College Textbook Rentals (Con)

This article is part of a counterpoint series between Keith Kaplan of BookRenter.com and Matt Gagnon of the BetterGrads social media team. This is Matt’s response to Keith’s article about the benefits of renting college textbooks. Everyone knows college textbooks are expensive. During my four years in college, I spent hundreds of dollars per quarter. That really adds up with three quarters per year for four whole years. There are a variety of alternatives to buying books from your school’s campus bookstore, and renting books is generally very affordable. But… before you rent all of your textbooks, here are some things to consider:

College Textbook Rentals (Pro)

This article is part of a counterpoint series between Keith Kaplan of BookRenter.com and Matt Gagnon of the BetterGrads social media team. Check back for Matt’s response to Keith’s support for renting college textbooks! When it comes time to buy textbooks for your class, we all know it can empty your wallet. Every year when I start classes it always seems like I’m throwing a few hundred dollars in one click of a button. I’ve always thought: Why buy a textbook for $200+ when you’re probably going to return it at the end of the semester for less than half the price? Most times, bookstores and online stores won’t buy back a book because it’s an outdated edition. How do we stop this phenomenon? Well, you may have heard of textbook rentals. Within the past few years, textbook rentals have sky rocketed. Instead of buying your textbooks, you rent and [...]

College Textbook Mythbusters

With your final college preparations looming as spring moves into summer, a painful cost is about to enter your reality: college textbooks. I started SlugBooks.com because I wanted to make it easier for college students to save money on their textbooks; there are a lot of misconceptions at the beginning of college about the cost of textbooks and the cheapest places to get them. Here’s a list of common textbook-buying myths and our rebuttals to help give you a better understanding of the process and how to maximize your savings! MYTH: “If you have financial aid, you always need to buy books from the campus bookstore!” Wrong! Just because you received a loan doesn’t mean you have to overpay for textbooks. Many forms of financial aid allow you to get reimbursed if you provide proof of payment (like a receipt from Amazon). If your book is $100 at the bookstore [...]

Academic Support

When struggling with a subject in high school, you might have looked for a local tutor to help clear up the confusion. And it was safe to say that the tutor was either a local college student, or recent college graduate. So, what happens in college when you are struggling with your coursework? Who tutors the college kids? Who offers to the opportunity to proofread your 20-page research paper a few days before you need to turn it in? Who offers the opportunity to take un-timed exams if you have a documented learning disorder? All of these things happen when you take advantage of your college’s Center for Academic Excellence / Writing Center. These places are usually located somewhere within the caverns of your school’s library (which should become one of your top-5 places you could be found, during any given day, while in college), and should be put to [...]