[DubaiSis]

If your book list is long for a particular class, I'd wait. I had plenty of classes where the prof had you purchase a whole book so that you could read 1 chapter. Photocopying @ $.10/page times 50 pages is $5.00, not $50 or $100. And you can also check a lot of those books out from the library. So I'd go to class and find out how much reading you actually have to do before you make the purchase. If it's a math or science class, yeah, duh, buy the book, but there are a lot of ways to get reading done that doesn't require buying a whole hard copy book. And Shakespeare, for instance, is Shakespeare, regardless of what form it comes in. And you don't, regardless how awesome, need a Shakespeare anthology. In 10 years when you want to re-read the Tempest, you can buy it then. But while in college, there's a lot of ways to get by without the investment.

My advice is join study groups. It will help you make friends outside your immediate circle (dorm floor and/or new sorority) AND give you a lot of insight into the classwork. I didn't do this until my junior year or so, but actually needed it as a freshman.