Question about books/reading lists for uni

Hi one piece of advice I see a lot about uni is that you probably shouldn't buy the books on the reading list to save money, or at least shouldn't buy them until you get there. I was just wondering if this is more advice for subjects like maths/sciences or if its also good advice for subjects that are basically about books like literature and philosophy.

Reply 1

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

It’s advice for everyone. Your local library will normally be able to lend you the books for free and you can decide later whether you want/need your own personal copy

Original post by KimGrrr

Hi one piece of advice I see a lot about uni is that you probably shouldn't buy the books on the reading list to save money, or at least shouldn't buy them until you get there. I was just wondering if this is more advice for subjects like maths/sciences or if its also good advice for subjects that are basically about books like literature and philosophy.

Nobody is expecting anyone to buy books for Uni, that's what the libraries are for. You only buy the few key texts that you find invaluable and read all the time. You will find that academic books are often priced way outside the normal range of book prices because they have such short print runs. However, most student cards will enable some discount in bookshops associated with the university.

Original post by KimGrrr

Hi one piece of advice I see a lot about uni is that you probably shouldn't buy the books on the reading list to save money, or at least shouldn't buy them until you get there. I was just wondering if this is more advice for subjects like maths/sciences or if its also good advice for subjects that are basically about books like literature and philosophy.

Hey!

I agree with what's already been said above! Also just wanted to add, most unis will have an online library where you can access a lot of the required reading listed on the reading lists (online versions of textbooks .etc) 🙂 Other than this, a lot of the reading list will just be recommendations, and you'll be able to find a lot of those resources, or similar, on online libraries, such as google scholar.

Best of luck with everything!
Natalie
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 4

gjd800

20

It can be good advice but half the time for subjects like Phil, the library won't have sufficient physical copies for all the people in a class, and lots of people (me included) do not deal well with digital books and reading from screens. It's a 'play it by ear' thing for me.

I spent a fair proportion of my stipends at every level on books (around half my PhD stipend went on building a Sanskrit collection) - I don't regret this and now have a sizable library, half of which lives at work and half of which lives at home.

(edited 4 months ago)

Question about books/reading lists for uni

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