How much are you spending on textbooks this semester?

[Soviet Taoistan]

I havent picked them up yet, but, assuming I can actually rent them all from the bookstore (Ive only ever had to buy one) then $120.00 which was the rental fee....

And seeing yours, makes me,

You can rent textbooks? What school do you go to and can grad students take part in this wonderment?!

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, MGCCC, Its only a 2-year Community College though...I think the Jackson County campus has a Southern Miss branch though, presumably books can be rented there I think...

I think they can in South Alabama too...those are the only campuses I have any knowledge of though,

Dagnabit. I wish they had book rentals back when I was in CC. Then again, at $20 a unit I didn't really feel like complaining.

[Central Prestonia]

$446.53 for four and a half classes (the half class being a 1 credit hour Freshman Learning Strategies course I was forced into taking), doing Political Science. The best part: only two of the books I got relate in any way shape or form to my major. Ah, the joys of being an undergrad freshman.

[Braaainsss]

$250 for six classes, most of it for a couple of big, new textbooks.

[Neu Leonstein]

I spent about A$55. I like the fact that grad-level textbooks (like Myerson and MWG) in economics tend to be quite cheap. Must be the lack of shiny new editions full of colourful diagrams for challenged first-years every second semester.

[Dyakovo]

Absolutely nothing.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

I swear academic books are way more expensive in the USA.

You know, used textbooks are often an option.

[UnhealthyTruthseeker]

Christ, what subject do you do?

Sounds most likely to be, if it's a single major, nursing or premed.

[Beachchairs]

Haven't you people discovered the photocopier yet? I almost never buy the required text books and have only met one professor who insisted that I did. I've probably saved thousands this way...

PS, I study computational linguistics.

Never minding how illegal that is, what is better is to scan it and make a pdf. You can share it with your friends/have a copy for each computer you have. Even better if you have software that can reliably detect text and convert it to text (then you get things like search and copy-paste going for ya).

$600-700, electrical engineering.

[Getbrett]

My degree required no books expenses (unless you voluntarily bought some). Instead, you'd pay for materials fees. That'd average around £200/month, but that's because I do a lot of reduction block printing and lino/japanese hardwood is expensive.

I studied Illustration.

[The Infinite Dunes]

Nought. I find the library and internet and e-journal subscription that the university supplies more than enough.

There is one book that I keep coming back to, ever since my first year. Very good introduction book and a good starting place for a lot of reading. I might just consider buying it -- Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 2nd ed., Russell and Norvig. Which I can get on ebay for £20 or less.

[The Infinite Dunes]

Haven't you people discovered the photocopier yet? I almost never buy the required text books and have only met one professor who insisted that I did. I've probably saved thousands this way...

PS, I study computational linguistics.

Never minding how illegal that is, what is better is to scan it and make a pdf. You can share it with your friends/have a copy for each computer you have. Even better if you have software that can reliably detect text and convert it to text (then you get things like search and copy-paste going for ya).

$600-700, electrical engineering.

You're not allowed to photocopy books at your university? How cheap are they... I thought ever university had a license to photocopy the books in its libraries for educational purposes - ie. everything you do whilst on your course.

And that cartoon was a favourite of one my tutors. He said it took to complete a PhD in computational linguistics to realise that.

[Bluth Corporation]

$446.53 for four and a half classes (the half class being a 1 credit hour Freshman Learning Strategies course I was forced into taking), doing Political Science. The best part: only two of the books I got relate in any way shape or form to my major. Ah, the joys of being an undergrad freshman.

If being required to take classes outside of your major field bothers you, you probably have no business being a post-secondary student.

If you're in college, you should be there because you want to learn for the sake of learning.

[EvilDarkMagicians]

£0

[Exilia and Colonies]

$446.53 for four and a half classes (the half class being a 1 credit hour Freshman Learning Strategies course I was forced into taking), doing Political Science. The best part: only two of the books I got relate in any way shape or form to my major. Ah, the joys of being an undergrad freshman.

If being required to take classes outside of your major field bothers you, you probably have no business being a post-secondary student In an American style university.

If you're in college, you should be there because you want to learn for the sake of learning.

Fixed.

I don't have to touch stuff not related to my major field with a bargepole. Nor is there the option to, excluding languages.

[Beachchairs]

Haven't you people discovered the photocopier yet? I almost never buy the required text books and have only met one professor who insisted that I did. I've probably saved thousands this way...

PS, I study computational linguistics.

Never minding how illegal that is, what is better is to scan it and make a pdf. You can share it with your friends/have a copy for each computer you have. Even better if you have software that can reliably detect text and convert it to text (then you get things like search and copy-paste going for ya).

$600-700, electrical engineering.

You're not allowed to photocopy books at your university? How cheap are they... I thought ever university had a license to photocopy the books in its libraries for educational purposes - ie. everything you do whilst on your course.

And that cartoon was a favourite of one my tutors. He said it took to complete a PhD in computational linguistics to realise that.

Its an illegal breach of copyright law....
Nothing to do with the school being cheap.

[Gravlen]

I work for a living, you hippie!

[Beachchairs]

I work for a living, you hippie!

So do I, you lazy ingrate

[Niur]

123,600,000 Kins

niuran monetary unit

or about ten dollars.

[UNIverseVERSE]

If being required to take classes outside of your major field bothers you, you probably have no business being a post-secondary student.

If you're in college, you should be there because you want to learn for the sake of learning.

It would bother me. Fortunately, I am shortly starting my undergraduate degree (at a fairly well respected institution), and don't have to take any classes which are in any way unrelated to my 'major'.

Of course, I'm in the UK, where we don't do this silly box-top method of education.

Edit: W.r.t. the topic, I'm aware of no textbooks I need to buy this year.

[Gauntleted Fist]

Spent $570.46 so far. Have one more "non-required"* book that I have to buy that cost 85-something. (USD.)

My major is Applied Computer Science.

*Meaning that it isn't absolutely vital, but I must have it because I know fuck-all about writing papers in Turabian-style.

[Christmahanikwanzikah]

$446.53 for four and a half classes (the half class being a 1 credit hour Freshman Learning Strategies course I was forced into taking), doing Political Science. The best part: only two of the books I got relate in any way shape or form to my major. Ah, the joys of being an undergrad freshman.

If being required to take classes outside of your major field bothers you, you probably have no business being a post-secondary student.

If you're in college, you should be there because you want to learn for the sake of learning.

Up for a round of Ethics classes?

[Christmahanikwanzikah]

I work for a living, you hippie!

Crazy Norwegians...

[Bluth Corporation]

$446.53 for four and a half classes (the half class being a 1 credit hour Freshman Learning Strategies course I was forced into taking), doing Political Science. The best part: only two of the books I got relate in any way shape or form to my major. Ah, the joys of being an undergrad freshman.

If being required to take classes outside of your major field bothers you, you probably have no business being a post-secondary student.

If you're in college, you should be there because you want to learn for the sake of learning.

Up for a round of Ethics classes?

Majoring in history, economics, and philosophy, and minoring in classics.

(emphasis not present in the original post)

[MrWho]

Only about 80 dollars this semester. I'm taking the second part of physical and biochemistry so I get to reuse the textbooks from last semester.

[Ravea]

All of it forever.