Arts materials expenses...

somethingwitty

Hey guys Im trying to figure out my money situation at the moment and I can't seem to find much information about the cost of materials. I'll be starting Arts. Some have told me that books will cost a LOT of money and some have told me that nearly everything I will need is in the library Whats the story?!

Michellenman

Books are quite expensive but you can most second hand. There'll be fliers up everywhere in September from people who are selling.

Depending on what subjects your doing you could get away without the books. I'm not recommending this but it's possible.

Also, for English there's no need to buy the novels or anything, just get the books from the library (nuim one or your local one).

Other subjects you really need the books. Esp for subjects like Chemistry+ Geography I've found.

Ostrom

I would advise you not to buy any. I gave up buying everything default in second year. There are very few modules where you cannot access the book, or another of similar content easily in the library. What you need to do is make copies of relevant chapters early on, as most will leave this until the last two weeks before the end of term.

If you copy each recommended chapter week by week, and gather some extra pieces from your reading lists, you should not have to buy many books. Obviously there will be a few more specific/technical subjects where a comprehensive textbook will be needed, but those tend to be in the minority.

Also be wary of lecturers putting their own edited editions down as recommended reading.

funky penguin

efla wrote: »

Also be wary of lecturers putting their own edited editions down as recommended reading.

This always annoys me.

It depends on the subject really. I did Philosophy in 1st year and didn't buy anything. With music, I bought an Anthology that got me through History in first year, but I've used a lot since, in other modules.

But, if your worried about costs, all the recommended reading SHOULD be in the library.

What subjects are you thinking about? When we know this, people should be able to give you specific answers.

Ostrom

funky penguin wrote: »

But, if your worried about costs, all the recommended reading SHOULD be in the library.

Also, dont be afraid to raise the issue - so many dont bother. It is the responsibility of the lecturer to make sure all reading material is available. There are resources in place for both departments, and the library to buy in more books, to move previously non-essential texts to day loan, to put some items on reserve. Check out the key texts, and if there aren't many in the library, email your lecturer and insist they place one on reserve, or order sufficient copies to enable a number of existing texts to be placed on day loan. All within reason of course

somethingwitty

Hey everyone thanks for the answers theyre all really helpful. My subjects are English, Sociology and Anthropology. I have a big book on Sociology by Giddens already so I should be able to use this:)

Ostrom

somethingwitty wrote: »

Hey everyone thanks for the answers theyre all really helpful. My subjects are English, Sociology and Anthropology. I have a big book on Sociology by Giddens already so I should be able to use this:)

Dont buy anything for sociology, you wont need to

funky penguin

somethingwitty wrote: »

Hey everyone thanks for the answers theyre all really helpful. My subjects are English, Sociology and Anthropology. I have a big book on Sociology by Giddens already so I should be able to use this:)

Everyone I knew doing Anthropology never bought a book and they did very well.

meganj

IF your doing English its kinda difficult to asses, some of the novels and stuff you won't need to buy, I preferred to wait until the essay titles were put up and then pick the books I wanted to buy, I'd only by one or two novels for each modules and as most people have said most of the novels will be available 2nd hand, or from the library's. But for course books, ones that deal with theory and stuff like that I would get them. Bare in mind that there's only a few copies of hte books in hte college library which are usually fairly easy to get your hands on but with over 300 people in English in first year you'd be better covering yourself with second hand books.

The lecturers will tell you that you need to buy all the books and that you'll need to be reading six or seven books a week. This is nonsense and impossible. Get the ones that interest you and try and get a copy of the main theory books.

allandanyways

+1 on what meganj said about English... it can be difficult to get your hands on a copy of a certain book, especially just after essay titles are released. Don't bother buying every book that's on the list, but do try and read as many as possible, and then focus on the ones that apply to the essay you're gonna do etc etc. Theory books are recommended, I've used my theory book from 1st year to help me write loads of essays and I wouldn't sell it now, it's got too many notes and stuff in it accumulated over time. Then again, people buy the books and never use them, so if you look around early, you can get books pretty much in pristine condition.

For languages, well, for Spanish (and German I think), you definatley need the core book(s). Most of what you do comes from the books, but you don't really need to buy the grammar books, there's loads of them in the library.

Harpie

Just finished my degree in English and Geography, and can honestly say that I didn't buy or read one whole book over the 3 years
I learned very quickly to get by with moodle notes, alternate journal articles, sparknotes etc and reading excerpts of the texts for essays and exams. Not for everyone, but it can be done and proves that buying inordinate amounts of books is unecessary.

My 2c anywho