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University books.

clb74clb74
in General Charlton
Good afternoon
My daughter starts uni in a couple of weeks and they have just sent her a list of books she will be needing.
Do any of you good people know of the best website to get these books from or will there be fellow students who will be selling thiers books on.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • colthe3rdcolthe3rd
    Always used Amazon for mine, don't know if there's anywhere cheaper these days bit I doubt that it. They do second hand books too which tbh is the best way to go as long as it's the same edition as they can be very expensive brand new.
  • LenGloverLenGlover
    clb74 said:

    Good afternoon
    My daughter starts uni in a couple of weeks and they have just sent her a list of books she will be needing.
    Do any of you good people know of the best website to get these books from or will there be fellow students who will be selling thiers books on.
    Thanks in advance.

    Be aware that some books will have second or third editions and the required edition will probably appear on the booklist too. Second hand books, whilst superficially the same, might be out of date.

    Best bet is to order via the university's own bookshop if it has one. You can probably set up an account for her. I did that for two of my daughters.
  • HuskarisHuskaris
    Jints said:

    Ignore it. She won't look at most of them and those she does need, she can borrow from the uni library. Good to have at least one big reference book for her speciality though.

    This. Those books cost £50 each, and she will probably need 5. Make an agreement to her to deposit £50 into her account and no more questions asked
  • cantersaddickcantersaddick
    Pick 2 key ones and don't buy the rest. They barely get used. The library will have loads of copies of all for them for when that essay writing period comes round.

    Lecturers are well known for putting their own books on the reading list to mug off keen first year students who will all buy them even though the book has little actual relevance to that particular module. Nice little side bit of income that...
  • McBobbinMcBobbin
    What degree is she doing? If it's science, then text books are virtually useless.
  • cafcdave123cafcdave123
    tell her to find out who in her class bought them all then rob them.
  • clb74clb74
    Thanks for the replies she is doing bio medical science when the list come through she fainted at the prices list of about 12.
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  • killerandflashkillerandflash
    RanTooFar said:

    I'd recommend her to get in touch with a second year student through one of her lecturers when the year starts to find out which text books they actually needed.

    Yes, I remember buying loads of books at the start that I didn't need in my first year. After that I only bought books when I had to buy them
  • kings hill addickkings hill addick
    Sadly I suspect that the Lecturers that write these books have 'an agreement' with other Lecturers that they will ensure that most students have to buy a new (latest edition) book in order to help them to earn as much as possible from writing these books.

    You have to remember that a book that might take months and months to write and reference may only sell a few hundred copies, so they are, somewhat, justified is looking to keep selling the same book, all be it a slightly different edition.

    Sadly, many of the comments above about not needing the books are true but you won't know what she will need until long after you've bought them. When I did my degree they even used to have a different book list every year. On the plus side as they are still in my book case they fool guests to my house into believing that I am, in actual fact, very intellectual, when I didn't even read all of them when I was at University and I've not opened any of them since!
  • moutuakillamoutuakilla
    Concur with what others have said. Spent about £100 before uni started on the "essential" books and then we never used them. They then quickly went out of date too.

    Get down the library, or most uni's will have e-books of essential texts nowadays. What with the ridiculous fees, you don't need to be spending £100s on books that will just gather dust.
  • Addick93Addick93
    If she's in first year, really don't bother buying books, just a waste of money. They can always be rented from the library anyway.
  • McBobbinMcBobbin
    I did a biochemistry degree, and agree with what is said. Something like Wikipedia is useful for general reference (not bad for science) and she will get a log in through the university to access all the science joirnals online that she will need for essays. All theain text.books will be in the library. I've still got a lot of my science books and most are now useless! Maybe wait and see if there are any that she looks at all the time.
  • SmithySmithy
    Agree with what others have said. I haven't needed to purchase a single book that was recommended to me by a lecturer. They are ridiculously expensive and all the information is available online or at the university library.
  • ElfsborgAddickElfsborgAddick
    ricky_otto said:

    The Kama Sutra

    Show some respect Otto.

    You TRY to be funny too often.
  • ElfsborgAddickElfsborgAddick
    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.
  • ricky_ottoricky_otto
    edited September 2016
    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    And you try to get free drinks too often.
  • ElfsborgAddickElfsborgAddick
    ricky_otto said:

    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    And you try to get free drinks too often.
    Noooooo, people just like buying mine.
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  • Covered EndCovered End
    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    Only if you're in the seats. Seats have a bar, the terrace doesn't.
  • ElfsborgAddickElfsborgAddick
    Covered End said:

    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    Only if you're in the seats. Seats have a bar, the terrace doesn't.
    Blast.
  • AddicksAddictAddicksAddict
    edited September 2016
    Covered End said:

    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    Only if you're in the seats. Seats have a bar, the terrace doesn't.
    They've got a terrace? So we can stand up legally? Where's the fun in that. Standing in the stands is what it's all about.
  • clb74clb74
    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    Your a wum elfs these books come to about £300 I'll be buying you a tap water.
    Anyway thanks to all those helpful posts.
  • clb74clb74
    Covered End said:

    ElfsborgAddick said:

    As these very helpful comments have saved you bundles, I'll see you at the bar at 1/2 time Saturday.

    Only if you're in the seats. Seats have a bar, the terrace doesn't.
    Tell me your joking CE so I'm on the coach for 18 hours on the way up and can't even have a beer at half time.
  • FiiishFiiish
    I've heard that it depends on the course (for example if you're doing medicine you NEED the textbook) but honestly if the uni is any good they will have copies at the library (make sure she reserves these well in advance of deadlines).
  • CAFCsayerCAFCsayer
    I know it sounds bad, but don't bother for first year. My rents bought me three and they are still all untouched. Second/third year look to get them second hand
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    clb74 said:

    Good afternoon
    My daughter starts uni in a couple of weeks and they have just sent her a list of books she will be needing.
    Do any of you good people know of the best website to get these books from or will there be fellow students who will be selling thiers books on.
    Thanks in advance.

    There is usually a booksale in the first week of term in the Student Union.
  • ChizzChizz
    She fainted? Is she sure she wants to go into medicine?
  • WrightCharlieWrightCharlie
    I wrote a 2-year post-grad Supply Chain course for a college 2 years ago, it was impossible to get Authority approval without including a recommended textbook for each of the courses, even though similar/better/more up-to-date reference material is more often than not available online......I did try to avoid book recommendations but was knocked back at an early approval hurdle and had to research and include them.
    Educational Standards simply include requirements from a bygone era and I guess it will take a little longer for them to catch up to this Web thingy :smile:

    Needless to say, publishers would have showered me with free copies of their latest editions in the hope of me choosing them, I had to ask them not to!

    My advice would be for your daughter to quickly snatch up second hand copies of the main texts if possible. As @RanTooFar suggested, 2nd or 3rd years could tell her which ones are the ones to buy, as will the kinder professors. Another thing to do is to go the the Library and ask how many copies they carry of each and how easy they are to find during term and exam time.
    The campus will have a notice board of some sort for second hand books, many of these are online now and your daughter should liaise with friends going to other Universities as they may end up buying books for each other due to better price or availability.
    Time is of the essence though........early birds and all that :smile:
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