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I paid $250 dollars for an accounting textbook I was told I NEEDED by my prof, used it maybe three times, and now the bookstore isn’t buying my book back because there’s a new edition out. University is the biggest damn ripoff ever. Fuck.
—Starving Student
This article appears in Dec 10-16, 2009.
34 Comments
Oh, I remember those days…. so blissfully ignorant and blinded by new-found freedom….
by year three, I was only buying the books as they were ‘needed’ for the course since some had listed 4 books and yet only 2 were really critical. the other 2 would be ‘of assistance’ though I seemed to get by without them.
one english course I took listed several books we were going to get through… of course with the strike, we didn’t even get to the last couple. thankfully, I held off until needed and was saved the extra overhead.
To be honest, I’ve recently picked up a couple of the old texts and started going through them again… I think it would have made it easier in university had I actually read the text books along with the instructors notes. Taking for granted that they will teach you everything in there is not the easiest way to go. they still may be of use to you some day.
My first year was the year 2000. I was told I had to buy new editions for everything, so I did. 300 bucks later, I realized there was little reason to buy half of them. Dammit I hated university.
I always scavanged through the discarded text books at the book buy back at the end of each semester. These were the text books that were deemed to have 0 value. I found a couple of gems.
My best find was a 2nd edition business law text. As it turned out my class next semester would be using the 8th edition of this same text. I used that book without any issue for that semester. I found only one differance between the edditions. Somewhere around chapter 8 the first names of two characters in a case were changed. THAT WAS IT!!!!
that’s ridiculous, but typical. i wish there was mre students could do to combat this “new edition” bullshit. this year one of my profs gave each student a disk with all the readings burned on it … saved me a shit ton of money.
Apple is apparently going to start releasing texts on iTunes for their new tablet/ebook reader they apparently readying for release – that should help with the “out of date” thing at the very least. Of course anything you’d save would have to be spent on the tablet so… sounds like a great business model, but perhaps not really that helpful for students.
I saw a collection of Chaucer (hardcover) that I paid $80 bucks for back in ’92ish at Value Village for $15.
Man, did I ever get played back then. Eventually I figured things out and just got shit from the library, but what the fuck is it about profs making up these bullshit lists of texts? The fucking student union should warn the first year kids about that shit. I mean, I bought books that weren’t even referenced in the course. Fuck.
Depends on how you study. Some people would complain if there was no text book. I think they are offered as another learning resource for students, but with the internet and the library, you can usually get by without the text.
Ooooh zZz….the great Acadia strike of 2004….ahh the memories….
ANYWAY, whomever said they don’t buy the books until they need them is right — the books’ll be in the bookstore all term and sometimes you can even get the books from the library (if you’re at any university other than acadia you can get a novanet express from another library) and just read the crap you need and/or photocopy. I did that with most of my summer courses. There have been a few courses where I didn’t even bother buying the book and I was more than fine. And, sometimes the prof will put a copy of the book on reserve at the library.
Also: the whole new edition thing is the biggest scam going — all it is is a way for the text’s manufacturers/authors to pull in some more $$$ because they get squat on used books. And since a new edition means no one will be able to buy the book used…and what’s REALLY a piss off is these new editions have like MAYBE a new paragraph shoved in there, and they might re order the chapters. That’s it. You can usually get by on the old editions no problem. I had a prof last summer who even gave us the readings in both the old edition and the new one. I used an edition of a book from 1985 for one of my courses for a section of reading and it was exactly the same as the current edition.
yep, a nice month off in the middle of the semester….
funny how I can’t remember a single thing I did during that whole time.
no work and no schooling…. it felt like I was paying to be on welfare.
Holy shit…chegg.com
zZz… the only thing I did during the Dal prof’s strike was make a potato gun and fired it off the 21st floor of Fenwick tower. Amusingly, I now know how to calculate trajectory without ever taking 1 class of physics…
welcome to thr real world,where you never believe anything,anyone tells you as gospel.
The LC in wolfvegas ran out of beer on a wednesday at 4pm during that strike. ’twas a marvelous time.
Also: ahahaha I love you, Dr. F. Will you be my LTWWB BFF?
Fever…that is badass. I once made a homemade potato gun and it backfired, sending a frozen potato searing over my shoulder and nearly missing my buddy. Then the cops were called and we were all bum-fucked.
So did those cops wierd you out too?
“”… I think it would have made it easier in university had I actually read the text books along with the instructors notes.””
Indeed….and this is probably the origin of the saying “education is wasted on the young”…
The idea that you go to university… pay all this money, spend all this time – just to do the minimum amount of reading to “get through” with a half decent mark is the norm these days….but kinda sad.
Frosty — some courses I’ve had to read the text books, but particularly in my BA I found the lectures (and yes I attended almost all of them) comprehensive enough to rely on my lecture notes. I maintained an excellent (honours) GPA throughout my time in that degree.
In my current program (a professional degree), I’ve had to rely heavily on my text books, so it really does depends on the discipline. You CAN do well without the text books.
Anyone want to buy some old textbooks? I still got them all… don’t ask me why. I’m a hoarder.
yeah, in math they show you all the important algorithm’s and how they apply… or else what would you do for 3 hours a week….
and comp sci… well that’s all memorization anyways.
When I was at Dal my 1st year psych class text book was cowritten by a couple of the profs who taught the class. So of course every year there was a new edition out students were forced to buy.
I was also at Dal during the strike, all I remember was a friend who bought a bus pass for that month, and used it twice, which meant he paid $30 for each trip.
Many profs put copies of the books used in their classes on reserve in the library. Check with the library to see if the book you need is available and if it isn’t talk to the prof and ask them if it is something they’d consider doing.
Most profs aren’t dicks when it comes to text books when they’re expensive. I’ve known a few people who were having some financial problems and the prof lent them an extra copy they had or put a copy on reserve.
Profs are people too! (well, some of them. heh)
Oh! troll your friends who’ve taken the course before — I’ve borrowed some pretty pricey books from NGF and I’ve lent my books to friends. I also know people who will rent their books out as well.
What I really want to know is if PK and NGF ever, you know…
You can tell us.
Upper decked kay’s toilet? No but we prank called one of PK’s exes from a party once. Well, I did.
Haha, the ole sending a big pizza order to his (or her) place? Or while you and PK were in the middle of… you know…
That’d be dirty and mean but seriously funny. I’ve heard of people doing it, too.
Or maybe it was something more lame, like “Hi, is your fridge running? It is? Well you better go after it before it gets away!”
Ha ha ha.
It was at a school party. I had just finished a few brew and a nicely rolled bat =D
Just a shot in the dark… know where I can get some weed? I need some, man! Got a date soon and no one I know has any.
Pot-smokers are huge turn offs.
Heheh, hey dude… uuhhmmm, what? Sorry I forget what you just said.
Hey, it’s 4:20! Gotta go.
dave’s not here…
and Dino, please elaborate.
what is it about EVERY pot smoker that you dislike?
Yeah, man, what don’t you like about us, man? Not cool, man. Elaborate!
See, even though I smoke pot, I can still use big words like “elaborate.”
Hey, it’s not just pot-smokers, I wouldn’t want to associate myself with anyone who smokes period. It’s fucking gross. The drug component just adds to my distaste.
“Pot-smokers are huge turn offs.”
Only if you’re lame. And weren’t you Miss Marlboro just a few months back?