How I Spent Only $34 To Purchase $1,000+ Worth Of School Supplies For College
how i spent only $34 to purchase $1,000+ worth of school supplies for college
One thing I’ve found that many college freshmen do is they purchase everything at the school bookstore, shelling out more than $800 for what they think is the cheapest deal possible. Let me tell you now, that you’re doin’ it wrong if you think paying hundreds of dollars is the best you can do.
To put it into perspective, for this past year, if I purchased all of my required textbooks from my school book store I would have had to pay $1,466 (tax not included)–and this is the total calculated if I bought used textbooks only. If I wanted brand new textbooks, it would have been over $2,000 (tax not included). In the end, I only spent $34 to purchase an entire year’s worth of supplies (that’s a 97% discount!!!), and I will tell you how. Of course, how low you can go will depend on the type of textbooks your professors require you to have and if you need any online access codes.
1. Email your professors
A lot of professors receive compensation from publishing companies to include their books in the curriculum, so many professors will say a book is required when in reality, you probably read 4 paragraphs from that text in the course of a semester. Always e-mail your professors beforehand about the list of required texts and other required items so see how many times you really need that book or item.
For example, at the beginning of fall semester last year, one of the required items listed for lab was lab cartridges which cost $88. Before making the decision on whether to purchase that or not, I e-mailed the lab coordinator and asked about what the cartridges were, which labs they corresponded to, and how often we would need to use them. The response? We didn’t need them at all for lab. If I didn’t ask my professor about it beforehand, I could have potentially paid $88 for something I didn’t need.
2. Join your school’s Facebook network.
Most, if not all, colleges will have a network on Facebook. Whenever you get your admission e-mail, or in your school’s portal, there should be a link to join the main Facebook group. Through there, once you’re accepted, you should be able to access many other Facebook groups within the school network. Many colleges will have a group dedicated to students who are selling their old stuff, and many will sell their textbooks on there as well.
Freshman year, I paid $150 for my general chemistry textbook, the solutions manual to the chemistry textbook, general biology textbook, lab manual, lab goggles, and clicker by purchasing them from a student who took those courses already and had no use for them anymore. To put into perspective how much I saved, the general biology textbook itself retailed for $150 in the campus bookstore; and the total amount I would have had to pay if I purchased all those books from the bookstore would have been more than $560. I basically purchased this at a 75% discount!
I would consider that purchasing from students at your university is generally a safe transaction, as most people meet up on campus to exchange the cash for the product, but remember to always exercise caution. You can always ask the seller to send you more detailed pictures if you want to know more about the condition of the item, and most of the time, you can also try to haggle the price of the item down.
3. Try to find online PDFs
One of the biggest reasons why I was able to save so much money this year with my textbooks was because of online PDFs (bless those uploaders). I was able to download my organic chemistry textbook and solutions manual, and molecular cell biology textbook online for free. If I had to purchase them from the campus bookstore, I would have had to pay $917. That’s a lot of money I saved!
Generally speaking, textbook versions don’t really vary much. For the organic chemistry PDF I mentioned, I actually found the previous edition of the one we were required to have for the course. I e-mailed my professor and asked if there was any particular difference between the 3rd and 4th edition, and he responded saying that other than the fact that some content in one chapter was moved to the next, there was no difference, and there really wasn’t. Even the chapter problems were the exact same.
If you’re the style that likes to have a paper copy in their hands, you can always print out the PDFs.
4. Share with friends
As a biology major, we have many labs, and for those labs, we’re required to purchase a lab manual. This past year, I took orgo lab, and the lab manual for that was $143. I couldn’t find this online as a PDF because A) it was the newest edition for this year, and B) it was written by our lab coordinator so it couldn’t be found anywhere else. So I chose option C instead: share with a friend. One of my friends compared the previous year’s edition with the edition we were required to have to see if there were any big differences (such as different experiments), and there weren’t really, so she purchased last year’s lab manual from an upperclassman for $25 (I paid $12 since we were sharing). Since we had lab on different days, we were able to share the manual.
I also made scans of the manual as well so I wouldn’t hog it when she needed it to complete her conclusions, and she could use the scans for her pre-lab while I was using it to write my conclusions.
5. Don’t buy, rent instead
If you absolutely have to have a book and you can’t find it online as a PDF, see if you can rent it instead. Although your campus bookstore will also have rental prices, 3rd party rental prices are almost always cheaper. Two sites I highly recommend are Chegg and Bookbyte. Although I haven’t used Chegg personally, many of my friends do and they say Chegg’s prices are lower. I’ve personally used Bookbyte, and although their selection is a tad smaller than Chegg, they have great customer service. In addition, if you need your rental for a couple days past the rental date, you can send it back late (up to 12 days I believe) without being charged any additional fees or paying for an extension.
For example, if I were to rent the anthropology textbook from my bookstore would have costed $40, and renting from Amazon would have cost $35, however, Bookbyte had my anthropology textbook listed for $12 to rent. They actually sent me 2 copies of it (I was only charged for one), and both were in excellent condition. When the time comes for you to return your textbooks, just print out the pre-paid shipping label Bookbyte sends you and you can ship the book from your campus mailroom.
6. Ask upperclassmen
Second semester this year, I was able to get my hands on a hard copy of the newest edition of the orgo textbook and solutions manual for free, because one of my upperclassmen friends passed it down to me without asking me to pay, so she’s basically the nicest person ever. You can always ask upperclassmen friends first for textbooks and such if they’re the same major as you because chances are, they’ll still have their old textbooks and would most likely be much more willing to help out a friend than a student they don’t know.
7. DON’T BUY “USED” ONLINE ACCESS CODES
The only thing you cannot get a discount on are online access codes. Any sites that are selling “used” online access codes are fake, and you should not purchase from them. Online access codes are associated with specific professors and courses, and e-mails as well. In addition, most have a set expiration date (usually a year or a semester), so any “used” online access code will most likely have expired by the time you try to use it.
What I usually do if I have to have an online code is accept their free trial. Companies such as McGraw Hill’s Connect have a 2 week free trial, and since my professors put up all the assignments in advance, I complete all the assignments within the free trial period. When the free trial expires, I can’t access the module again unless I pay, but the records of me completing my assignment still exist and I still get my homework points. I was lucky enough that our professor assigned online HW as easy gimme points, so I didn’t have to wait until he taught the material to finish it. The only online homework I paid for was Sapling, which was $10 since the free trial was only 6 days and homework assignments were uploaded weekly.
More Posts from Swirlspill-study and Others
What I think is really interesting about the papyrus account of the workers building the tomb of Rameses III going on strike to demand better wages is really fascinating to me because if you look at the description given by the royal scribe you see that there was an attempt to satisfy the workers by bringing a large amount of food at once but that was rebuffed by the workers who declared that it wasn’t just that they were hungry at the moment but had serious charges to bring that “something bad had been done in this place of Pharoah” (is poor wages and mistreatment). They understood themselves as having long term economic interests as a -class- and organized together knowing that by doing so they could put forward their demands collectively. It so strongly flies in the face of narratives that are like “in this Time and Place people were happy to be serve because they believed in the God-King and maybe you get some intellectual outliers but certainly no common person questioned that”. If historical sources might paint that sorta picture of cultural homogeneity it is because those sources sought not to describe something true but invent a myth for the stability of a regime.
here is a list of questions i have already answered about graduate school!!
please check it before you send me a question about graduate school :) :) i hope it’s useful! xo // updated 08.2019
basic info
what is the PhD and what can you do with it? (+)
what does a literature PhD entail?
should i do a PhD if i have to pay tuition?
does it look bad to take time off between degrees?
what was your timeline like?
what’s the difference between a terminal MA and a PhD? (+)
does getting an MA first help you get into a PhD program?
application process
how can i prepare for applying early in my undergrad career? (+) (+)
where should i start looking for programs?
should i choose a program based on rank or fit? (+)
how many programs should i apply to?
parts of the application
advice on the writing sample
advice on the GRE (+)
how should i ask for letters of recommendation?
how should i write a statement of purpose? (+)
how do i demonstrate my “ability to excel”?
how should i address mental health/family/personal issues that impacted my grades?
grad school application spreadsheet
how should i email potential advisors? (+)
how can i survive the waiting period? (+)
how should i prepare for an interview or phone call? (+)
what should i ask at open house?
what should i do if i don’t think i can afford my grad school tuition?
what should i do the summer before i start my program?
seminars/coursework
how should i plan for grad seminar presentations? (+)
what should i bring with me to seminars?
what are grad seminars like?
how can i get better at speaking during seminars?
reading
what should i have read before i start my lit grad program?
how much reading should i expect?
how can i read a lot without getting overwhelmed? (+)
how can i read efficiently? (+) (+)
quals-specific reading advice
how should i take notes on critical articles?
writing
how do i write a lit review?
how do i write an indicative bibliography?
how do i choose a dissertation topic? (+)
how do i plan for a long research paper?
how do i balance all the different kinds of writing i have to do?
money
how do finances work in grad school?
what is adjuncting and why does it suck?
how can i budget while on a stipend?
should i work while in grad school? (+)
fellowship, postdocs, & job stuff
how do i think up a second project when i’m not even done with my dissertation?
CV writing tips
which websites post US fellowship/postdoc/job ads?
how do dissertation fellowships work?
tips for grant, award, & fellowship applications
misc
will grad school make my mental health issues worse? (+)
how do i survive conferences?
how should i deal with burnout? (+)
i think i want to quit
my advisor is ghosting me
how do i work with no structured schedule?
how do i get enough sleep?
how do i balance my work & my teaching?
how can i beat imposter syndrome? (+)
how can i excel in grad school?
Pro-tips for rookie academic writers after grading about a quarter of the midterm papers for my undergrad Shakespeare class:
If your entire argument can be made in one sentence, it’s too simple.
If your argument cannot be summarized in one sentence, it’s too broad.
If your argument can’t be argued with, it’s not an argument.
Teachers don’t want you to fawn on the material; they want you to engage with it. Just fangirling over Shakespeare isn’t going to get you an A.
Avoid big sweeping generalizations in your opening sentences (and everywhere else). “Since the dawn of time” or “Of all the playwrights who have ever lived,” etc. etc. are superlatives you can’t possibly prove.
If you’re going to say that an author/text does something, you’d better be ready to demonstrate how.
Your opinion is not analysis. Learn the difference.
“Interesting” and “intriguing” are useless words that tell a reader nothing about the text. Be more specific.
Don’t assume you know a character’s motives without evidence from the text. Don’t assume you know an author’s motives, full stop.
If you’re a man making an argument about female perspectives in a text, have a woman read it before you turn it in. Just trust me on this one.
50 Things to ask on Residency Interviews
HARK. Interview season is upon us!
And my old littles gave me the great idea to come up with a big ol’ list of questions the interviewing 4th year can use to find the answers they need about certain program OR give ideas that a 4th year may not have thought of at all.
I hope this helps anyone who has been dreading the “any questions for us?” moment. It’s not everything you can ask, it may not even highlight your program priorities, but hopefully you can get something out of it!
Is there any standard curriculum which the residents follow?
When do residents have to take step 3 by?
Is there any expectation to take step 3 before residency starts?
How are morning reports/grand rounds/resident lectures held?
Does the program support simulators and simulated learning?
Does the program have a sim center?
Is the in-training exam used by the program in any way?
When do the residents take the in-training exam at this program?
What is the percentage of specialty board pass rates?
What is the fellowship match rate/job placement rate?
What are you expected responsibilities on the floor?
What kind of call do you do as an intern vs as a senior?
What are you looking for a in a resident?
What do you value in a team?
How often are you working with seniors vs other interns vs attendings?
What fellowship programs does this program offer?
What are the responsibilities of the fellows toward residents, if any?
How are mentors approached?
How does continuity clinic run through the program?
How many electives are offered per year?
What specialties does the hospital not have?
Which specialties are done at an outside hospital/system if any?
What are some hallmarks that make this program different from others?
How does this program participate in resident wellness?
Are their any resources if a resident feels they need help?
Is there support when there is a loss during patient care?
Does the hospital have any associated medical schools?
What are the 3rd and 4th year med student expectations?
What are the resident expectations to the medical students?
How many fourth years are around during audition season?
How is the schedule organized (how many floor, clinic, etc months)?
Are schedules flexible in any way?
If someone needs to miss a day or call, how is that rectified?
How are vacation requested, decided and divided?
Is there a holiday schedule?
How does the program approach QI projects?
What are some standout QI projects from the residents?
What are the research expectations for each year?
What resources does the program provide for research?
Are the residents provided food and drink (stipend/resident lounge supply)?
Are the residents provided scrubs?
Do you get white coat replacements or fleeces/jackets?
What is the expected attire on the floor, clinic, etc?
What is the parking situation?
Are there any stipends for moving, study material, exams or conferences?
What is the average cost of living in that area?
Where do most of the residents live?
Do you need to be in close proximity to the hospital?
How do you think a program of this size facilitates the learning environment?
Do the residents hang out together?
I didn’t describe why someone would ask these so if you’re interested, don’t know what something means, or want elaboration feel free to send an ask.
Go forth! Be strong and confident!
Good luck!
120319 The circulatory system has consumed my last few days and I’m actually not mad about it. Paperless note-taking is getting better and better. The possiblities are endless, and mixing different elements is making me learn a lot more. look at that juicy musculus papillaris.
IG: nerdysophie
i can not and i mean i can not stress this enough… make a bibliography as you do your research. i mean, make a fully formed, correctly cited bibliography as you work. just do it. i know i know you’re being lazy or you hate making citations or you’ll just get to it later or you don’t want to get distracted etc etc etc
whatever your reasons just make the fuckin bibliography
and while im at it… put the footnotes in properly as you are writing. just… do it. for future you. please. for your sanity. do it.
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a study blog for collected references, advice, and inspiration
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