Re: Textbooks / Handbooks / Student Fees
With regards to textbooks, I thought the following might be welcome:
I would recommend getting all the prescribed/mandatory textbooks, as the course is often taught straight out of there, with a few minor adjustments. There's normally also a few recommended/voluntary textbooks for each course. Most students don't bother with these, but if you get halfway through the course and find yourself struggling with the content they're normally a good place for help.
Wait until you know exactly which textbook you need. There's a website where you can type in your course and it will tell you what textbooks are prescribed, which are recommended and how much they sell for at the UNSW bookshop. I can't remember what the website is, but look it up on the "A to Z Guide" on UNSW site.
I would recommend getting them all within the first two weeks of the semester. O-Week would probably be the best time, although it's mostly only first-years who go that week.
Now, NEVER buy your textbooks first-hand, unless it's a new edition or they've just changed book. In the first few weeks of the semester there will be a whole pile of little notices on various billboards around campus (you'll now which ones because there'll be a small crowd of people in front of them with their phones out) advertising textbooks for sale. However, that way can be tedious, and because of the high volume of traffic, the sellers have often promised it to someone else by the time you call them.
I would instead recommend textbookexchange.com.au. You can search for the exact textbook you need, compare prices and email/SMS the seller instantly. You also don't have to be a member to use it, and not many first-years know about it, so you don't have much competition.
