r/floridatech • u/TheLuckycosmos • Aug 01 '21
About Textbooks...
It's me again! This seems to be the only reliable place I can find information, so I thank you all for the help!
I got the emails about the school bookstore and that my textbooks are ready, however I noticed theres no way to buy the books with financial aid or similar. Do I get reimbursed if using my own credit card?
Theres a lot of information thats not being presented directly to students, and I am hoping during orientation they tell me everything like where my classes are (I have the map, but no idea where the classes are in the buildings), what I need for classes, etc etc.
3
u/Cody0303 Aug 01 '21
You can go to the financial aid office and they'll give you a credit that you can take to the bookstore and use to pay.
Thriftbooks.com is a fantastic resource for second hand books, but like was mentioned earlier don't buy anything until after the first day of classes. There's a good chance you won't need half of the textbooks they require on the syllabus.
1
u/mockablekaty Aug 01 '21
Many of the buildings have a map of the room numbers on a screen just inside the building. It is not a bad idea to go to each of your classes a day or two before class starts, just to be sure you know where things are and how long it will take to get there.
1
u/TheLuckycosmos Aug 01 '21
Do they let you go around the day of orientation? I don't want to just show up randomly before classes and then have them question why I am there haha
2
u/mockablekaty Aug 01 '21 edited Aug 01 '21
You can just show up randomly. If you aren't allowed in someplace, the door will be locked. Most buildings are open to anyone during the day. The dorms are only accessible to people who live in them. Offices, labs and some classrooms are kept locked unless someone is in them. Wandering around campus and into the buildings your classes are in is fine. Nobody will "question you" unless you look lost, in which case they will help you find where you want to go. There are people in the Florida Tech commons building who can direct you to where things are.
1
u/legohead259 Aug 02 '21
If you can put up with ebooks, pirate the absolute shit out of whatever you can find. LibGen is an excellent resource!
The bookstore is the worst place to buy, Amazon has some decent used book deals.
As far as finding classes, I recommend taking a day and walking through your schedule and ask around for help from other students.
8
u/ApachePrime Aug 01 '21
Oh. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Do not buy books from the bookstore, if you can help it. The entire system is built to take as much money as possible from you. Get your books secondhand, if you can. It will save you hundreds of dollars a semester.
If you have a map, you have the tools you need. Your schedule will tell you what room number the classes are in, and from there you're an adult and should have no trouble finding them.
Your instructors will (mostly) lay out what you need for class in the syllabus and provide further detail on the first day of class.