1st semester book costs

fishinglisa · Aug 3, 2010

I am beginning the RN program at GC Wallace CC in Selma, AL in Aug 2010. They have said our books will cost around $650.00 skills supply packet $80.00 and uniforms $200.00. Good luck with your studies!

Kuffy · Aug 4, 2010

OUCH!!
Just ordered my books for first semester (junior year). Came out to $661, saves $88 by getting them through amazon, and that was buying them new at amazon vs used at bookstore. Bonus was that if you have an .edu email address you can get a free year of amazon prime, and get free 2 day shipping.
So what did everyone else pay.

I paid 854 bucks for my books at the school book store.. thank god for financial aid or Nursing school would still just be a dream... Also its awesome that a lot of these books are used throughout the Nursing program

WanderingSagehen · Aug 4, 2010

I don't use the school bookstore ever! (oh, I had to purchase a lab book for micro last semester) Amazon has great prices and you can get a new book at a used price, way below the used price at the student store. I think only one of my texts has highlights out of 20 books and they tell you that up front. All came with the proper CD's and even bundling prices. Its a pain because you have to make sure the IBSN's are correct as well as the editions, unlike just walking into the bookstore. I spent about $800 but still had to get the PDA program for my ipod itouch. I bought Nursing Constellation from Skyscape. I like amazon because I can then sell my books back easily should I want to. The school bookstore is ridiculously over priced for used books. If you are spending your own money and not Mommy's or Daddy's then try amazon or the others you find online and learn how to sell them back to others. Its like recycling... but I guess not everyone does that either.

BTW- I am a 1st year nursing student.

Advice: Learn how to shop Amazon!

SingDanceRunLife · Aug 4, 2010

The bookstore isn't always bad.

My school is doing this bundle now that is actually a really good deal! It's $561 for all of the nursing books (both printed and e-book copies) that we need for 3 of the 4 semesters! I looked online, and couldn't find a cheaper deal.

klwtiger · Aug 4, 2010

I saved %40 - %50 percent on all of my books by using ISBN numbers and searching well in advance. I got most of them through Half.com and Barnes & Noble.com as well as 1 off of ebay. Most were new or as new condition with all CD's included. If you are willing to do the work you can really save! Took my about 2 or 3 hours but in all I saved about $250. I am lucky in that my school's bookstore has a website which lists ISBN #'s which made it lest painful

studentinnursing · Aug 4, 2010

At my bookstore, the books were $1300. I paid $400 for a bundle there cause they come with ebooks, so those I don't have to carry around, just download to my laptop (but still wanted to have a book in my hand when I study), and I spent $250 on the other 9 books on Amazon, plus my drug Guide through Skyscape for my Blackberry for $36. I am picky cause I highlight and pencil in things, so I like books to be new or 'like new' and I got a great deal through buyers on Amazon.

And then our skills kit is $115 on top of that. So I saved $600 buying 9 on Amazon (half were new) and the rest at the bookstore (I was outta money and had to use my book line of credit, or I would have tried to get more on Amazon )

Now I only have 2-3 books each semester to buy thank goodness, and I can get those through Amazon hopefully.

Intern67 · Aug 4, 2010

OUCH!!
So what did everyone else pay.

Slacker. I paid about $1300 my first semester (ADN program)

Fortunately third semester is only like $40! 4th Semester rotations will stick me for another few hunnerd tho.

(Yes, I know I spelled it "hunnerd")

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2010

The bookstore isn't always bad.
My school is doing this bundle now that is actually a really good deal! It's $561 for all of the nursing books (both printed and e-book copies) that we need for 3 of the 4 semesters! I looked online, and couldn't find a cheaper deal.

Sounds like maybe some schools are getting smart and realizing that online textbook sellers like Amazon are real competition for student dollars.

whitneyLOL · Aug 4, 2010

I am in my first semester of pre-nursing classes (bio, A&P, sociology, math) and WOOOOOOOOO! After a few hours of researching, I made a handy-dandy spreadsheet and cheapest I came out to getting was about $600!

Oh well, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Right? :)

wildboo · Aug 5, 2010

Books can be a killer, but you can actually save money. Websites liek Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and Alibris all sell new and used books. You can also get some killer deals on Ebay. Another way to save a bundle is to get the previous edition. Many times the only things that have been changed are the outside cover and inside few pages. The page numbers can be off a bit, but if it's the difference between paying $150 or $15 for a book, it can be worth a bit of effort!

I generally spent about $100 a semester through these resources. Good luck!

pjlemley · Aug 5, 2010

That's insane. You know what I always did--I went on amazon and ordered 1 edition before the latest. It saved me hundreds of dollars. Most of the time the course textbooks are on reserve, and really, do you think kidney anatomy has changed that much? The only possible exception might be a book like pharmacology, but even then, an older edition combined with notes you take in class about newer meds should serve you well. Free yourself from unethical textbook publishing tyrants! (On that note, also free yourself from the endless amounts of crap published every year as "literature" or "fiction." Go read the good stuff.)

frogger32091 · Aug 5, 2010

Reading all of your post about the cost of books, makes me so very happy that my books are figured into my tuition, and I do not have to worry about that expense, so are my scrubs. The only expense outside of my tuition that I have is the cost of my shoes and my stethoscope.