Rent or Buy?

[carolina_mom]

I have bought several of the required books for AHS 126 (health cal.) and Fudamentals, but the list seems to keep growing. Just wondering if anyone has used any or all the books from past classes, hate to waste alot of money on books that really are not worth it.

[DisneyNurseGal, BSN, RN]

In pre-Reqs I swore by renting my books the nursing school warned us that some of the books we buy first semester will be used for the whole program, so don't rent them. Check with your school as rent if you can.

[SBJustBreathe, ASN, RN]

I bought all my books on amazon. You can get used books for pretty cheap!

[willowita, ADN, RN]

I bought my nursing books from amazon, chegg, and textbooks(dot)com. Buying from the student store was going to cost like $700 and I only paid $260. So definitely shop around for those bargains!

I can't rent my books because everything I'm buying now will be used for the next 2 years (or so they say).

[carolina_mom]

It ridiculous what they charge for these books in the college book store!!! I have brought a couple from barnes and nobles market place, for less than half the price the book store is asking. I'm going to have to buy a shopping cart to wheel these things to class. I'm just nervous to buy some on the market place because the ISBN numbers don't quite match but the edition and title do I hate to pay for a book and it's the wrong one! But thanks for reassuring me to get them and keep them!! Good luck to each of you in the next semester.

[i♥words]

Try half.com as well. I have found great deals on books. True, you always have to make sure the ISBN and edition is the correct one. Sometimes I've gotten the same ISBN and it came to be with a different cover than what the prof showed us, but it was still the same book.

[Stephalump]

My program is integrated vs block, so we use the majority of our books for both years, which makes renting impractical. But if you only studied something like maternity for one semester and didn't feel you needed the books for any other reason, I suppose you could rent. I think I'd want all my books until passing the NCLEX, though.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

You can also check to see if there's anyone in the program a year or two ahead of you who would be willing to part with (or rent out) their books.

Or buy the same book that's one edition older (likely virtually identical book as the "required" one) -- you can often get an older book for $5-$10 even though it's only two years old instead of paying $150-$200 for a new book.

[chorkle]

Early in prereqs, the instructor in one class asked the first day, How much did everyone pay for their textbook? I had bought mine at the college bookstore, for $162. One student said she'd bought hers on-line for $40.

Eye-opener!

Later, I figured out that the bookstore--not run by the college, but farmed out to a contractor--charged exactly 110% of the publisher's suggested retail price.

I use Amazon a lot now, but not exclusively. Sometimes they don't have a competitive price.

[Nolli]

We are responsible for all stuff learned in previous courses here so if you don't know it cold keep the book as a reference. As for the pre-reqs I swore by renting. Go with used or buy the book online. The college bookstore is the last place I usually look since they overcharge so much.