The Observer, August 31, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 1
Worst Case Scenario: How much was that book?
If you're anything like me, you just finished registering for classes even though registration has been open since May. Congratulations! You're officially a (insert year here) college student!
But before the excitement of the first lecture of Fall 2007 can begin, you face a task that could bring the most seasoned sixth-year senior to tears – buying books.
Buying books is the third-worst experience any college student will have (it's just slightly better than that roommate you'll inevitably have who splits their time between being a drunken mess and being rigidly anal about your observance of their quiet hours). The key to enduring the process with your sanity (and GPA) intact is simple: know your options.
The first option is simple: go to the bookstore – you know the place, with its bright lights, smiling assistants, and of course, a monthly payment plan for the amount of cash you'll be shelling out for their wares. Selecting this option is the cleanest, fastest, and least exciting. Unfortunately, its success rests on your parents' willingness to get a second mortgage on their home.
Should your parents be reluctant to pay so much for textbooks whose values depreciate by half the second you open them, you may want to consider options with slightly more intrigue. The most promising, yet time-consuming, of these is the old camera ruse. Never heard of it? Well, the premise is simple: wander nonchalantly into the aforementioned bookstore, casually approach your most expensive textbook, whip out your camera phone and subtly proceed to photograph each page while pretending to be on the phone with your mother. By way of caution, this method is best used when your course reading is light, you have a really, really great camera on your phone, and a ton of free time on your hands – especially as you may be spending some of that time in prison.
Another great option if you're strapped for cash is to make a new "homework buddy" in each class, and "borrow" their textbook for the semester. This is not the best way to make friends and influence people, of course, but if you wanted a great social life, you shouldn't have come to an engineering school in the first place.
Finally, you can buy your textbooks used. By used, I don't mean bookstore sell-it-for-ten-bucks-off-the-original-price used – I mean may-have-been-run-over-by-a-semi-truck-and-dropped-off-a-cliff-into-a-raging-river-then-found-and-sold-for-three-dollars-on-the-Internet used. The Internet has a plethora of sites run by folks who would love nothing more than to sell you last year's textbook for whatever you're willing to pay. The cream of this slightly seedy crop includes www.betterworldbooks.com. Better World Books is a philanthropic organization that sells donated used textbooks at a massively-discounted price with free shipping in the U.S. (although there is a roughly five-cent carbon-free shipping charge.) They use the proceeds to fund literacy programs in developing nations. The fact that you're spending less than a hundred bucks on your textbooks at Better World while your classmates are spending three times their monthly rent each month on makes you feel good about yourself. The fact that Better World is helping citizens of developing nations learn to read makes them feel good about themselves. The fact that citizens of developing nations are learning to read makes them feel good about themselves, too! Everyone wins!
But, as with all amazingly-awesomely discounted goods, there are sacrifices involved. For what you're willing to pay, you may not get the most up-to-date edition of your textbook. Heck, it may not even have been published in your lifespan. But the satisfaction you get from spending less money should be more than enough to make up for the fact the Cold War was still going strong when your International Relations: Understanding Your World book was written, right?
Unfortunately, no matter which option you choose, buying textbooks can be painful and unpleasant (almost as painful and unpleasant as reading this article.) But the good news is, once you're done, you can focus on the more fun and exciting issues – you know, the real reason you came to college!
