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

Books need for uni buy them now or after i start

the uni im going to have put up a reading list on their online system. its got five books. do i have to buy them now or after i start on the first day

Reply 1

returnmigrant

No. You probably dont need to buy any of them, just *read* them.

If you cant get them at or via your local library, then check websites like Ebay, Amazon and Abe Books for cheap secondhand editions.

Once you get to Uni you will have access to a VAST University Library and the chances are that actually you wont need to buy any books throughout your course.

Reply 2

Magdatrix >_<

If you want to buy them (if there aren't many copies in the library whatever) wait until you're at your uni house/halls/wherever, to order them, then you won't have to pack them all when you move!
Also, lecturers will probably point out which are the most useful, and it's best to buy just those that you can't get good access to via libraries etc
:smile:

Reply 3

RedBedHead

Get the books for core modules now, then the ones for optional modules once you've chosen them and have been confirmed that you're going to study them. And maybe leave the modules only being studied in semester 2 until closer the time if it's financially easier :-)

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Reply 4

username425364

I spent way too much on buying books new - I spent around £35-100 per book, and got around eleven books in total...all in the first week
and all new.
My friends managed to get the same books from the book fair/online at around 80% cheaper.

One thing you need to understand is that you'll only need many of the books for one module, or part of one module. The second is that many are available either online via your university library portal or another website and the library will often have physcial copies too.
Check your reading lists as well, as sometimes you'll only need a few chapters from one book, which may cost £55 and be useless after that.

I will never buy another book new for university again. My Economics one was £60 I think, and I never used it once, another module needed two books which totaled £90 and one was used for one week and the other just as further reading. I easily wasted over £600 on text books instead of going to the book fair or buying older editions.

In September I am going to:
-Check what books i'll need to use the most, and buy them second hand
-Check what the library has online before even buying them
-Make the effort to go to the book fair and grab anything remotely relevant for the insanely low prices.