How do student survive?

Smidster

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Not really. If I told them all to get up early (some hope!) and go to the library the rest of you would be whinging that you couldn't get hold of the books because all my students had got there first.

From my experience of Students I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference - your advice would go in one ear and out the other.

melancholly

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Not really. If I told them all to get up early (some hope!) and go to the library the rest of you would be whinging that you couldn't get hold of the books because all my students had got there first.

i wouldn't be whining since i teach rather than learn these days
(which is actually a sad reflection on what i'm doing, but moving swifty on!)

but seriously, there are enough who have the money or lack of sense to pay for them all to leave a limited number of students who really will use the reference section or short loans or photocopiers.

way back when i was an undergrad, i borrowed some books from lecturers for a week or weekend and made my own notes on the relevant chapters. and this was before you could get notes from most universities online to give the same info in a different way (not that i'm that old, but things have moved so quickly - 10 years ago hardly anyone had a computer and used the shared facilities, now everyone 'needs' their own computer and broadband!).

my experience of students - give them the choice to do something..... if you offer office hours, they're happier that they could go, but 99% of them never do. if you give them an option that they could use, the whinging will stop - even if most of them will still shell out the money.

thiftybee

melancholly wrote: »

but seriously, there are enough who have the money or lack of sense to pay for them all to leave a limited number of students who really will use the reference section or short loans or photocopiers.

I am so glad this is true!

There's a lot of students who don't seem to like the idea of carrying books, either. Because being smart makes you a loser, obv (isn't it weird people still think this in uni??).

For the course I do at the uni I'm at, there's only one key text I can't happily borrow from the library, and that's a huge anatomy textbook. Which, in fairness, is very specialised to the course, and seeing as the uni is all medic/healthcare subjects, holding copies could bring out riots.
My boyfriend had a new one though, so nice and shiney and FREE!

transontung90

:money::money::money: ) this emo is funny anyway

i have Gf and i want to treat her right , therefore i have to sacrifice myseft because the money i earn is fixed . The solution to me is never had breakfast and just a bread for lunch ....... sweet that i dont have to pay for dinner ..... family is the best haha

7891368

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Any decent city library is likely to stock many books relevant to degree level study. In both Manchester and Portsmouth, enormous numbers of students used them.

I think that depends a lot on your course, Nottinghamshire Libraries hold one book of the 200 odd recommended on my reading list, which is 4 years out of date.

The_One_Who

angelofmel wrote: »

often i think they leave it to the last minute to buy the books they DO need as well. of course for first years thats not really avoidable unless unis send out reading l.ists before hand but then for some uni/courses students dont pick thier modules untill freshers week. however returning students have the whole summer where they can find out the reading lists and then really shop for the best bargins...look through the book in the library and see which ones they really need/will be usefull etc and shop around for the best deal on it.
this year, for one of my modules the books (english lit so had a lot and needed to buy them) would have cost me around £30-£40 and i managed to get all but 2 (which ive got from the library) for under £10 through ebay/charity shops etc. so savings can be done if planned and shopped well. mostly i think though students would rather enjoy thier summer than spend time shopping for books for the new uni year and then have to rush to buy them in time for the first lecture

OR better yet, they should wait until they've actually started their course, figure out what book/s would be a good investment (if any) and then go and buy them. Otherwise they should stick to the library and learn to use it properly, and learn that there are other books apart from those on the reading lists. Obviously for English lit there is a difference, and having your own copy would be beneficial, but for most other subjects you don't.

7891368 wrote: »

I think that depends a lot on your course, Nottinghamshire Libraries hold one book of the 200 odd recommended on my reading list, which is 4 years out of date.

You should be entitled to use the libraries of other universities. You might not be entitled to take the book out, but you should be able to read it in there and then photocopy what you need. Even though my university library was excellent, I still had to use another couple in order to get what I wanted. I also used the inter-library loan function, which brought books from other nearby libraries or the British Library. Some students don't even know this exists.

I have also borrowed books from lecturers. This can't really be done until you know them well enough, but it can be a great resource. They usually have all sorts of weird and wonderful books.

7891368

The_One_Who wrote: »

You should be entitled to use the libraries of other universities. You might not be entitled to take the book out, but you should be able to read it in there and then photocopy what you need.

Think I'm going to have to continue buying my books, Unless you're London based it's not really a viable option.

The_One_Who

7891368 wrote: »

Think I'm going to have to continue buying my books, Unless you're London based it's not really a viable option.

I'm not in London, nowhere near. Have you ever used the inter-library loan service? That way you can get books from elsewhere delivered to your own library. Depending on your library it may not be free, and you will need to pay to renew it, but it's worth looking in to.

I just think it's silly to buy books when in the majority of cases there is no need.

tetra-xo

Luckily, me and my housemate do the same course so we can share books! Just before I came into my 2nd year, I got one of the books regarded as our future professions bible pretty much for less than a fiver on eBay. It's a couple of editions old but still retails at about £70!

In my first year, I waited until I'd settled in before I bought any books, even then it was only 4 of them. 1 fro m eBay, and the others with discount codes I'd found. In total, I had about 17,000 words worth of essays to write and I used library books and online resources for pretty much all of that.

I am pretty annoyed now though that my university (not just my library!) only hold 3 copies of the book which we've been told is the best for our physics module and I can't find (or even afford if I could!) a cheap one available. Luckily my physics lecturer's are amazing and provide us with really good lecture notes, but it would still be nice to have a book to go to!

StudentFun

Students survive in many ways but the way in which most survive is taking on an extra job whilst studying which is not ideal but then again the world of education is not always ideal for everyone. Work hard in school, work hard in your part-time job to pay off your loan. Some even take the harder route and a few female students become wrapped up in a world of pole dancing or nightclub dancing to pay their way for loans and other follow the better route and join temp agencies, both like a kind of prostitution although the pole dancer night club dancer usually gets paid more. In some countries they sell their own blood just to get some more cash and take part in supposed safe clinical trials of new drugs to keep their cash flow topped up. We need to keep to the straight and narrow and how ever much the evil sidelines look paved with gold we need to keep walking the righteous path and become the upstanding community member we so wish to be. It may be hard but keep following the path, try to keep your student budget intact. Don't drink too much beer, "Yes I know it is hard!" Don't go to too many costume events, although Halloween is a must if you are going to trash some cash and most of all don't fall in love until after uni (no money for presents and valentines junk). Enjoy your time and brew your own moonshine if you have to, if it's cheaper. I never said to do this, so don't quote me. I was forced to say it but by the little voices created in my head by the student loan fairy.