Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Have you bought books from the reading list?

Just wondering whether people have actually bought books for their course?
I found the reading list for my undergrad and I'm wondering whether they want us to buy the books ready or whether some books you may only need to read a few chapters on so they say when you start which books are essential to buy?

Reply 1

Clearing and Applications Advisor

DON'T buy any books before you start your course - it's one of the biggest wastes of money.

The books on the list are only recommended reading - most of the time you'll get most of the info from lectures, if you need the books they'll be in the library for free.

*IF* you find you need your own copy then that will be made very clear in lectures once you start.

Reply 2

KingMessi

I have, yes. I've been on a Gap Year so I thought it prudent to try and use my time productively. As it is, I've only managed to read five or six of the books so I haven't been as productive as I'd hoped.

Reply 3

PinguN18

My friend does English Literature so has to read pretty much all her reading list before she goes back, Got 25 books for £100 ans thats only half of them, She mainly uses Waterstones marketplace as its really cheap.

Reply 4

.ACS.

Don't buy anything before you arrive. On arrival you'll find that most of the recommended books aren't needed, or at most you will need a chapter, so using the library copies is more than sufficient. After a couple of weeks into the module, you'll realise whether you actually need any of your own textbooks, and more specifically, which ones to purchase.

Reply 5

Meat is Murder

Lets see if we get the necessary grades to get in first before we start splashing out on books :wink:

Reply 6

jami74

See if you can find it as a free ebook online, that way you can have a skim through before you start if you think it is necessary. My plan is to be first in line at the library.

Reply 7

Starsong

Yes, I have the two that the course leader suggested to me for my firm choice. But given that it's an art course with no textbooks it'll be very similar for my insurance. They were cheap and genuinely interesting anyway... Apart from one was mostly about the guy's mum.

Reply 8

PinguN18

Make sure you join the local library as well. We needed to write an essay using one specific book so my tutor set it as not for loan in the uni library As soon as I came out of the briefing I set up my laptop and reserved it at the local library before anyone else could. This meant I could have a copy at home and didnt have to mess around with photocopies and stuff.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire S

Reply 9

PhoenixFortune

Original post by PQ

This. I arrived for my first year £200 out of pocket from buying an assortment of books from the reading list, only to arrive and be told that there were only two essential books that we must own, both of which I didn't buy. To this day, half the books I bought then have just sat on my bookshelf and have never been opened.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 10

Strawberrycayk

I've gotten most of mine already, but only because I love reading and actually want to read those books regardless of them being needed or not XD And I like having my own copies :smile:

Reply 11

lilibeth

i haven't as of yet but will be getting a couple because it's likely that i will need them through out my degree and a lot of student nurses have recommended them to me.

Reply 12

EffieFlowers

Original post by KingMessi

Oh dear you put me to shame, I've been on a gap year and I haven't read any :frown:

Reply 13

EffieFlowers

Original post by Meat is Murder

Lets see if we get the necessary grades to get in first before we start splashing out on books :wink:

Reply 14

KingMessi

Original post by EffieFlowers

Oh dear you put me to shame, I've been on a gap year and I haven't read any :frown:

Hmm, the reading list for my course is disturbingly long, though...what subject are you doing?

Reply 15

journalismus

Only for my core module and I bought 2 books at about £25 in total (yay for Amazon marketplace!).

I'm not buying any more until uni starts, I only bought the others because they were highly recommended - plus I've had a glance through them and they look really useful.

Reply 16

EffieFlowers

Original post by KingMessi

Hmm, the reading list for my course is disturbingly long, though...what subject are you doing?

Psychology. You? I so intended to do that this year, well done for actually staying focused. :tongue:

But the rest of the guys have a point, so I might just buy the main book that covers general psychology just to read out of interest, and maybe some cognitive because I'm useless at that..

Reply 17

KingMessi

Original post by EffieFlowers

Psychology. You? I so intended to do that this year, well done for actually staying focused. :tongue:

But the rest of the guys have a point, so I might just buy the main book that covers general psychology just to read out of interest, and maybe some cognitive because I'm useless at that..

Oh, I loved Psychology at A-Level and my teacher actually encouraged me to go for it at university...but I'm doing English Language and Literature, I loved it too much. :coma:

Thanks, though six or seven books from my reading list is hardly that much... :erm:

Well, any preparation you do will be useful and the majority probably will hardly do any until September...

Reply 18

EffieFlowers

Original post by KingMessi

Oh, I loved Psychology at A-Level and my teacher actually encouraged me to go for it at university...but I'm doing English Language and Literature, I loved it too much. :coma:

Thanks, though six or seven books from my reading list is hardly that much... :erm:

Well, any preparation you do will be useful and the majority probably will hardly do any until September...

Ah yes, I've heard about the extensive english lit reading lists! When I looked into psychology text books I got the impression that you'd only need to read a certain few chapters that are relevant to a certain module, that's what put me off a bit, a lot of the books sounded so specific that I wasn't sure if I'd end up reading much of it at all.
I loved English Literature, but I wasn't able to do it at A-level due to a clash of subjects. :unsure: