1st semester book costs

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OUCH!! :eek:

Just ordered my books for first semester (junior year). Came out to $661, saves $88 by getting them through amazon, and that was buying them new at amazon vs used at bookstore. Bonus was that if you have an .edu email address you can get a free year of amazon prime, and get free 2 day shipping.

So what did everyone else pay. :D

You guys are so lucky! We won't get our book list until 2 weeks before classes - and our aid isn't in until October so unless we want to pay out of pocket, we have to buy from the bookstore with our "credit".

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one of my book bundles cost $611. that plus 4 other books and tax came to $804. I want to buy online but i am afraid.

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I've bought from amazon, craigslist, and ebay. Ebay and amazon protect you...craigslist, well you have to use your best judgement. I have no choice though...I HAVE to buy at lower prices!

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Specializes in ICU.

So far, I have spent $0.00 and have 10 of 14 books on the way through inter-library loan. All are latest editions. The total cost for the remaining books, which I will purchase, will be about $85.

I took 3 classes over the summer semester and didn't buy a single book. With inter-library loan, I can renew each book up to 3 times. At three weeks per renewal, plus the initial 3 weeks, I can have each book for 12 weeks total. That gives me plenty of time to send for another copy and/or photocopy a couple of chapters.

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Amazon was WAY cheaper than my bookstore PLUS they don't charge tax so that's a huge saving right there. I bought 7 books thru Amazon new for $396, got my Pharm book new on eBay for 13.99, and another recommended book on test taking for $9.00 also new. Got Evolve at the bookstore for $33 and I still need to buy the nursing kit for $100 later. So my total when I'm done should be at about $550. It pays to be a smart shopper!

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According to my college's bookstore website, my books are going to cost $1500!! I tried to find them on Amazon, but my school requires to get the ebooks as well, and I couldn't find those on Amazon......I had no idea my books would cost this much!

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Through my bookstore, I would be spending about $800 for my books. I am buying them all online, from the cheapest source, and I will spend around $200. I am also thinking about buying an earlier edition of one book and that will save even more. I am also getting my scrubs on Ebay instead of buying them from the bookstore.

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My school also is selling the bundles with the ebooks. I'm not sure if this is really necessary but it seems to add to the cost versus just buying the book elsewhere without the ebook. I tried to compare by looking for the cost of buying ebook alone on the Elsevier site but no luck. Has anyone done this? Not sure what the ebook is exactly and if instructors require this.

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Specializes in ICU.

eBooks are exactly the same as the textbook itself, just in electronic form (pdf usually). So essentially, you're buying two copies of the same book, one paper copy and one for your computer.

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Specializes in Intensive Care.

So far I've only spent 350$ on my books. Which is great compared to my school's 700$ for if you buy through the book store. I use bigwords.com and they compile a list of textbook sites that sell used books and lists them in order of price. I also saved a bundle buying my major nursing fundamentals book in international edition. It's 1500+ pages but because it's international edition, it's soft cover so it's MUCH lighter than my hard cover books.

....now time to spend the money I saved on uniforms and such :(

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I've basically borrowed two books so far from the library and I'm 27 chapters into scanning: Fundamentals of Nursing by kozier..487pages out of 1500 done. Might be worth buying the book but since I'm unemployed I'll be buying previous editions and scanning what I do and don't need. Financial aid isn't going to do much for me this time round, it paid my tuition and thats about it.

If the teacher complains and wants me to turn in the book with the completed work and won't accept copied pages well I'll skip my ass up to the dean.

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I've basically borrowed two books so far from the library and I'm 27 chapters into scanning: Fundamentals of Nursing by kozier..487pages out of 1500 done. Might be worth buying the book but since I'm unemployed I'll be buying previous editions and scanning what I do and don't need. Financial aid isn't going to do much for me this time round, it paid my tuition and thats about it.

If the teacher complains and wants me to turn in the book with the completed work and won't accept copied pages well I'll skip my ass up to the dean.

THAT is dedication! I bought a couple of older editions myself. $75 vs. $8? It was hard to resist!

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