Do you/Did you sell back textbooks in your major?

[DubaiSis]

I not only didn't hold onto my books, by the time I was graduating I would figure out how many pages of the book the professor actually wanted us to read and made photocopies if it was more cost-effective. I got so annoyed at professors having me buy entire books to read one chapter. I could spend $5 or $10 in photocopies and be miles ahead of buying even the cheapest of used books. It took some quality time in front of the copy machine in the library, but it was worth it!

I'd be scanning the various e-book sources as well for any alternatives to those ridiculously overpriced books. But that wasn't an option for me in the 80's.

And ADPiUCF is exactly right. Unless it's a Shakespeare text or the Human Anatomy book that every pre-med major has to have, I wouldn't keep any reference books. They all change too much to worry about.

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I not only didn't hold onto my books, by the time I was graduating I would figure out how many pages of the book the professor actually wanted us to read and made photocopies if it was more cost-effective. I got so annoyed at professors having me buy entire books to read one chapter. I could spend $5 or $10 in photocopies and be miles ahead of buying even the cheapest of used books. It took some quality time in front of the copy machine in the library, but it was worth it!

I'd be scanning the various e-book sources as well for any alternatives to those ridiculously overpriced books. But that wasn't an option for me in the 80's.

And ADPiUCF is exactly right. Unless it's a Shakespeare text or the Human Anatomy book that every pre-med major has to have, I wouldn't keep any reference books. They all change too much to worry about.

Also, borrowing from the library.

If you have a school FB group, or anything try posting on there. One of my colleges is small (around 3K) and people post the books they are trying to sell. Its a better deal than the bookstore. I'd suggest never selling back to the campus bookstore. They tend to be a rip off just about everywhere.

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by WCsweet<3

Also, borrowing from the library.

Yeah, I did plenty of that too.

Now, if I could only get my husband to get rid of his books that he keeps for "reference." You know, because it's important to have a full personally library of books about the Knights Templar, religious conspiracy and comparative religion.

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Now, if I could only get my husband to get rid of his books that he keeps for "reference." You know, because it's important to have a full personally library of books about the Knights Templar, religious conspiracy and comparative religion.

Yeah, we have a box of econ textbooks. Lord knows why...

One of the women in the local alumnae chapter made a pretty flower like design with one of her most hated textbooks. She curled the pages into cones of various lengths and hot glued (I think) them into a flower idea. It's hanging on her wall and is really cool.

[kateee]

Originally Posted by WCsweet<3

Yeah, we have a box of econ textbooks. Lord knows why...

One of the women in the local alumnae chapter made a pretty flower like design with one of her most hated textbooks. She curled the pages into cones of various lengths and hot glued (I think) them into a flower idea. It's hanging on her wall and is really cool.

That sounds cool! One of my english text books isn't even worth anything online. There must be a new edition being released or something. It's worth like $5 online, and my college bookstore isn't buying it back.

I actually work 7 hours a week in the library so I could use the textbooks on reserve in there, but not every professor has the textbooks on reserve. That's what I did this semester with my Western Humanities books though and it worked perfectly. I'm kinda done buying books, it's such a waste for most professors haha.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Now, if I could only get my husband to get rid of his books that he keeps for "reference." You know, because it's important to have a full personally library of books about the Knights Templar, religious conspiracy and comparative religion.

OMG! I think my husband must be your husband's brother. I have begged him to throw away his journalism and broadcast texts that haven't at all become irrelevant since he graduated. In 1993.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Yeah, I did plenty of that too.

Now, if I could only get my husband to get rid of his books that he keeps for "reference." You know, because it's important to have a full personally library of books about the Knights Templar, religious conspiracy and comparative religion.

My husband graduated from college 25 years ago and it's only within the past five years that I wrestled his engineering textbooks from his cold, dead fingers (a slight exaggeration, but it makes better reading ). The damn things must have weighed 50 pounds all told and we dragged them all up and down the eastern seaboard with us while he was in the Navy. Finally, I said ENOUGH! If KillarneyBud2 wants to major in engineering, we'll buy her her own damn textbooks!

[MysticCat]

I think I held on to maybe two or three college textbooks (none of which were in my major) and maybe one or two books from law school. All of the others were sold.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Sell them. They take up space and quickly become obsolete as more current books take their place. If you need reference materials in the future, your employer can order them for you.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I think I held on to maybe two or three college textbooks (none of which were in my major) and maybe one or two books from law school. All of the others were sold.

Agreed with the bold.

In my major (marketing), there are a few principles that still hold true (ex. 4 Ps), but the industry changes so rapidly that most of the "best practices" that are mentioned become useless within a year.

The books that I kept after graduating were "leisure" books from a reading or poetry class that I took. I held on to them so that I could re-read them and digest the information without the stress of "OMG I HAVE A TEST ABOUT THIS TOMORROW"

[naraht]

I don't think I sold *any* of the books in mathematics major back, but did so for many of the books outside my major. Up until my senior year, I was intending to go to Grad School and so kept them as idea sources for areas of concentration. My senior year I decided I had enough of school and decided to get a job in Computer Programming (which I had sort of kept as a minor)...

In the higher level mathematics courses (beyond Differential Equations) the use of specific textbooks tended to be spotty (the courses weren't necessarily offered two semesters in a row and different profs chose to use different text books.

The ultimate in "non-sellability" was the professor in General Topology (Grad level course) who decided that he wanted to use a book he owned printed in the 1920s as his primary textbook (and yes, this can be done in Mathematics) and tracked down the company who owned the copyright for the book. (The original publisher had been bought out a long time ago). While they weren't willing to print the book, they were willing to let the Professor make copies.

I still enjoy paging through my mathematics text books, but know I won't be able to get too deep in them unless I'm willing to sit down and do the proofs in them. (I'm talking things like Topology, Graph Theory and Projective Geometry).