Are families ordering books for the Aug. 17 start of classes? The student portal has some syllabus and some book needs listed and I’d think professors would want students to have books at the beginning of the semester, especially if the student is confident they’ll be remaining in a course.
If students were on campus, they’d make a run to the USC Bookstore or order online from a less expensive source so that they had books at the start of classes. The bookstore is closed and online textbook orders are routed to Follett, which is out of stock on basic texts for a few general education and language courses. And there are no used books or rental books for the courses we’re trying to source. Wondering if the turnover market is perhaps disrupted by the lack of students selling back texts at the end of the spring semester.
Anyone else trying to find books? Or are students waiting for the first class session to get direction from instructors?
@saltyandpeppery I would suggest waiting until the first day/week of class has been held. Often times they don’t need the whole book, (which prof will tell them when class starts) and they can download things or get what they need other than spending a a couple hundred bucks on a book. It hurts to spend 200-300 on a book you don’t need, which sometimes can’t be returned. They may also dislike the class or professor and want to change sections or classes entirely.
My D bought a $280 math book which was just pages wrapped in cellophane (to insert in an notebook yikes that was expensive for non binded paper)! She took the cellophane off, went to one class and decided that day to drop the class and couldn’t return it since she unwrapped it. Couldn’t resell for whatever reason, I just put it in the recycle bin a couple weeks ago, ouch.
My daughter bought most of her books that were recommended for her classes on Amazon. Some of them were not in stock at the bookstore and some were a little less expensive on Amazon. One book she rented on Amazon because again it was less expensive there. She did write to her professor to ask if she would need the supplemental materials that come with the new version of that book and he said no, so she rented a used one. All her other books were very reasonable and I think could be returned to Amazon if she decided to drop anything.
Yes, Amazon can be great resource! And easier to return fo sho. But sad the freshman don’t get to go into bookstore for their magical trip for text books where they buy too many USC t-shirts.
@CAtransplant I think it’s ok to be sad over the fact that they can’t go splurge in the bookstore. My freshman son (not usc) has been waiting his entire life to sit in the stands and cheer for his college team. That was actually the topic of his common app essay. The fact that he cannot do that this year makes me unbelievably sad for him.
Re: fall on-campus housing
I talked to a nice rep at USC Housing today and she said that they’re waiting for country approval of their plans, after state guidance was issued last Friday.
She confirmed that fall housing assignments are still a possibility if the county approves the plans. They have not yet shelved the idea of students returning to campus housing this fall.
Sticky wicket for those receiving financial aid that were hoping for on campus housing. I suspect there’s a limited time period to get the stay-at-home grant, likely by the August 21 tuition deadline. Might have to skip getting the grant if there’s a chance of getting the housing by keeping a housing application open.
I do think that once students are situated in dorms, unless there’s clear evidence of significant spread in dorms, there won’t be campus evacuations sending everyone home like in spring. Instead, if a city in which a campus is in turns out to be hotpot that’s getting worse, they’ll further lock down and restrict activities on campus.
The key is getting the students into housing. Doing so in cities where there is higher test rate positivity may be politically easier than cities with low test rate positivity where they don’t want to import new infections. Thus, even though the state of California and LA county have been slow to greenlight USC’s plan, in the end, I suspect that they will.
@CADREAMIN Any update from your rising senior about how things are in or around campus? Is she mainly staying in? Mine arrives soon and is curious about the current environment.
@WWWard we moved my junior in on Saturday. It was weird to be in the area but not go onto campus at all. There were people around but it was not too crowded. We were in the Village on Sunday. Target was not too crowded and had everything in stock. There was a line outside of Trader Joe’s. We got lunch at Dulce and there were a few tables set up outside.
I think my D has mostly been staying in her apartment but will see friends while distancing. She and her roommates got tested on Monday. Easy to get an appointment, in and out quickly, and they got their negative results yesterday.
Yesterday’s release: “Colleges and universities should limit their on-campus student residency to only providing housing for students who have no alternative housing options.”
When is the best time to use my Credit/No credit GE class? I am a freshman, and this is my only semester with 2 GE’s and 20 units… would it be smart if I changed my more difficult GE to Credit/No Credit or should I wait to use my free pass later? I plan to hold on to my major specific Credit/No Credit passes until 7th/8th semesters.
@mamba4life Everyone has a different approach. My daughters did so with the ones they felt were most challenging or least in line with their comfort zones. I do not recall either doing so as a freshman, but I guess it just depends on what you have scheduled and how you feel about the potential outcome. Good luck…
@CAtransplant hey there! Hope all is well with you! I’m curious, did those that were accepted in March ever get acceptance packets in the mail? I know they discussed giving them at orientation, that was back in April when we thought this thing would be over in June (ha, remember that hopeful time?). So did they ever end up mailing a packet? This class missed out on so much, I am hoping they got the packets! My D is at USC in her apartment right across the street, thank goodness for the Village! I have been happy that if they want to get a covid test, they are readily available to them. She came home once already for a bit and tested before she came, so that was handy.
