Welcome to Textbookless! This blog will detail what happens when you refuse to buy textbooks for your college classes. It is a personal experiment that I'm preforming on myself.
Last week was my first week of classes for the Spring Quarter at RIT. The classes I will be taking are as follows:
- E-Journalism II
- News Editing
- Copywriting and Visualization
- The Congress
The required text books and cost for the classes, based on the Barnes and Noble website provided by RIT are:
- E-Journalism II
- Journalism Next
Rental $12.25
Used if available $18.75
New $25.00
- News Editing
- Think like an Editor
Rental
Used if available $27.00
New $36.00
- Copywriting and Visualization
- Advertising: Concept + Copy
Rental - No option
Used if available $45.00
New $60.00
- Strategic Writing
Rental $45.85
Used if available $70.20
New $93.60
eTextbook $56.00
Rental eTextbook $42.65
- The Congress
- Unorthodox Lawmaking
Rental $21.55
Used if available $33.00
New $44.00
- Congress Reconsidered
Rental $29.40
Used if available $45.00
New $60.00
So ... this is what I'm working with. I further came up with some totals. If I was able to purchase each book at the cheapest price, I would be spending $171.70. If by some grace of God I was able to purchase all of the books new, I would be spending $318.60. Yikes.
I know there are probably cheaper options available via more research, I will dive into that in a later post.
Let's pretend I rented all of my textbooks. $171.70 is exactly $8.05 less than one of my monthly car payments. I consider my car payment to be the biggest expense I currently have, so imagining it almost doubled one month, three times a year (for RIT's three quarters) is overwhelming. I would have to do some serious financial planning.
The way I look at it ... by refusing to buy textbooks this quarter, I am at least able to afford my car for another month. Dramatic? Maybe. Nonetheless, it's true.
On the first day of The Congress, my professor spoke the dreaded words I was hoping I wouldn't be hearing in any of my classes. As we were going over the syllabus, he explained that there would be weekly quizzes on strictly the reading. Lovely. His exact words were that the quizzes will insult your intelligence if you read and mock you if you don't.
I had a slight panic attack and a moment of reconsidering. Somehow I then rose about the anxiety. I am not buying the stupid textbook for The Congress and if I fail the class because of it, then I will have learned my lesson.
I feel SO rebellious. This is exciting for a self-proclaimed "goody two-shoes."
My Copywriting and Visualization professor then also mentioned that most of his quizzes will be based on the reading. Double yay!
So this afternoon, my plan is to search the internet for the "required" reading for The Congress. Hopefully it'll either be available online for free (although unlikely, that'd be amazing) or I can search certain sections of the book to get the basic idea of the information I should be grasping.
If not ... I'll be off to the library. I'll be sure to include what the questions on this week's Congress quiz are like - wish me luck!
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