Fun with textbooks

Finals went OK. Not great, but OK. I'm pretty sure I got a B on all of them. I did end up with A's in all three of my classes though, which is great. I'm much more comfortable with what I learned in math this time. I'm glad that I retook this class.

I registered for MTH112 (Elementary Functions), HUM100 (Intro. to Humanities), and EC203 (Economic Applications). I'm pretty sure the economics class will be canceled. There are only 5 people registered for it and there is no longer an instructor listed for this course. This was the only class I was really looking forward to this term. A few days ago while thinking I should have another class lined up if this one didn't happen, I put myself on the wait list for HST218 (Native American Indian History). But just now (!!!) I decided to go ahead and take WR122 (second of two college level English requirements) instead of maybe (or not) getting into a class on the wait list. I found another highly rated teacher and decided to just do it and get it over with. I wasn't all that thrilled about another writing class. It takes me a long time to write anything. For example: I'll probably make multiple edits and rewrites for the next day or so on this post and this sentence is the first of those. I thought briefly about taking a statistics course instead of writing. That thought made me feel icky. Two math classes at the same time? No, no, and no. Bad. No.

I already bought the text for the about to be canceled class. With shipping it was about $44, brand new. This is extremely cheap for a college textbook. The reason it is so cheap is that it is an "international version". What does that mean? First, the cover is different. Second, it's not widely sold in the US. Third, it costs less ($121 new US version at the college bookstore). And that's it. The rest is the same. I have a lot to say about companies that do things like this. And very little of it is complimentary. Most colleges get newer versions of textbooks every 2 years or so.

Used copies go fast, if they are even available. There is a thriving used textbook market online. I'm hoping to resell this one, but I don't think it's a very common one. I also bought an international version if the humanities text. It's $146 new at the bookstore and mine was $70, never used.  I'll check the student lounge used book sale for the writing text that I now need. Hopefully they made the change last term and there will be used ones available. They are cheaper here than used at the bookstore. And more money goes back to the students too. I used this last term and sold one of my textbooks. I got $50 for it versus selling it to the bookstore's vendor for maybe $15-20. Sometimes you get stuck with a book that no one wants. I still have a couple of those.