When do they usually send it? I am already signed up for a few classes for spring. Should I get it pretty early?

my grants are being sent directly to the school.

All the grants you are given are sent directly to the school you are going to. The school then takes what is owed to them and then the school cuts you a check for whatever is left over.

well I hope I have some left over. those books are crazy, plus I think I bought a book this semester for a class I don't even need to take.

Sell it back. If you still have the receipt return it, if you don't just sell it back. You won't get all the $ you paid, but at least you'll get something and you don't have to keep the book. I used to buy used books every semester and always sold them back at the end of the semester. I only kept the books for the classes I liked like my Chicano Studies classes.

If you know how much tuition and fees for the semester is going to be, then you can calculate how much if anything you'll have left over. So look at your award letter and see how much you get per semester, then look at your school catalog and add up all the fees. And subtract that from the amount you're getting from the grant, that's an appx. amount of how much your check will be.