Textbooks, textbooks, and more textbooks! There are a lot of different textbooks that you might need your freshman year, and a few different ways to get them. Here’s some info from our student office assistants.
One way to easily get all your textbooks is through the UP bookstore, located right next to the Pilot House. You can access the textbook lookup through self serve. After you input your classes, your textbooks will then be displayed for the class. The list will show you if your textbooks are required or not. There are also classroom materials will sometimes be displayed as recommended. Here’s a walk through of how it works through Self-Serve.
To get to the bookstore website go onto self-serve and click student, then under the student-registration tab you’ll find the “check textbook prices link”.
From there, you’ll be able to “go to bookstore website”
If you go to the website from self serve, it should auto populate with all of your classes. Some of your classes my not require textbooks. In the example, two of my classes for next semester don’t have any listed materials.
Here are some key things to look for. The first being the class that the textbook is for, which is on the top. Next, is whether or not the textbook is required or is a bookstore recommended item (this is often done with supplies). The ISBN number is also very important–especially if you decide to get your textbook though Amazon, or another website.
If you choose to get your textbooks through the UP bookstore, there are a few different routes you can take. You can generally rent and buy either new or used. Digital copies are also sometimes available for certain books. The textbook may also be loose leaf, so be on the lookout for that if that’s something you do/don’t like.
To search for books outside of the UP Bookstore, I generally just search for the ISBN number. Plenty of options can come up depending on the book, and if you’re willing to check out the different book sources, you can find some great deals. Of course it might be different for everyone, but I’ve found that doing a bit of sleuthing might uncover cheaper textbook options than what’s immediately apparent. Just be sure to get the correct book!
Even getting some books on Amazon, or off other websites, and some from UP has saved some money. You can also try to see if renting isn’t that much cheaper than buying a used textbook, buying the book, then trying to sell it later on. Again these are just things that have worked in the past, but might not be the same for everyone.
Another great way to find textbooks, is through other students. Oftentimes students will sell textbooks they’ve used for fair prices. This generally happens on Facebook in UP Facebook groups. Again for this you want to make sure that the professor is still using that book, and it hasn’t changed between semesters. You can do this by double checking the ISBN number and edition on the UP Bookstore website.
Another great tip, is to try and sell your books that you bought at the end of the semester. You can try selling them back to the UP bookstore, to Amazon, other students, and possibly other sources. This is, of course, just my experience, and what worked for me might work differently for others.
If you have any other textbook tips, feel free to email us at cas@up.edu!