Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Ready for second semester?

Well, we're heading into the final stretch of Winter Break. I know some people are probably back in Boulder or back in the dorms... I hope travel plans haven't been too thwarted by Boulder's latest bout of winter weather. I must admit I'm getting ready to be back in the swing of things. Vacation is nice, but at a certain point, I miss the routine, pace, and purpose that comes from school being in session.

As you may notice, I'm trying out a new look here on this blog... the New Year always brings the desire for change, so I'm working on a format that I like a little better, one that's a bit more simplified and a little more formal looking. If you have any feedback, please feel free to share.

I've been working on assembling my textbooks for the semester. It's always hard to face buying $50 or even $100 books... Of course, they're necessary, but it's a lot for any student to face. If you shop smart, using the CU Book Store's used or rental options, you may be able to save some nice amounts of money. And then, of course, there's buyback at the end of the semester to get some of the money back. I didn't end up taking advantage of this myself in the fall because I was so interested in the subjects of my classes that I actually wanted to keep the books... But perhaps I'll be able to use this great opportunity this spring. So far I think I've spent a little over $250, which is not awful compared to some students I've talked to, who claim they've spent up to $600 for one semester!

I'm currently working on a small project for the bookstore that will explain some FAQ's when it comes to textbook purchasing and buyback. So, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them and/or include them in the video. Just leave them in the comments!

Anyway, I hope this first week of 2010 is treating you well. Cheers :)

This blog is sponsored by the CU Book Store.

2 comments:

Kelsey Gonzalez said...

Okay so you know those amazon book reader things? Can you buy your class books on those? I'm going to be a freshman in the fall of 2010 and am curious...
Thanks!

Laura said...

Kelsey,

That's a great question! I've always though digital e-readers like the Amazon Kindle are what the future of textbook buying should look like (just my opinion)... Students buy an e-reader at the beginning of college, and then download the required textbooks throughout the year.

But for now, I really don't know how they work as I don't own one. I think it all depends on Amazon catalogs for books. Teachers requires so many different KINDS of books for classes (last semester, the only "textbook" for a class was the Neil Gaiman novel 'Coraline'!).

If you already have a Kindle, it wouldn't hurt to look at the selection before you buy a hard copy of a book, but at this point, I wouldn't recommend buying a Kindle JUST for textbooks without looking around Amazon a bit and seeing what e-books they have.

Thanks for reading, and good luck starting college this fall!
~Laura