STOP - Don't buy your textbooks from the school bookstore

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear...they do give you a line of credit to use at the bookstore before classes start. However, they don't release all of your remaining financial aid (after they take out tuition and what you spent at the bookstore) until 2-3 weeks after classes start. In essence, they force you to buy your books at the bookstore unless you buy them out-of-pocket elsewhere. Sorry for the confusion!

I will never buy from the bookstore again. I have saved a ton of money buying from Amazon.com. I am taking my pre-reqs, and I found a psy book online brand new for 60.00 (including the study guide and cds). The same book and study guide was in the book store for 190. I also try to see if the book is in my library, that way I spend 0.00 bucks on the book and keep checking it out until I don't need it anymore.

I started doing this a couple of semesters ago - Now I look online first before I hit the college bookstore. I've actually gotten new books still in the shrink-wrap with unopened CD all for a fraction of the bookstore cost.

My school did the same thing, and I have copied the ISBN numbers for the ten books I needed! They were not happy =) but I explained that if their books were cheaper it would not be an issue for me to spend MY hard earned money! Thankfully they are not spending it, I am so they have no choice in where I purchase my books!

I paid $294 buying the books used/like new on Amazon and the school is selling the package for $489. And to top it off they told us at orientation that you would save about $100 by buying the package of books through the bookstore rather than individually. This is for 3 books mind you.

try renting your books .... that is what i do now -- unless you want to keep the book for some reason, there is no real need to purchase them http://www.chegg.com/rent/

I completely agree w/ u I have been buying books online since my first degree, & the bookstore is the biggest ripoff! Buy books early, off season u get the best price once school starts the prices tend to go up. I use the search engine www.fetchbook.info I usually only buy from amazon, ebay, & half, this engine gives u the lowest price. Also sell them online, thats IF u decide to sell I know this is nursing school. I always get what I paid for the book, & here is a tip, ship media mail ($4) the post office doesn't give u the option of this shipping method, u have to tell them thats what u want. Good Luck to every1!

Hey everyone,
Don't forget that you can save more money buying the previous edition text at Amazon marketplace. Sometimes, the previous edition is 1 year old and sometimes publishers release the same text twice in the same year. Ever wonder why the cohort behind you has a different textbook for that Patho class? They're getting the same info you did just some more glamorous charts and graphics.

Good Luck.

Renting is a good idea even with students. Depending on your semester setup you may be able to do this with peers. For example, if I am taking OB for the first 7 weeks and my friend is taking peds for the last 7 weeks of the semester, then we can just swap texts. No money needs to be exchanged if the cost about the same.

--Dedra

That's great if it works for you. We were told that we were not allowed to purchase our own books elsewhere. It was a package deal; when I went in to talk to financial aid, I already had located the books online, but was told it wasn't allowed!