Buying your BOOK$

On the first day of class you are provided a syllabus, detailing each aspect of the course you have enrolled in. One such section is the course reading list. You are handed the syllabus and you immediately look at how many books, and articles you will have to read.

Sometimes there is just one, very large book. Other times, and most frequently, there are more than five distinct titles you will need to purchase from the book store...or so you think.

When I started at my junior college I bought every single book that was listed on the syllabus for each class. Needless to say this was very costly! Each semester I would head down to the monopolistic book store at my community college and pay an arm and a leg for a few books. One book (a math book) cost over three hundred dollars!

This is what I am suggesting you should do at the beginning of each semester. Look at the the reading list, see what books are "required." Then go through the schedule for the class and see where the readings come from each week. You will be surprised to find that some books that were listed as required, are not even used for the course! I can recall on more than one occasion that I would buy a book, and the professor would never ask us to read from it. Then I would sell it back to the book store for pennies!

Don't fall victim to the expensive book trap. Pay attention to what the syllabus outlines in terms of reading schedules. Be upfront with your professor. Ask her if you really need to purchase every single book, or if she can suggest books you need to get immediately.

At the beginning of each semester, this is what you need to do:

1. Find the course syllabus online for each you have enrolled in.
2. Do not buy books for any courses you are considering dropping later in the semester.
3. If there is a course you KNOW you must take, buy the books online through Amazon, or some other book purchasing site.
4. Contact students who have taken the course previously and see if they still have their books.
5. Seek out a book exchange program on campus or online.
6. Ask the professor if she has left a copy of the book on reserve in the library (no one ever utilizes this option and this could save you 300+ dollars each semester).

The unfortunate thing is that bookstores on campus are becoming a monstrosity for students already grappling with insane tuition hikes. The bottom line is that book stores are a rip-off. Even if they claim they "give back" to the campus on which they are located. Next time you are in your campus bookstore, ask how much they are really giving back. The percentage may shock you...

Apply for all scholarships!

Scholarships, and Grants are essentially free money for you to use towards school expenses. Some scholarships and grants come with restrictions for what the money can be used towards. For instance, if you win a $20,000 scholarship you have to (in most cases) use that money towards your school expenses and not buy a new car.

The main point of this post is to urge everyone to apply for any and all scholarships that you may be eligible for. Most college students think it is a waste of time to apply for grants and scholarships. Here are some of the reasons they come up with:

"I won't win...everyone will apply and they are only selecting one person."

"I don't think I am eligible...I could check, but that is too much work."

"If I apply I will be competing against the best of the best...how will I stand a chance?"

"What's the point? I am sure someone will be favored and they won't even read my application."

I too thought like this, and talked my way out of tens of thousands of dollars each semester. I finally went to the scholarship office at my community college and spoke with a counselor there. She shattered all of my pessimistic thoughts about applying for scholarships. This is what I learned from her.

1. Most people don't apply for scholarships. Why? Because of the pessimistic reasons listed above (I won't win, etc...).

2. All scholarships are awarded completely unbiasedly. The donors have rules for fair and equal disbursement of funds that the schools must follow.

3. Each application for a scholarship must be read by the awarding committee. This rule is also enforced by the donor.

4. In most cases, scholarships will have more than one winner. A donor may donate $20,000 for a scholarship fund and the committee may be able to award 4 winners @ $5,000 a scholarship, or even 20 winners @ $1,000 a scholarship. Never assume there can only be one winner.

The lady at the scholarship office also told me that in many cases, no one applies for a given scholarship and they have to save it for the next year hoping someone will take the free money from them. She also told me that many times one person will apply for a particular scholarship and win by default because no one else applied.

Go visit your scholarship office right now. You will be amazed by the amount of resources they have waiting for you to utilize. Even if you don't win a scholarship, just look at it as practice for the next application. You will surely win one if you keep practicing, and apply as much as possible.

After speaking with the scholarship counselor, I applied for and won many scholarships. Yes, there can be a lot of paperwork to fill out, essays to write, and interviews to be conducted, but at the end of the day the minimal work you have to put in to win a scholarship will pay off (literally).