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
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
I'm sure that there are a couple of core books that students need (not least to get a general feel for the subject) and I think people feel happier if they own one or two really key textbooks. In saying that, I think that lecturers go way over the top on reading lists and a vast amount of material and articles are now available online pursuant to agreements between publishers and universities.
There are also probably book sales where new second years can sell off their books to freshers etc. for a fraction of the price and that's another avenue your daughter can explore. In the social media age, there are probably people on her course that she can contact for advice and guidance on this sort of stuff.
A GCSE "Letts" revision guide got me through my A levels, and an A Level revision guide got me through a degree, but this was history which was, I would guess, a piece of piss compared to biomedical science!
It's worth checking on Amazon when the editions concerned were published, but wait to buy anything until they actually get there. Editions that are at least 2 or 3 years old will almost certainly be available from 2nd and 3rd years with copies to sell off, and lecturers and older students will be able to advise which books are really essential for the course and worth buying the brand new edition.
I would against advise buying any at this stage. They can be borrowed from the uni library...and in some cases the books will be useless after the first year (especially in science-based degrees).
If she does find out she really needs them, 2nd year students will often advertise at the uni for greatly reduced costs.
Thanks for the replies she is doing bio medical science when the list come through she fainted at the prices list of about 12.
Just seen this. I wouldnt bother buying the books then. Most books will be avaliable from the library and like I said, the second year will move into peer reviewed journal articles that the uni will have access too.
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.
I'm about to go into my second year at uni and like most newbies in my first year I bought many textbooks. All of which I found later were available in the Library or available to read on the internet with my uni's internet library. I'd recommend not wasting money on them (the cost alot!) and if it turns out during her course that she'll need them a lot then buying a copy would be a good idea, but many I bought were only required for a few chapters.
I found amazon was a good source of cheap second hand text books, of course recently published ones will be a premium and are often only available at high price and not even in digital format.
As someone else said you can often find stuff in online versions through the Uni library. Mastering this search service (Reading Uni's was called SUMMON) for electronically stored catalogues of resources some of which can be viewed electronically is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE benefit that any student who wants to get a decent mark, so best advice is to get stuck in early on. Essays and the like will show if they've used this by including relevant stuff not necessarily on the reading list.
A GCSE "Letts" revision guide got me through my A levels, and an A Level revision guide got me through a degree, but this was history which was, I would guess, a piece of piss compared to biomedical science!
It would be really taking the piss to bring out new editions of History books!
I don't know what it's like studying science but for me studying economics I was happy to buy a text book and edition or two behind the recommended one. They were about a quarter of the price and very little had changed. Maybe the order of some bits and the cover. Most chapters had been copied across word for word. And if I found something had changed I just used the library book for that chapter...
I was lucky enough to attend The Uni of East Anglia when doing my OU re Development and can only say their library was jaw droping --i suspect all are---but they did have a "section" where used course books could be brought. Maybe she could just be the real core books and look for the rest either at the library or via second hand.
I was lucky enough to attend The Uni of East Anglia when doing my OU re Development and can only say their library was jaw droping --i suspect all are---but they did have a "section" where used course books could be brought. Maybe she could just be the real core books and look for the rest either at the library or via second hand.
The reality is that many parents are paying and so the bills are passed on to them! Daughter goes to Staffordshire University today. I know I only bought 2-3 books during my whole degree course and only used a few quotes from them. The libraries have changes dramatically since I finished 15 years ago so i'm hoping she can get most of her resources there. Already chuffed to be paying £118 pw rent for her Halls of Residence room.
Thanks all for the replies daughter dropped off at Portsmouth yesterday didn't take long for me to start moaning on the she's on the 6th floor and the lifts are broken nice one. She's gonna look into the books this week can't see it happening really walked into the communal kitchen / living another girl straight away moving in party later at number 9. Anyway thanks all
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There are also probably book sales where new second years can sell off their books to freshers etc. for a fraction of the price and that's another avenue your daughter can explore. In the social media age, there are probably people on her course that she can contact for advice and guidance on this sort of stuff.
I would against advise buying any at this stage. They can be borrowed from the uni library...and in some cases the books will be useless after the first year (especially in science-based degrees).
If she does find out she really needs them, 2nd year students will often advertise at the uni for greatly reduced costs.
I'd recommend not wasting money on them (the cost alot!) and if it turns out during her course that she'll need them a lot then buying a copy would be a good idea, but many I bought were only required for a few chapters.
As someone else said you can often find stuff in online versions through the Uni library. Mastering this search service (Reading Uni's was called SUMMON) for electronically stored catalogues of resources some of which can be viewed electronically is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE benefit that any student who wants to get a decent mark, so best advice is to get stuck in early on. Essays and the like will show if they've used this by including relevant stuff not necessarily on the reading list.
:-)
I was lucky enough to attend The Uni of East Anglia when doing my OU re Development and can only say their library was jaw droping --i suspect all are---but they did have a "section" where used course books could be brought. Maybe she could just be the real core books and look for the rest either at the library or via second hand.
Study groups would help as well .
She's gonna look into the books this week can't see it happening really walked into the communal kitchen / living another girl straight away moving in party later at number 9.
Anyway thanks all