Stupid Books, Stupid College...

[Farnan]

Ok, I bought my books for college...

And the price is outrageous, half my books were used and it still cost $370.70 (though for 18 credits) and I probably won't need half of them. Oh well, here is what I had to get though:

For College English:
Good Poems - Garrison Kellor
The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction - R.V. Cassil and Joyce Carol Oates.

For Introduction to the Middle East:
A Peace to End All Peace - David Frockman
Islam: The Straight Path - John L. Esposito
A History of the Modern Middle East - William L. Cleveland
Resurrecting Empire - Rashid Kahlidi (Uck... I already know how the Proffessor thinks of Iraq, I'll wonder if he'll mind me wearing my Army PT Uniform?)
Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfociz

For World History I
Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China - Arthur Waley
Traditions and Encounters: Volume 1 - Jerry H. Entely and Herb F. Ziegler
Buddhism: Its Essence and Development - Edward Conze
The Ramayana - Translated by R. K. Narayan

For College Calculus
Brief Calculus: An applied aproach (this little wonder cost me almost $100 used)

Way more than I wanted to spend at one time for books I may never use...

In case anyone is wondering, I'm a History Major considering dual majoring in Middle Eastern Studies.

And just so you know my other classes are ROTC (Free Book) and Creative Writing (No books thankfully)

[Sétanta]

Yeah, book prices are outrageous. Too bad you are white, otherwise you could complain and the ACLU could pay for your books for you. Umm, yeah.

Anyways, at the University of Washington book store there are rows and rows of books, and walking though it is quite apparent the books are overpriced (50 bucks for some obscure book about the History of Kazakstan 1602-1734).

[Farnan]

Well there was one good thing about the experience...

The woman helping me was pretty good looking (she was a student working a student job there)...

[Cojones of the Scipiones]

Time to hit the photocopier.

[HunterKYA]

I transferred out of a HI-490 class, which was Military History, simple because of the number of associated books, five in total, that were listed on the syllabus and replaced it with a HI-332, which is History of Western Philosophy, which only has two books. Plus, I had to drop the Marketing class I was planning on taking because of the amount of reading that I was already having to do in the other three classes I am taking, because I'm not an exceptionally fast reader and I didn't want to have my face buried in textbooks during what free time I have. That officially leaves me with 9 hours, which isn't good, but by taking a couple classes over the summer, I know I can make up for the hours I was lacking this semester. With the hours I've taken so far, in addition to the hours for this semester, the Summer and Fall, by the end of the year, I should have 109, which would leave me 17 hours shy of meeting the minimum requirement for graduation.

Sorry about getting a little off-topic there. It's insane the number of books classes are requiring for you to purchase, and it's as if professors care very little about the possible workloads students will have from other courses while they're determining which direction they want the course to take. Never can it be as simple as having one textbook, but instead, there's the textbook and three or four books that correspond to the course in some way or the other.

[RZZZA]

yeah all these colleges hire students to work there....This one girl at the financial aid office is so FIIIIINE...but anyway, yeah I'm sick of college but not for the reasons you mention. I'm just sick of the routine, its so repetitive and monotonous. Not at all the optimal learning environment. I could probably learn better by watching T.V., and going to an old folks home to seek knowledge from kindly wise sages, on a one on one personal level.

A teacher reading his notes out to the class so we can write them down is like the worst possible way to learn...or teach....bleh, the whole environment is so depressing. I see 40 and 50 year olds in my college, for chrissakes, am I gonna be going to school until I'm that old too? %$& me! no way just kill me right now if thats the case.

Education may never end but I sure hope school does. before it ends me.

[the_mango55]

Get used to it.

I spent over $500 one time, when I had to buy my Spanish, chemistry, and Calculus, and American Lit books in the same semester.

[mrme]

I've heard that books are usually the greatest source of income for a professor (used to talk to a professor from McGill University). All they have to do is write a book, get it published, make it mandatory for the class, and voila! the book will be guaranteed to sell.
Here in Georgia as long as you maintain a B average you qualify for the Hope scholarship, which covers tuition (all of it!) and $150 off your books.

Weren't you in the armed forces at one point Farnan? I've never looked at the GI bill so I'm probably wrong on this, but won't they cover books? Or maybe some other type of benefit you might have overlooked?

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

At U of Illinois things are just as expensive as everywhere else. RZZZA you've got it right, I hate the settings, it's rediculous and not like anything else in life...its fun outside of class...but in?

Why is it so expensive in the US? In other countries this is not the case. $19,000 per year to go to some damn university...if college was cheaper it'd by 19000 going into the economy or somesuch thing >:

[Farnan]

I've heard that books are usually the greatest source of income for a professor (used to talk to a professor from McGill University). All they have to do is write a book, get it published, make it mandatory for the class, and voila! the book will be guaranteed to sell.
Here in Georgia as long as you maintain a B average you qualify for the Hope scholarship, which covers tuition (all of it!) and $150 off your books.

Weren't you in the armed forces at one point Farnan? I've never looked at the GI bill so I'm probably wrong on this, but won't they cover books? Or maybe some other type of benefit you might have overlooked?

I get reserve component GI Bill which is $250 a month directly to my bank, and because I hold a critical MOS another $350 for the kicker to my bank, and 2600 something for tuition. $600 may sound like a lot, but it has to go toward paying off my student loan, books, food (I'll have to eat out to make sure I can get to my classes in time), and gas (I commute). Next year though I should have a free-ride scholarship (well sorta free, I also have to surrendor the next 6 years of my life after graduation to the Guard, which means probably at least 2 deployments)...

I'm not too upset, just don't like the cost of the books, not just for me but for the people that don't get the education benefits.

[Nutsack]

My brother goes to Arizona State University and he told me the books are very expensive. And it costs several thousands bucks a semester?

But is college really that bad as you people describe it to be? I am from Sweden and it's not similar at all, not to mention I still don't even know much about either the Swedish college nor the American system. All I've heard is that Swedish college is free, and my mother suggests I should move back to Sweden to study there when I finish High School. I have a lot of friends there too so we could probably rent some place.

What do you guys think? I am very confused and can't make a decision and I'd be grateful for some advice to make it easier. Move back to Sweden or stay in U.S of A?

[Gwendylyn]

Ok, I bought my books for college...

And the price is outrageous, half my books were used and it still cost $370.70 (though for 18 credits) and I probably won't need half of them.

Congrats. You are under the national average ($400/semester).

Just don't take the frustration out on the staff. I worked my college bookstore for four years and delt with plenty off asses who were upset at paying $300, while not realizing that some students (science) leave the store with over $700 in books for one term, and those still have to pay for lab supplies.

Hell, I know enough about how college bookstores run to know where all the costs of those books are coming from, and where to get them cheaper.

I was an English major. Bookstore discount + cheap paperbacks = roughly $180-260 a term.

What do you guys think? I am very confused and can't make a decision and I'd be grateful for some advice to make it easier. Move back to Sweden or stay in U.S of A?

Depends on what you want to do. I'll have over $100k in debt when I get out of grad school, and thats after 3 years of undergrad being a free ride (study abroad = expensive). Go find out if there's a school in Sweden that specializes in what you want, and then find out how easy it is to get a job with that degree in the US (if you plan on returning). High debts are managable, and if you go to a state school not even necessary. But if you can help it you don't want to have to pay those debts.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Rent them from the library and keep doing it. I'm sure library fines will be less than that huge sum.

[sephodwyrm]

I bought my books new and kept them.
I loan it out to my American friends for free so that they wouldn't have to buy it. I know I am kind of a rich middle class boy, so I am doing my part of social justice.

Now you know who's the real Moral Patriot.

[Last Roman]

Rent them from the library and keep doing it. I'm sure library fines will be less than that huge sum.

but ahah! most of them aren't in the library (if any at all)

anyhoo, if I get all used I'll be shelling out 330 (which I'll just be able to cover.) But of course, they'll be out of at least 3 of the 6 books I need in used, so it'll be closer to 380-400, money which I don't have. Guess I'm getting a job.

[Farnan]

Congrats. You are under the national average ($400/semester).

Just don't take the frustration out on the staff. I worked my college bookstore for four years and delt with plenty off asses who were upset at paying $300, while not realizing that some students (science) leave the store with over $700 in books for one term, and those still have to pay for lab supplies.

Hell, I know enough about how college bookstores run to know where all the costs of those books are coming from, and where to get them cheaper.

I was an English major. Bookstore discount + cheap paperbacks = roughly $180-260 a term.


Depends on what you want to do. I'll have over $100k in debt when I get out of grad school, and thats after 3 years of undergrad being a free ride (study abroad = expensive). Go find out if there's a school in Sweden that specializes in what you want, and then find out how easy it is to get a job with that degree in the US (if you plan on returning). High debts are managable, and if you go to a state school not even necessary. But if you can help it you don't want to have to pay those debts.

I didn't I laughed and joked with the staff. It ain't her fault...

Also, I'm lucky most of my classes I am taking are fall semester classes so I got a good deal used...

[Major.Stupidity]

A Peace to End All Peace - David Frockman

Hey I have that book! Anyways, here at the University of Stevens Point, we rent our books, its rather nice - except we do have to buy some books that the professors are going to use in class - like for my History 102 course where I had to buy A Man of the People and so on when we got to de-colonialism. I'm rather excited about my History 220 course, Middle Eastern History since 1789, since I want to major in Middle Easter Studies and all!

[Cornelius the Noble]

I got lucky this semester, total of 190$. What I did was get all used for two of my classes, both of which were Religion. Then me and a buddy of mine happened to have two classes together and we bought the books off Amazon and are sharing them for the semester. Last two semesters though I had over 500$ each semester. I'd say amazon and swapping with other students for common classes is the best way to go. My school has a facebook group dedicated to just swaping books.

[Farnan]

major in Middle Easter Studies and all!

Does that mean you study Easter Dinners throughout history?

Just kidding, just kidding...

I got lucky with my intro to the Middle East Class. A week before the semester started I found out that that class was offered, and noticed there was one seat left, so I took it.

Edit: Just noticed my college doesn't have Middle Eastern Studies as a Major, I'll just go Poli Science or International Politics and focus on the Middle East when possible (and take Arabic)

[Major.Stupidity]

Edit: Just noticed my college doesn't have Middle Eastern Studies as a Major, I'll just go Poli Science or International Politics and focus on the Middle East when possible (and take Arabic)

Arabic is a difficult language, I took it for a few weeks at my University through a learning from a distance program, the teacher went to fast and I withdrew so I could transfer to the University of Arkansas where they have an actual Middle Eastern History program there, where you can learn Arabic overseas. I'm quite pumped to get out of Stevens Point after 18 years; hopefully the transfer process goes smoothly.