03 textbook is useless, I just looked at her slides.

...And that's just first semester. Welcome to University.

Dont forget, you can get them for free *ahem* electronically *ahem* *ahem*

You can find used books through the macinsinders marketplace, facebook posts on the groups, etc.

Originally Posted by MrPlinkett

Dont forget, you can get them for free *ahem* electronically *ahem* *ahem*

I've found that usually applies more-so for engineering books only =(, I've never had much luck finding science ones that way personally

Originally Posted by PockyWarrior

I've found that usually applies more-so for engineering books only =(, I've never had much luck finding science ones that way personally

If you are taking common biology courses like biology 2B03, or biology 2C03 or organic chem courses, you can find pdf easily. The hard ones are usually the custom edition ones. But honestly, you will find that textbooks become less and less necessary as you become upper years.

Yeah that comp sci book is insane it's like 1000 pages no jokes. At least the materials not too difficult! The book was just released in my year so we had no option to buy used. I do recommend buying it new though because it comes with the online help resource thing which has sample questions and for our first midterm which was with Wagner and all on excel, those sample questions became awesomely handy for the actual test. Though after in the second half of the course when hurst comes those questions were not useful cause his tests was all about the lectures and not so much about the book.

Don't buy the Econ 1b03 book if you're taking it with holmes, there is absolutely NO need cause the powerpoints and the past tests are enough to get a 12 in the course. You just have to be willing to do the past tests because i remember a lot of people overlooked that and ended up with a bad mark in the course. Buy the text for 1bb3 though with o shaughnessy.

Try buying your books online. www.abebooks.com has worked for me over the last 2 years. A text book worth about 100 to 150, I got for 8 bux (paper back). Usually arrives in under 2 weeks, especially when if you buy it from Malaysia.


You save big, although once your done, not many ppl will wanna buy an international ed. So u will be stuck with the books.

Intl ed is no different from North American ed, although I did have ONE book where the units of some of the questions in the back were different other than that it's the exact same as the local ed (it's very rare).

If its custom courseware for the class, then you will HAVE to buy it from the book store

Wait to the first week of class. Never buy books brand new especially first year cause there are so many used ones available (some imo like chem1a03 is about same price if u want mastering chem). Shop online, shop facebook/mi marketplace. First year books can be ~200-300 for the year

There is of course the "free" electronic book option though some are hard to find.

Try looking at ebay or abebooks for "international editions" of books. They are the same book but much cheaper due to IP laws being different on an international level (or some other reason).

I agree with the AbeBooks suggestion. I usually spend between $1 and $40 on my textbooks. I've never had a problem with using an older edition.

What's the title of the textbook required for computer science? and how do I know which version to buy?

Originally Posted by MrPlinkett

Dont forget, you can get them for free *ahem* electronically *ahem* *ahem*

*ahem* any tips? *ahem* I am a noob? *ahem* *ahem* *cough* *strangle* *dead*

Don't buy textbooks unless you're suggested to by the prof, and even then buy them used. If you can avoid doing so completely by torrenting your book online, thats even more suggested. The quickest way to check if you can get the current relevant edition is by checking a torrent site aggregate like torrentz.com. The best way to save money is by either getting the international (its the same, don't worry) edition from alibris or abebooks, because even with used books, students are obsessed with trying to recoup their costs.

Also, share with your friends. It's unlikely you'll do anything useful with the book, like actually read it apart from practice problems and homework questions.