Student needs advice

[dnordstrom]

Hi!

I am moving to Los Angeles in about 4 weeks to study business in Santa Monica. I will be living in Marina Del Rey.

But the thing is, I need to buy a MacBook for my studies and that means I will only have $250-$300 a month left for books, food and other stuff.

Tuition and housing will already be payed, but the problem is how to afford food and books the first semester. But on the other hand, I have no idea of how much food costs in LA or the US.

Do you have any advise for me? How can I survive this, because a one-way ticked has already been paid?

[Broken Arrow]

Re: Student needs advice

Are you sure you NEED a Macbook? Or do you just really, really desire one?

See, I can understand their sex appeal. Really. I use a PowerBook G4 myself everyday. Their sex appeal is undeniable!

And yet, I am also fairly certain that you don't NEED one. Depending on your study habits, you'll find that the old fasioned notebook and pencil is still often times the best tool for the job. Some people rely on a voice recorder instead.

And yet, some will still prefer a laptop. Even if that's the case, there are certainly much more affordable laptops than a Macbook. For example, what do you really, really need in a lecture? Take down notes right? Well, if you're a fluent typist, then a refurbished laptop on clearance running Windows 98 (re-installed with Ubuntu Linux for the win!) and a simple text editing software is more than adequate for the job. If you really want to go super portable, you might even get away with a PDA linked with a folding keyboard! I know, because that's how *I* used to take notes in class.

And what about Tablet PCs? Even if you can find one you actually like... don't you think it's just like going back to the notebook and pencil again? Only it costs $2000 instead of $2....

But yes, the MacBook most certainly is sexy. However, that's... really about it. I know you probably won't like my advice, but you will save yourself THOUSANDS if you just pass it up, and go for a nice automatic pencil and a sturdy notebook. Trust me on this. That high-priced mistress will lose her sex appeal in no time flat, and when it's over, all she'll leave you is a high student loan to repay. Take it from me... a guy who has been there, done that... and is now paying dearly in student loans.

(However, if you still can't manage to resist its siren call, at least take advantage of Apple's educational discount. It would be a crime not to.)

[autoxer]

Re: Student needs advice

Get to the campus bookstore as early as possible to buy the used ones. Once the used ones are gone, you will have to pay full price and they are expensive.

Do you have time for a part time job? I graded papers in college for extra money.

[disneysteve]

Re: Student needs advice

I also advise getting used books. Contact as many of your professors as you can in advance and confirm what text is being used. Then search online to find used copies.

As for the Macbook, is that the laptop the school is requiring? Broken Arrow, many schools now require students to have a laptop and some specify which one it should be so that they can be sure everybody will be compatible. On the other hand, some just give specs to meet and you can use any laptop that matches those specs.

[dnordstrom]

Re: Student needs advice

The school does not require a computer, but I can't image how it would be to study without a laptop, and I also need it since I work online alot (not making much money though). $1200 for a computer, is that expensive? I tell you, it's pretty cheap here in Sweden. :P
I suppose I could buy a used iBook or something but, for the time being, we say that I'll buy the MacBook.

Oh, and I need it to contact my friends and family here in Sweden too. Very important.

They currently have a mail in rebate where students get a free iPod 2GB when buying a MacBook. Should I use this oppurtunity to sell the iPod? Because I already have one.

I'm going to read that Grocery Guide now, and buying used books sounds like a very good idea. Keep the advice coming.

[disneysteve]

Re: Student needs advice

The school does not require a computer, but I can't image how it would be to study without a laptop, and I also need it since I work online alot (not making much money though). $1200 for a computer, is that expensive?

If the school doesn't require a laptop, then you certainly don't need a $1,200 Mac. I'm a Mac fan myself, though our most recent puchase was a Toshiba Satellite laptop. Here in the US, you can get a decent laptop for way under $1,000, which would free up several hundred dollars for you to use elsewhere. I think that would be the sensible way to go. You'd still be able to access the Internet, send e-mail, type reports, etc.

[34saving]

Re: Student needs advice

This is actually an article I wrote for Jeffrey about saving money on books. I can't for the life of me remember where it is on the internet, so here it is: (Maybe Jeffrey will add the link )

Saving money AT college 103
. . .never buy a book at the bookstore

It's usually the first thing on every syllabus: The books. You look at the list and think "man, there's a lot of reading in the class". It isn't until later in the bookstore you realize that reading list is going to cost you upwards of $300 and that's just for biology 101 and you still have 3 more classes. Hopefully after reading this you'll never have to buy a book at the bookstore again.
Saving secret #1. The library. Your school probably has a pretty big one and it's probably linked to a bunch of other schools that have big ones too. Even county libraries will often have textbooks, especially classics for your literature classes. The key to this one is getting there early. You're probably not the only one with this idea.
Saving secret #2. Your classmates. Do you really need all of your books 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? If not, consider sharing your books with a trusted classmate and splitting the cost. Also check to see if you know anybody (or know anybody who knows anybody) who took the class before. You might be able to buy their books cheap or, even better, rent or borrow them.
Saving secret #3. The internet. Half.com and Amazon.com are two of the biggies for used books, but you might also want to check out eBay.com and craigslist.org. If you go to the bookstore (or Amazon) and get the ISBNs for your books, go to isbn.nu and it will do lots of the comparison shopping for you. Don't forget to factor in shipping in your purchase decisions.
Saving secret #4. The internet part II. Amazon.com and books.Google.com both have "look inside" features that can be very useful if you really only need a few pages here and there. These features can also be very helpful if you're trying to figure out how an older edition relates to a newer one, which leads to . . .
Saving secret #5. Your professor. Sometimes it pays to ask if it would be okay to use an older edition. (Older editions are DIRT cheap because people generally aren't using them anymore.) Many times professors are very open to this since they taught from the older edition last semester and the only reason they're using the new edition is because the bookstore told them they have to. Even if you don't ask your professor, there are many circumstances where using an older edition is fine, just make sure you can borrow the new one occasionally to make sure the material matches up. (Companies love to change the order of things so it looks like they made all sorts of important changes – even though they didn't.)
Saving secret #6. Yourself. Ask yourself "Am I REALLY going to read this book again?" If you're honest with yourself, 99% of the time the answer will be "no". If the answer is "no", sell your book as soon as you're done with it. It will never be worth more than it is right then.
You can save a lot a money this way. Just as an example, I completed my entire Master's degree without buying a single book. . . .but don't tell anybody, it's a secret!

[disneysteve]

Re: Student needs advice

Saving secret #6. Yourself. Ask yourself "Am I REALLY going to read this book again?" If you're honest with yourself, 99% of the time the answer will be "no". If the answer is "no", sell your book as soon as you're done with it. It will never be worth more than it is right then.

This is so true. I wish I had followed this advice. I was a Bio major, pre-med. I saved all of my college texts figuring I'd need them as references in med school. Wrong. I never looked at them (except for one book that was also the course text in med school). By the time I admitted that I no longer needed them, they were worthless as new editions had come out. They went to Goodwill or into the trash, and only after I had moved 2 or 3 times and hauled them with me each time.

[sakigt]

Re: Student needs advice

If you really want a Macbook, plan on sacrificing for it. That means Ramen noodles and buying textbooks later (when you can find deals).

Personally Im not willing to sacrifice for a labtop. I bought a nicely packaged Dell notebook with upgraded nearly everything, a wireless mouse, printer, and extra ink for under a grand using deals found on the Hot Deals section of this website www.slickdeals.net

Ive found its not worth to throw down on expensive technology. In 3-4 years it will be so archaic youll feel the need to purchase a new one!

My boyfriend "treated" himself to a brand new cell phone using his birthday money (it was something like $300). Less than 3 months later it was on sale for $100. Was that 3 months worth $200? He could have two pairs of designer jeans for that!

I was happy to say "I told you so."

[dnordstrom]

Re: Student needs advice

$1,049 + tax for a buying a MacBook as a student. And if I buy an iPod and get it free after mail in rebate, I can easily sell it for $125 or so and then I got the MacBook for about $1000.

It's either a MacBook or a used iBook. I've had it with PCs.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Re: Student needs advice

Yes, try to buy your books on the internet, rather than in the campus bookstore. Also, re-sell your books directly to other students or on the internet.

It is often cheaper to order textbooks from the United Kingdom! Despite the shipping fees, you can get them cheaper than you can get them in the US. My son is buying an international edition of one of his texts through Amazon.co.uk for one-third the cost of a new US edition purchased in the US. For this particular text, the international edition and US edition are the same. International editions as compared to US editions may differ in their illustrations and in things such as what units of measure are used. For the physics book my son is buying, of course the units of measure are the same in both. You must order quickly from the UK to make sure that you get your books in time to be useful for classes.

For anyone that thinks that purchase of international edition in the US is illegal, this is no longer true, thank goodness.

Also, sometimes you can get textbooks from distant libraries via "interlibrary loan." If your own school does not have the book in the library, the librarians might be able to obtain it by interlibrary loan. Check the website of the library for you school and you might find information on this today. One problem with interlibrary loan, though, is that you cannot keep a book for an entire semester. If you do keep it that long, you might lose your borrowing privileges!

Some confident students will just buy any textbook covering the subject being studied. For example, my friend taking an introductory psychology class is using a 18 year old book that she got free from someone cleaning out their house. She just reads from it on the topics being lectured about. However, some professors will assign problems and analyses directly from the book s/he specified as the class text. In that case, just having any ol' text book won't work. Some disciplines of study are updated so frequently that an older text book can be insufficinet or even incorrect.....I think, as an extreme example of my own organic chemistry book, as compared to the one my father saved from his own college days. Oh my goodness, 95% of what was in my book was not even a glimmer of thought back when Dad's book was written. And in every science class I ever took, the professors would make corrections and updates to even the brand new text books.

There are usually bulletin boards in hallways where offers to buy and sell books between students are posted. I imagine many schools and student groups have electronic boards for the same.

But on the whole, yes, books can be very expensive!

I toured schools with my son over the last year. The issue of computers came up at every open-house. At the engineering school where the students use computers heavily, a panel of students agreed that it is very rare to use a laptop in class for notes. However, many times they had ancillary programs that came with the text book. They would run that on their desktops for the most part. Laptops did get heavy use for word processing. But the most important use of computers was in labs using engineering programs on the computers belonging to the labs. I doubt if anyone had a desk top that would even run some of these programs. There were also several computer labs for free use of the students in just about every building, including dormitories. Apparently having one's own computer is is big convenience, but not a necessity at this school.

My son ended up choosing a different school but there are computer labs in every dorm of the school he chose. Also in the libraries, of course. He is not taking a laptop, but only a desktop that he has cobbled together and updated over the last three years.

[boefixepa]

Re: Student needs advice

I wrote a huge list of things on another thread about saving money while in school here's the link to that thread.

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16488&page=2&pp=20&highlight=Professors

It's in a weird place, but I have no desire to retype it.

As far as food goes....

https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com

and look at all the other threads and topic you can find here.

It is more than doable with the money you said as long as you are very carefully, self-disiplined and willing to do it. It's really about your choices and priorities.

GOOD LUCK!!

[Saving in So Cal]

Re: Student needs advice

I wanted to emphasize the school library option for textbooks. I taught Business Law at a community college a couple of years ago. The textbook was over $100 and could not be reused because the law changes so rapidly. The Dean of my department always made sure that there were at least two copies of the textbook on reserve at the library so that students who could not afford to buy the book could do the required reading. I doubt this practice was unique to this dean or to that college. Also, several of my students pooled their money and shared textbooks.

[Evad]

Re: Student needs advice

As a recent college grad and current grad student I honestly suggest you get a job. I average $700 per semester on books alone. Food will run you another few hundred per month. And assuming you want to have a good time at least once in a while a bar tab for a night will cost you about $100.

[dnordstrom]

Re: Student needs advice

My international students contact at the school told me it was going to be very hard to get a job on campus and my student visa does not allow me to work outside campus the first year.

Good news is, I don't drink. But then I bodybuild instead...

Keep the advice coming, we'll see how this goes. Less than 30 days left till I move now.