New vs used books vs renting

[Kimynurse]

I was wondering how many people buy used books or rent books.

I like new book, I like to highlight them myself, write notes in them get all cd's and other materials and I hate to admit it, the smell of a new book

When I went to LPN school I didn't know better, and just bought them where the school said to.

I do want to save money for RN school,so I'm going to look into amazon.

I was just wondering what everyone does and their reason.

If you rent a book I assume you can't highlight or anything.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I def don't buy from our school bookstore! Way to expensive. I've gotten all my books through Amazon and have saved a ton of money. I go for new books since I don't like seeing other people's highlighting etc in a book. I tend to focus on what they highlighted and it might not be pertanent to what MY instructor has lectured on.

I've purchased books from Amazon (you have to keep an eye on not only the feedback rating but also the amount of books sold. What good does it do you to see someone has a 100% feedback rating but has only sold 2 books? I tend to go with the people who have thousands of books sold with no less than a 95%. Anyway I've purchased 'like new' books for a fraction of what my bookstore wanted for used and the book I got was obvioulsy BRAND new!

I try to get new books for ones that have CD's in them for my nursing classes. But for non- nursing courses a gently used book is ok with me.

My daughter rents her books. And you can highlight them but it must be kept to a minimum. She's majoring in finance. However I do not rent my books because we need most of the books we purchased for NUR 101 throughout the whole program so to rent wouldn't work.

I've also been lucky enough to trade off with other students. I had purchased a book for a required course and had taken it before a friend and she had purchased a book for another class that I hadn't taken yet. We just switched off books when we each finished the class.

[ksuheather]

I am still taking pre-reqs but I have had great luck using the previous edition or the international edition for textbooks. I have bought from all sorts of places online.

For nursing school I'll probably do the same but stick to newest editions.

[CallieNM, ASN, RN]

When I was getting financial aid I would take whatever school would pay for, usually new books and occasionally used books. But now that I am out of aid and I am paying for my books out of pocket I rent books I know I will only need for the term, like the class I am taking now is Nutrition and Diet Therapy. I will not need to reference this book again so I rented it for $10 on Chegg.

Now when I start my LPN program I have the option to getting all my books New, Used, Rented, or E-books. This is a tough decision for me because I have never had to use E-books before and I do not know how that is going to change my study habits. Does anyone use E-books?!!!

The books I have to get for classes are Nursing Fundamentals, Pharmacology, Dosage Calculations, Med-Surg, and Maternity. I figured the Nursing Fundamentals book is very very important, so is it a book I should keep to reference back to? From students I know in the program all ready they said just get the E-books because I can keep them forever, and they are cheaper, lighter, and more portable than an actual book.

Advice?!

[Robublind]

I bought all my books used on Amazon and then sold them all back on amazon. Some of the books like Peds and OB, I actually made a profit on. But now I think renting is a good option for your Dosage Cal, Ob, peds, psych etc. Renting you dont have to worry about selling them back. The book you are going to use throughout your program is the Med/Surg book. So you will need to buy that one but I would by it used if possible. By the time your done with Med/Surg books it will be worthless on the used book market. One of my teachers had a great idea, she took the med/surg book apart and had each chapter made into its own book at kinkos. A lot less weight to haul to class.

Honestly I used the nursing fundamentals book the first semester and never opened it again.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

The books I have to get for classes are Nursing Fundamentals, Pharmacology, Dosage Calculations, Med-Surg, and Maternity. I figured the Nursing Fundamentals book is very very important, so is it a book I should keep to reference back to? From students I know in the program all ready they said just get the E-books because I can keep them forever, and they are cheaper, lighter, and more portable than an actual book.

Advice?!

Lighter, cheaper and more portable yes...now, what happens if the device you are using that these books are stored on crashes? Then what? You're SOL. I've gone through LPN school and I'm currently doing the LPN to RN bridge..can't tell you how many times I've had numberous books open as I am doing a care plan or research etc, can't do that with the E-books.

Just my $0.02.

[CallieNM, ASN, RN]

Lighter, cheaper and more portable yes...now, what happens if the device you are using that these books are stored on crashes? Then what? You're SOL. I've gone through LPN school and I'm currently doing the LPN to RN bridge..can't tell you how many times I've had numberous books open as I am doing a care plan or research etc, can't do that with the E-books.

Just my $0.02.

That is a good point, although I don't think it is very likely... I have a brand new Macbook and I have Apple Care and they are pretty good at fixing any issues I have immediately.

But you are right- especially if my computer gets stolen or dropped... that would be a huge fear! Maybe I should purchase a desktop to keep at home too.

Do you have any idea which books would be good to purchase new or rented? Like I just saw someone tell me Nursing Fundamentals was only used for the one semester, and I have heard that before! But I would think that is a pretty useful book? Right? lol.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I still use my LPN funds book (it has some great care plans in it!). And even though I did not have to repeat nursing funds in the RN program, I still had to purchase the book because it is used in future classes. I use both as resources as do others in my classes.

I tend to keep all my nursing related books as well as my gen-ed books. I always find myself using a good majority of them as resources (I also have a college aged daughter who's used my old algebra, english etc books as helpful aids when her book just doesn't explain it enough for her or if she's looking for other examples other than her book).

My LPN funamentals was used for the entire 15 month program but I can't speak for schools.

I guess its just a personal choice as to whether you want to rent or buy, new or used. But I personally prefer NOT to rent and I will not get e-books of any sort.

[CallieNM, ASN, RN]

I still use my LPN funds book (it has some great care plans in it!). And even though I did not have to repeat nursing funds in the RN program, I still had to purchase the book because it is used in future classes. I use both as resources as do others in my classes.

I tend to keep all my nursing related books as well as my gen-ed books. I always find myself using a good majority of them as resources (I also have a college aged daughter who's used my old algebra, english etc books as helpful aids when her book just doesn't explain it enough for her or if she's looking for other examples other than her book).

My LPN funamentals was used for the entire 15 month program but I can't speak for schools.

I guess its just a personal choice as to whether you want to rent or buy, new or used. But I personally prefer NOT to rent and I will not get e-books of any sort.

Thanks for the advice CTPixie! I do not even know if I am accepted yet, but I take what you said to heart and look into cheaper physical books if I do get that acceptance letter!

[fctxs]

I do new books. Do not rent because you will go back and reference your nursing books from one semester to the next. I like to make my own notes in my books. Used books are sometimes missing valuable pages or written in heavily to where it is hard to make your own notes and references in them!!! You will want new books and the price difference isn't that bad.

[cherryblossomRN]

Our school rents our books to us and we also had to buy some books. I don't do much highlighting so this works out for me. Although, we do rent one of our pharm books and I wish they would have given us an option to buy it (we have had to rent it for 3 semesters now at $30 a semester=price of new book), but there is nothing I could do about it.