Going to college these days seems more of a privilege than a right due to the cost of tuition fees. Those who have parents that can afford to send them to college will take quite a chunk out of their retirement savings. Then there are working students who are literally working themselves through school and taking out monstrous student loans. So once they are in, what about the cost of college textbooks? Even introductory courses have expensive books these days and as they are a requirement to pass, students are having a hard time getting them. However, did you know that there are ways around this that you could get free college books? Here are the top things you can do to have them.
10. The Library
Most of the time, colleges have textbooks in their libraries that the students need for particular classes. If you want to get books for free, you have to do this at the start of your term. Simply put, have a list of all the books that you need for your classes and check if the library owns those books. If it does, then you can check them out for a few weeks. Once your time is up and you have to return them, simply renew borrowing the books. This is possible if no other students have requested for them.
9. Open-source Books
In this digital age many have turned to e-books for reference material. Nowadays, you can get your college textbooks for certain classes online through open-source sites that give them away for free. For instance, OpenStax is a non-profit organization that has dedicated itself into developing 25 college textbooks so far and offers them at no cost in order to promote quality education for students. Make sure you take advantage of this especially with introductory courses.
8. Your Professor
Professors in college are most likely to have extra copies of text books with them just because. Some students may not know this but you can actually ask your professor if he can lend you a copy.
7. Textbook Swapping
Available on the Internet, students can now find textbooks by swapping certain items for them that those who own the books are looking for. While this is a great idea, it also comes with a downside. Sometimes, the transactions can be fraudulent so you need to be careful with who you deal with.
6. The Magic of the Internet
Besides open-source textbooks, you can actually find e-books online that are not copyrighted. For instance, you can read history as well as literary works on the Internet in various sources. You can use your laptop, desktop computer and even your smart phone to read books. However, most of them cannot be downloaded or marked for notes. That is the downside.
5. Borrowing from Classmates
Hey, no one likes the idea of looking like a complete moocher but hard times call for desperate measures. It has been done before but this method is highly not recommended since you are basically gambling with your education. However, in the chance that some of your classmates are generous enough to lend their books to you, then you may have hit the jackpot.
4. Downloading
Another method to get free college books is to do it in the frowned-upon method. You can download copyrighted e-books from the Internet through torrents. Although this can be bad for you if you get caught, this is one of the best ways to get free books without having to spend money.
3. The Bookstore
Some big bookstores nowadays let you read the books in the store for as long you want to. Call it clever marketing but this can also serve you a great purpose when you have a reading assignment. Or, you can buy a book and use it for a while then return it for a full refund.
2. Trading
Unlike borrowing, with this method you actually have something to offer. You may have some books that your peers need and you can use this as leverage to get something that you need as well.
1. The Google Scholar
This is actually a site that contains thousands of free publications, books and magazines that are used for college classes. Before you spend that money for something your professor tells you to buy, check it here first and maybe you can obtain a free copy!
These are the top and most awesome ways you can get free college books without having to sweat about it. Now you can focus more on learning rather than how you can pay for that book you just recently bought for a hundred Dollars.
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