waitingforivy

I'm going to be a freshman this August.

On average, how much do you spend per semester on textbooks?

What other school supplies do you buy (other than laptop related stuff)?

soccergurl7988

Honestly, it really depends what your major is. Bio and other science majors tend to have more textbooks, which cost more. English and other humanities majors tend to have more regular books, which cost less, but you may have 15-20 of them.

In terms of school supplies...pens, pencils, notecards, sticky notes, notebooks, binders. YMMV on that kind of stuff though

ladeeda6

I'm a bio major and my most expensive semester was last fall where I spent close to five or six hundred. Usually, I spend less than that in a year and that's not counting what I make back by selling my books. That semester, I went to a school that had "special editions" (ie, a different cover but the material inside was the same) and it cost me a fortune buying from the bookstore.
Amazon is a life saver and I always buy books there rather than the bookstore on campus. I can get a book for $12 that would cost $200 in the same condition for a bio class.
Typically, I spend about $400/year just because science textbooks are expensive, I need lab manuals and in my humanities classes, I would need about 6 books per class.

My only other "major" expense is printer ink, really and thats not much at all. I buy a notebook per class but I may not use them that semester (Fivestar just because of how big and sturdy they are). I don't buy binders and I don't need to buy new pens/pencils every year.

PSU85MOM

Ha, books! Good luck. It really does depend. Bio major, Fall semester $800; Spring semester $300. The organic chem books cost $450 but were used both semesters. Spring semester included several rental books. My son will need a calculus book for fall that cost $235 new but he will use it for 3 semesters of math. It all depends on what you take and even on the professor. Many schools already have the book lists up so if you have scheduled or have an idea of what you may be taking you can look online to get an idea of cost.

As for other stuff-my daughter needed a printer, she prints a lot and all printing on campus is charged to your account. My son will have unlimited free printing on campus. My daughter prints out the powerpoints and then takes notes on them so she uses binders and a 3 hole punch. She uses her ipad now instead of notecards but still uses lots of post it notes. Most campus bookstores have what you will need if you forget something. Be sure to check if you need an ethernet cable for that computer and possibly a lock.

romanigypsyeyes

Again, depends. I've actually made money buy selling my textbooks at the end for the semester for more than I bought them for.

I'm a medical anthro and humanities major. I've spent everywhere from $40 to over $500 (stupid language books). International and used books are your friend.

AUGirl

Depends. I have changed my schedule before just to avoid having to have a ridiculous amount of textbooks.

Definitely check and see if the books listed are available online for a cheaper price. (This coming semester, I found two books I needed for a total of $50 cheaper on Amazon. That's only two of my books. I have a good bit more.)

Also check to see if you need the book for the class. If you don't, then don't buy it. You can usually buy an older book for much cheaper if you just need it to practice problems or to use as a reference.

See if you can go back an edition. If you have a textbook/workbook combo, I've found that it's useful to buy the textbook in the previous edition and the workbook in the current edition and it works just as well, but it's a lot cheaper.

I've spent between $150 and $600 for books depending on the semester and year.

Nikolette

Like everyone's already said: it depends on the major and the semester. I usually spend $300 or less, but this semester, I'm entering the business school, and for some unidentifiable reason, business class books are incredibly expensive.

For other supplies, I usually just buy a small notebook and folder for each class. They're cheap, and they keep things organized. A large box of mechanical pencils, a pack of highlighters, and a few pens usually last me the whole year. The only other thing I need is ink for my printer. Depending on the semester, I either need it replaced three times or none at all.

waitingforivy

Thanks for all the responses! Yeah, buying books sucks.

Where are the best places to get books? chegg.com, textbooksrus.com, amazon.com, etc . . . .

Does it make sense to use Barnes and Noble gift cards to buy books?

ahsanxr

I spent $85 dollars on books this past year being a math and physics major.

Things to do if you wanna be like me:

1. Consult people who have already taken the class and ask to borrow their books.
2. Buy used books.
3. Buy International editions.
4. Rent.
5. Library.
6. Some people may not be fine with this, but if a book costs over $200 bucks, the publisher is stealing from you, period. Better pirate the book in that case (give em a taste of their own medicine).

Things to avoid:

1. The *****ing bookstore! You have way too much money on your hands or you're just plain dumb if this is where you buy your books.

Davidabb84

Hooray for textbook rental! I get all my main textbooks included in tuition, and I've been informed I should expect to spend about $80-100 a semester on supplementary materials, although that's from the bookstore, I'm definitely going to be hitting up used bookstores and online stores.

Your college might rent textbooks as well, although it may be a separate fee. I'd look into it if you would like to save money.

albeezy

Fall semester I spent $500 and I was able to use most of them again in the Spring. I agree with ahsanxr about pirating books.I have no problem spending $100 or so but when you start getting in the $200 territory you're being ripped off.

pjLloyd100

$0. I just torrent them online. Like a boss. This way I can read it on my computer or my iPod Touch.

momosky

As a psych/bio double major, I spent about $400 on books this year. I spent double that my freshman year, because I fell for my school's ridiculous "mandatory, can't-buy-anywhere-else" writing package for my writing sequence (which in total cost about $350).

Book saving tips:

Sometimes it pays off if you wait and see whether or not you need the book to do well in the class. My bio professors tend to refer to the assigned textbook as supplemental reading and test mostly on what is taught in lecture.
Library, Amazon and the school marketplace listings are your best friend.
I hate sharing books, but if you've got a reliable friend go for it.
And yes, if you're paying more than $200 for a book you're doing something wrong. Pirate it, borrow it, check a different vendor source -- just don't pay for it.

Other expenses:
In the past year, lab coat and goggles for lab, ink for printer, little things like notebooks and pencils.
I did buy myself a whiteboard and dry erase markers; a luxury, but it made studying for biochem very fun.

LivingOxymoron

It depends on your classes and whether or not you buy from the bookstore, but I've spent around $450-$550 every semester buying used from the bookstore when I can. It'd probably be way, way more cost efficient to go the renting route though.