How do student survive?

ViolaLass

Gloomendoom wrote: »

If it was rubbish there wouldn't be so many students complaining about the cost of books.

I'm not sure that proves that students have to buy books. I think it proves that students THINK they have to buy books and don't necessarily have the money saving nous to think round the problem or make the extra effort to go elsewhere. I knew plenty of fellow students who would rather have spent £50 than go to another library.

liney

I have managed to buy all the books i have needed second hand from ebay for a couple of pounds each. I know certain subjects have very expensive books, but he is looking at second hand not just new isn't he? Also so many texts are available in electronic form in the University library because it's cheaper for them than having hard copies. You can usually print the part you need or save a pdf.

Have you spoken to your household insurance company about the additional cost of insuring items away from home? I'd imagine he's not got much worth pinching apart from a laptop maybe?

Gloomendoom

melancholly wrote: »

fine, poor you, there is no other alternative but you spending lots and lots of money you don't have.... if that's the only thing you want to hear, then ok. people are trying to help and give options. if you think absolutely none of us have any that will help you, go spend the money. once you've graduated, i'm pretty certain your opinion will change, but for now, stick to your guns and get in more debt if that's what you want.

I don't have to buy the damned books. The publishers give them to me free of charge! However, I do have to listen to students whining about how they have to spend so much money on books and it's not fair ect. etc.

If you look back to post 74 you will see me agreeing with the good advice in post 73.

jayme1

I have to say students THINK they need all the books when in reality they dont at all, go to all your lectures for the first few weeks and if one book seems to be used A LOT then think about buying it (or grab it from the library) other than that depending on the modual you can easily get by by actually learning the lectures that are taught to you.

and remember you are never going to carry the textbooks to and from lectures so you won't have them when you go to the library between lectures so you will end up using the library one anyway, unless you are actually going to read them at home.

angelofmel

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

melancholly

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I don't have to buy the damned books. The publishers give them to me free of charge! However, I do have to listen to students whining about how they have to spend so much money on books and it's not fair ect. etc.

If you look back to post 74 you will see me agreeing with the good advice in post 73.

well in that case, tell them to shut up and shop whinging! encouraging them by agreeing only makes it worse!

Gloomendoom

melancholly wrote: »

well in that case, tell them to shut up and shop whinging! encouraging them by agreeing only makes it worse!

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.

7891368

ViolaLass wrote: »

I knew plenty of fellow students who would rather have spent £50 than go to another library.

Other library? You can't get uni level books in a general public library normally? Can you?

ViolaLass

7891368 wrote: »

Other library? You can't get uni level books in a general public library normally? Can you?

I think it would depend on what course you were doing and what other libraries were available to you but in London, on a music history course, I had Senate House and the Barbican Library, to name but two. I think of at least two others I went to that I've forgotten the names of.

Oldernotwiser

7891368 wrote: »

Other library? You can't get uni level books in a general public library normally? Can you?

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.