Cost of Books? (And Financial Aid ?'s)

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My first question is this: I've read that nursing books can be crazy expensive!! What is average pricing??

My second question is this: What happens if my student loan isn't for enough $$ to cover all my books?

I guess i don't know how this works because my first few years of college have been paid for by my FIL, however I can't ask him to shell out the money for me to have changed majors and taken on health care, which is insanely expensive as you know!

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hi,

i just bought my first years book. $800.00. Yikes! And my student loans didnt cover them. In fact, when I was earning my bachelors (not in nursing), my loans didnt cover them either.

If they dont, perhaps you can talk to your lender about borrowing more so that you can cover the cost?

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Specializes in ER.

Our books are about $650. If you dont have enough financial aid to cover the books, you have to find a way to pay for them unfortuntely!

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

About 900 for 1st semester books, good thing is, they tell me that should go down in the next semesters.

I get no financial aid, right now I am using ebay and half.com to buy used books cheaper. However, tuition, uniforms and all the other things that come up are going to be covered by private loans. Try http://www.salliemae.com/ they have private loans available to cover what FA does not. And you may be able to qualify for a federal student loan. I would defintely call your school's FA office to ask.

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My books will cost about $800. and I HAVE TO pay in cash! It wouldn't be as horrible if I could charge it and pay on it a little at a time. :rolleyes:

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My first question is this: I've read that nursing books can be crazy expensive!! What is average pricing??

My second question is this: What happens if my student loan isn't for enough $$ to cover all my books?

I guess i don't know how this works because my first few years of college have been paid for by my FIL, however I can't ask him to shell out the money for me to have changed majors and taken on health care, which is insanely expensive as you know!

My first semester was just over $600 (if you couldn't get used, sometimes you can). Second semester tacked on another 3-4 hundred. The basic books from the first semester carried into the second, plus alot more reading from the newer ones.

Check to see if your school has a book voucher program. Ours does, but it's based on financial aid $'s and I'm not sure the rest of the criteria (a limited number of vouchers for a limited number of books). Most people don't qualify. What happens if you don't have enough from student loans to cover them? You figure out how to pay for them anyway!

Remember to put aside money for uniforms, equipment (ie: steth, etc).

Good luck!

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Anyone have any idea (ballpark) of how much equiptment costs??

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Anyone have any idea (ballpark) of how much equiptment costs??

my uniforms were $150. That was for two shirts, two pants, a labcoat, a warm up jacket, bandage scissors, and a pen light.

the stethescope is a Littman, I think its about $100.

then i will have t buy the basic school supplies since its been a year since Ive been in school. Binders, notebooks, highlighters, etc.

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Thank you Megs!!

My other question :: I'm starting CNA class in August (while I'm wait-listed) and I need to purchase the same type of things for that (so my syllabus says that I printed off at the school) should I wait until class starts or I hear officially to do that?

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Thank you Megs!!

My other question :: I'm starting CNA class in August (while I'm wait-listed) and I need to purchase the same type of things for that (so my syllabus says that I printed off at the school) should I wait until class starts or I hear officially to do that?

hmm..I dont really have much experience with CNA classes...thats Certified Nurses Aide, right? Im not sure what all CNA's need, but maybe you should wait until you get the official list from your school. i know that we got a special little student discount on uniforms and supplies as well as books. It wasnt much, but every little bit helps. Maybe someone else with more experience with CNA's could help you?

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Thanks Meg!

I will probably wait until classes start anyway! (or at least until I get official word from the school!)

The CNA classes I'm taking are basically killing time until I get into Nursing school...

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Anyone have any idea (ballpark) of how much equiptment costs??

You can spend $16 on a basic Sprague stethoscope and love it, or $100 on a Littman and hate it. Or vice versa. There's a thread here about the pros and cons of different steths. Some loved the most inexpensive ones, some hated them. Some were glad they paid the extra $$ for the better quality ones, some wished they hadn't. Personal choice.

Uniform costs totally depends on the school's requirements. I bought one outfit (the vest was required to be ordered from Dove Apparel, $40); one vest, one shirt, one pair of pants and one pair of shoes was a little under a hundred bucks.

I don't know how your program works; most of my class purchased BP cuffs to practice with, cost around $30 (I think they can be gotten lower, I just know what I paid).

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