so i bit the bullet today and bought my textbooks for my first quarter in nursing school!!! to be honest, although it was expensive, i spent about $150 less than i had expected, based on what i'd heard from orientation and our college bookstore. even after purchasing many of the 'optional' books, my total was only $375, for nine books.
i highly recommend ecampus.com and barnes and noble (bn.com) for discount textbooks, i even managed to find some used (in new condition) books that were just published last quarter.
out of curiosity, if anyone wants to share, is this about average for books for first quarter (or semester) in nursing school? (we're told we'll use these same books for several quarters). good luck to everyone starting in january!
~rose