Books are so expensive!!!

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So, I am starting my prereqs in a couple weeks and the books are so expensive! Even to rent! Where did you guys buy/rent your books?

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I bought mine all over the place. And I couldn't even sell them back because I got into a habit of ripping out the pages I needed so that I wouldn't have to carry the whole books around.

It might be worth it to email your instructors and ask how essential the newest edition of the book is. In several cases, the instructors lectures and notes were actually from an older version of the required book which made things very confusing! The older versions would have been less expensive and more accurate, in those cases.

And even when an instructor uses the current required version of a book, changes from the older version are rarely significant. You might have to dig around to find chapter 23 in chapter 25's place ...but the information is the same.

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

Amazon. Ask your professor if you absolutely need the newest edition. Usually an old edition is adequate

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Specializes in ICU.

Yep, I swear by Amazon, too. They allow you to rent, and you can also sell books back to them a lot of the time. I also have an Amazon Visa so I'd get extra cash back for using Amazon, but I hear they have an Amazon store card now that lets you save even more.

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Amazon, Chegg, and my school had a FB page for students selling their books.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Welcome to allnurses.com

Thread moved to General Student forum.

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This is a stretch but for a couple shorter classes my school's library had a copy of the textbook that I was able to check out. Another option is buying books directly from friends.

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Specializes in Critical care.

I've found old used editions on Amazon. I've paid anything from $6-$30. I got my med surg book for $6 and used it for almost 3 quarters and read pretty much the entire book. I also got a used copy of my pharm book that was in perfect condition for about $6. If the books weren't cheap or I couldn't use an old edition I looked at the prices on Amazon and Chegg to see where I could rent them the cheapest.

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I was able to get by on previous editions for nearly all of my classes (occasionally renting was even a little cheaper). The school really sold us hard on a bundle of 4 books at the beginning, saying we'd need all the companion materials and online resource codes that came with those books. It was about $700. Those weren't even all the books for the semester! We had several more to buy, and an ATI package. I decided to risk it, and go used. Where some of my classmates paid >$1000, I managed to spend about $375 (ATI is non-negotiable).

You know how many times in four semesters we were required to use any of the "crucial" companion resources? Twice. One professor assigned two 15-question homework assignments worth a handful of points. I was able to arrange to work with a classmate that had the codes. Your mileage may vary, but it can be worth it to try to shop around for deals. I got my Med-Surg book for $6! Used it for three semesters!

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Half Price Books, Amazon, Book Renter....

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

I found that oiften if one took the time, the $20 9th issue was exactly the same as the $200 11th issue pysch except updated pictures and a slightly different lay out.

I bought alot on trade me (think ebay) and amazon.

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I use chegg a lot, and Amazon..

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