Whether you’re a fresh fish trying your fins for the first time at UT Austin or a seasoned swimmer in the world of college academia, there’s always something new to learn from your fellow students. Take a look at what our Koinonia veterans have learned from their experiences so far!
It’s always best to start looking for your textbooks early!
To find out what textbooks you need, look up your course on the course schedule and then click “Check Textbooks for this Course”. It will show you a list of books the professor has listed and whether they are required or optional.
If you know the textbooks you need in advance, you can rent your textbooks through chegg.com. This is much cheaper way of securing your textbooks at significantly lower price. After your semester is over, you can simply return the books, with free shipping. No need to try to sell your textbooks! They even plant a tree each time you rent from them, so you can help make this world more green!
University Co-Op: After you find your required books, you can quickly order through the Co-Op by clicking “Reserve Your Books Now”. On the first week of school, you can pick them up either at the Main Store on Guadalupe or at the Co-Op East across from the Law School. The advantages of buying books from the Co-Op are that you can return them through the add/drop days for a full refund and if you keep your receipts, you can receive a rebate at the end of the year. However, the University Co-Op is usually the most expensive place to get your books.
Austin TXbooks, formerly known as Beat the Bookstore, is a bookstore located right on 2116 Guadalupe. They also usually sell textbooks at a lower price.
A friend: Ask around! If you know someone who has just finished the class, they will most likely sell it to you.
Other Websites: Amazon.com, Half.com, eBay
Usually these places have textbooks at a much cheaper price than the Co-Op and there are also more sellers. If you are buying books online, make sure you order them early enough so that there is enough shipping time.
More tips to buying textbooks:
Don’t get textbooks right away. On the first day of class, the professor will usually tell you which books are required for the class and give you time to get them.
Consider buying an international edition. Warning: International editions are usually cheaper but the content may not be exactly the same as the edition your professor wants you to have, so you can check with your professor.
Find an online version or a loose leaf edition. Loose leaf editions cost less but you will have to put them in your own binder and they will probably be harder to re-sell.
Blackboard is the website that most professors use in order to organize their class. You are able to get class announcements, check grades, and send emails to your professors, TA’s or classmates.
Email the Professor, TA’s or Classmates: Tired of looking around the web to find your lab partner’s email? Well look no farther just go to your blackboard and click on the “send email” link on the left side of the blackboard home. Then choose the course you share with the person you want to email. Then choose which person you want to email: the whole class, a specific person, the TA or the professor of the course.
Keep Your Blackboard Organized: When you first sign-in, you will see a box called “My Courses”. There is a gear icon appear in the upper right hand corner of the “My Courses” title bar. If you click on that gear, you can then simply check the sites you want displayed. This way you don’t have courses piling up on your blackboard throughout your college career.
UT Direct, one of the most important, yet most confusing, websites you will be using during your years at UT. To save you countless hours of searching and getting frustrated, we decided to aid you with these helpful tips!
First, be sure to restrict your info so that your whole life isn’t fully displayed for all to see! To do this, just click the following link…https://utdirect.utexas.edu/registrar/myinfo/index.WBX and then read the instructions, clicking the “Next” button at the bottom of the page until you hit the “Restrict My Info Settings”. Then simply uncheck the information that you do not want to show up on the UT Directory. Remember UT has specific rules on what you should and should not restrict!
NEXT… Basically… It’s all about bookmarks! All you need to do is click on the following links, and click the top right corner to “bookmark”. Type in an appropriate title and then place it in “My Home” in the scroll down menu. Click “Update” and then it will now appear whenever you open utdirect.utexas.edu or click on the “My Home” tab at the top of the screen.
Course Instructor Survey Results (CIS) – This is UT’s “Pick-a-Prof”. Check out what other students said about their professors for their course evaluations.
Registration Status (RIS) – Check when your registration dates and times are. See if you have any bars on your registration. And check student classification (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, Super Senior?)
Class List – Check the courses that you are currently signed up for, so you know where it is and what time it is if you forget!
BevoBucks – Add money and check your balance. Also click here to see where you can buy stuff with your BevoBucks.
Financial Aid – Check out what forms you still need to fill out to complete your financial aid application and accept your financial aid offers.
Dine-in-Dollars – See how you are doing with your dine-in-dollars, and add dollars if you are short.
BevoBucks – Add money, check your balance and all your Bevobuck needs!
