You really want to know the best way to save money on textbooks? The answer isn’t buying them used, or buying them on Amazon or eBay, or trading your buddy a package of Ramen noodles for the Chem. text from the course he failed last semester. The best way to save money on textbooks is not buying them at all.
OK, I might be exaggerating a little bit. You can buy *some* of your books. But wait a while. I learned this lesson really fast during my first semester at community college. I spent three hundred bucks on books only to end up using one of them. Those were some expensive paper weights. That was the last time I bought my textbooks before the semester began.
But won’t my professor be mad?
No, they won’t. They don’t expect you to have your text the first day. Most don’t even expect you to have it the first week. Hell, some won’t even use the textbook at all. I’ll talk about that in more detail in a minute.
But if I wait until later, all the used books are gone!!
Ah, the glorious “used book.” It’s amazing how colleges can turn a bunch of wrinkled, torn up paper into something so desirable, isn’t it? Let me tell you something about used textbooks. Unless you’re one of the lucky few who attends a school that rents out their textbooks, don’t pay for used books from your college. Buy them online. (Note: You can also do what I did and become one of the “lucky few.” I transferred to Southeast Missouri State this fall 
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College bookstores are businesses.
A good rule of thumb is this: if you’re buying it from a college bookstore, you’re getting ripped off. It’s sad but true. That’s why a backpack from your university bookstore costs $40, while the exact some one at Wal-Mart costs $20. Most colleges run their bookstores as businesses to make a profit. This means they’re charging you more than they paid for that item. In fact, probably a lot more. Some colleges make literally millions of dollars a year from their bookstores. For many state colleges, and especially junior colleges, the bookstore is an integral source of income for the school. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, except when a college or university tries to hide it.
OMG used books!!!1
Your college encourages you to buy used books because they know the used books run out first. You and I know this too, so that’s why we rush in the first chance we get, usually about 5 minutes after we pick our classes, to get a hold of one of the precious used textbooks (cue heavenly singing.) Here’s my advice if you’ve bought used textbooks from your college bookstore: Don’t get on the computer and see how much you would have saved online, because you might want to throw that precious textbook out the window.
Your college bookstore isn’t evil. It’s just a business like any other. They’re in it for the money, and as a consumer you have to make educated choices for your purchases. One common excuse the bookstores use is that the high prices are the fault of the textbook manufacturers who charge them an arm and a leg for new books, and they’re just passing the buck to us. This is true, which leads me to my next point:
Don’t EVER Ever Ever ever ever ever buy new textbooks!
Ever. Unless it’s a brand new edition that you can’t find used. If this is the case, you should consider buying the previous edition used. You might be surprised how little difference there is between different editions of the same textbook. Usually they’ll just switch the order of the pages and chapters and slap a different cover on it. The content is the same.
And now we’re rounding third and coming home, bringing me back to my first point.
Don’t buy them at all.
Next semester, just show up to each class for a few days before you decide whether you need the text or not. Ask the professor whether you’re *really* going to use it. Most professors will be honest (although your college probably frowns upon their professors telling you anything besides: “yes! most definitely buy the book from the bookstore! In fact, buy two!!”) and honestly tell you whether they think you will need it or not. Find other kids who have taken the same course with the same professor and ask whether they used it.
It’s never too late to buy books off the internet. Even if you’re halfway through the semester and you realize you’re in over your head, get on Amazon and see who has your text. Many, if not most, used bookstores list their inventory on Amazon. You should try to save money, but don’t get a crappy grade in a class because you’re too cheap to buy the book. If you’re willing to pay a few extra bucks, you can have it shipped overnight and get it the next day. Just in time to cram for that final.
Some of it comes down to how hard you’re willing to work. One semester I got an A in my psychology class without ever buying the text, and the teacher even told us we HAD to have it to get an A in her class. But I showed up to class every day, took notes like a mad man, studied the heck out of my notes, and managed to pull off an A- in the class. Having to work a little harder was worth the $60 I saved.
So just take a deep breath and chill out. Bring a folder, notebook, and pen with you on your first day. That’s all you’ll need. You don’t need to be carrying all those books around anyway. It’s bad for your back. 
Quizzing yourself is really a great study tool. But when you’re cramming, there’s not a whole lot of time to write up your own flash cards is there?
I suggest you use what I call “continuous self testing” to memorize stuff the first time around. Immediately after you read a key piece of information; say a definition or description of a theory, immediately quiz yourself on it by making up a question for that piece of information.
For example, you’re trying to remember this piece of information:
“Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development is called “Trust vs Mistrust.”
Wrong way
You: “K. Gotta remember this! Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust.”
When this question pops up on your exam, you’ll have a hard time remembering it because you didn’t create a link to it in your brain. That sentence is still floating around in your mind somewhere, but without anyway to find it, you’re in trouble.
Right way
You: “Ok, now what was Erikson’s first stage called? Hmm…I just read it a second ago…I remember…Trust vs Mistrust!”
That’s it. It might sound silly until you actually do it, and realize how hard it is to really commit something to memory. Even doing this right after you’ve read something will create a much stronger memory that’s way easier to recall.
And this really makes sense when you think about it. You’re practicing for exactly what you’ll be doing a couple hours later for your test. Would you practice for a baseball game by repeating some mantra over and over again? “I will swing the bat and hit the ball. I will swing the bat and hit the ball…” No, you would practice by actually playing baseball.
Cramming isn’t such a bad thing; if you do it right. Of course the best option is the traditional one: study frequently, read the chapters of your textbook every week like you’re supposed to, and take copious amounts of notes. But comon, we’re in college right? Who has time for studying that often when there’s beer pong to be played?
This post contains a guide on how to ace your exams with just a few hours of study time. Assuming you’re a halfway decent student, you can use the tips I list below to help you out when you’re in a jam with limited time to study. Note: Cramming does require some ass-busting! I don’t cheat. Anyhow, my methods will get you a better grade than any cheat method could.
Damage Control
When you’re short on time, you can’t afford to read every word of every chapter in your textbook. You had weeks to thoroughly memorize all the material and you didn’t do it. Don’t waste time trying to do this now.
You’re in damage control mode. You must learn how to pick out the important bits of information and remember them the first time, because there won’t be a second time.
Be focused, organized, and efficient.
Sit down with your book, notes, etc, and tell yourself you’re going to study for X amount of hours. Turn off the TV, turn off the music, and close your door. No distractions.
A little bit of coffee helps me to stay clear minded during my cram sessions, but don’t blast yourself into oblivion on caffeine or other stimulants. This is college, not Requiem for a Dream.
Study using a top-down, non-linear approach.
As opposed to a bottom-up approach, top-down means you want to start with the most general concepts first and then work your way down to the more specific stuff. Then you can go back through again, if you have time, and cover the rest.
When you have a solid grasp of the general concepts, it makes it easier to figure out answers without explicitly memorizing the info, and you’re better able to bluff on the questions you don’t know.
Learn the art of BS
Testing is a lot like poker. You have to bluff your way to an A. The truth is, when you’re being tested, you just have toappear to know the material. This is why the top-down approach will get you a better grade, especially on short answer and essay exams. Specific facts or statistics may appear once or twice on your exam, but general over-arching key points could be applicable to many questions.
Plus, most instructors want you to do well on their exams. No instructor wants to have to explain why half their students fail their class every semester. If you at least appear to know what you’re talking about, you’re giving your instructor a reason to give you points.
Did you know every year, there is a disaster that hits college students twice a year in May and December? Without warning it sweeps in, disrupting lives of thousands of people. Some people don’t make it, and the people who do survive would rather forget the whole experience and look to the future.
Sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about tsunamis or hurricanes.
I’m talking about finals!
Do you think of finals like this? If so, it might be a good idea to face the pain and look back to see what you could have done better. What you might discover is that if you had done a few things differently earlier in the semester, the apocalypse called “Final’s Week” would have been a cake walk!
To do really well on your finals, you really have to start preparing on the first day of class. That way, instead of cramming for your finals next semester, you’ll only have to do a nice little review the night before. Sounds pretty sweet huh?
If you want to ace your finals, spend less time cramming for them, and have zero fear come final exam time, read these 6 tips and apply them to your studies next semester.
1) You didn’t really forget it all.
One thing most students don’t understand about memory is that it’s not like a textbook. You can’t go to the table of contents, look up the location of the memory, and turn to the right page.
It is also not like a chalkboard. You don’t erase memories to make room for new ones. They’re all still there!
So don’t sweat it if you feel like you have “forgotten everything.” Chances are the knowledge is still there in your brain somewhere. You just have to do some reviewing to refresh it.
2) Learn it the first time.
If you start reviewing and you still don’t feel things clicking, it is because you didn’t learn it right the first time, not because you forgot it.
If you were getting Cs and Ds on your exams leading up to test time, you probably were not doing a very great job learning the stuff during the semester, were ya?
3) Do well on tests.
Your tests will give you the best “sneak preview” you can get for your finals. So do your best on them. And hold onto those suckers! They’ll prove very valuable come finals time.
When I get my graded exams back, I always do two things:
1. Go back and look up answers for questions I got wrong.
2. Hold on to them!
Old tests are the best thing you can use to study for your finals. Better than your notes, better than your instructor’s Power Points, and better than your textbook.
4) Be consistent.
Some people, (like myself) do just fine without taking notes in class. Other people would rather not read the textbook. That’s fine, but do not change your habits half way through the semester unless you really believe you must.
If you keep switching things up every week, you will never find a good “groove” that works for you, and you will still be confused as hell during finals week.
Having good study skills requires that you know how to study. If you don’t know how to study for your course by finals time, you did something wrong.
5) Stay organized
Keep separate folders and notebooks for each class and keep all your old tests and notes in these folders. That way, the night before the final, you won’t be scrambling to find materials to study from.
6) Make friends in each class.
I have always been the type to do things on my own and this tip I learned fairly recently.
Making a few connections in each class will pay off down the road. Especially when you start taking courses for your major. You will inevitably find a few of the same people in each of your classes. Make them your allies! There are a lot of ways you can help each other out.
Sometimes in one class you will find someone who had already taken a class that you are currently in. Most people are more than willing to give you advice on how to do great in a class and if you’re really nice, they might even give you their old materials (notes, study guides, and even old tests!)
So here’s a recap of the 6 steps to preparing for your finals next semester:
1) Realize that you can’t forget everything you learned
2) Learn it right the first time.
3) Do well on your exams and hold on to them.
4) Be consistent.
5) Stay organized.
6) Make friends in each class.
I’ve had professors who gave very organized lectures every day. I diligently took notes over every lecture, only to find on that fateful test day that nothing they talked about was on the test! If you’ve had this happen, you know how frustrating it can be. After getting burned a couple of times, I learned there was a difference between memorizing a lecture and acing a test.
Your first test of the semester should always be the one you study the most for; i.e. the right way. After that initial test, you should be able to pin down where the teacher gets their questions from and the type of info you will be expected to know.
I’ve found this skill to be infinitely useful. It allows me to study more efficiently, and dramatically cuts down the amount of time I spend studying for each test. I’m not 100% accurate, but after the first text I can usually figure out what I’ll need to know and what I’d be wasting my time trying to memorize.
A couple different styles of test writing I’ve identified:
- Test bank style: In this style, the professor uses the test bank of multiple choice and matching questions that the textbook manufacturer provided. Most kids are thrilled about multiple choice questions, but the truth is, multiple choice questions can suck much worse than short answer or essay questions. The test bank questions can be frustrating because they’re usually poorly written with inaccuracies and typos.
On the other hand, these tests can be the easiest to study for, because the questions will usually be word for word out of your book. Scanning the book, especially the bold face words and definitions, is the main objective here.
Always check out the website for your text. Many textbooks now have practice quizzes online to help you study. Don’t be surprised if they seem very similar to the questions on your exams!
- Straight outta the book style: The instructor writes the questions, but still bases them on material straight from the book. These questions are usually easier to understand than the test bank bank style, because the instructor can tailor them to the specific wording and examples they used in lecture. And they’re still based on your text, so you can brush up in case you, uh, you know, missed a few days or didn’t take notes. 
- Straight from the Power Point style: Who doesn’t use Power Point these days? In this style, the teacher writes the test themselves (this is a good thing), and bases all the questions off their Power Point. Many of my professors provide their Power Points online now, so you can use them later.
This type of test can vary in difficulty depending on the teacher. But it doesn’t matter, because having the Power Point, you’ll know all the material anyway.
- Straight from the lecture style. This one sucks, but I haven’t had too many professors who didn’t also provide an outline along with their lectures.
The solution here is to show up and take notes. You should be doing that anyway; at least until you take the first exam. In your higher level classes, you’ll have more competent instructors. (at least they think they’re more competent ) And they’ll be more likely to subject you to their boring lectures every day. But keep this in mind: most instructors will still base their teaching off the textbook, because it’s easy. It gives them a structured teaching outline to follow for the semester.
