<p>@zhongwen: yep I’m majoring in IR! You can use the books on reserve at the library, but I highly recommend to buy your own IR books. I know it stinks, but you will literally be reading every page of every book you get assigned to (for the large majority of professors) and it is a pain in the butt if you don’t have the text to reference with you especially when you are writing essays. However if you do make a friend also in your IR class that lives in the same dorm as you, you can always share books. Don’t bother buying “recommended” books though. Also generally, the IR books are not too badly priced (aside from the main textbook they are between $10-30 - the main textbook you can find used from other madison students or on half.com for a decent price. Just curious, what professors do you have for your madison classes?</p>