$800 worth of textbooks for one class????

Sarah Hay · Sep 22, 2009

One class? Are you sure? What books and what class?

deleern · Sep 22, 2009

I this for LPN or RN? My 1st Semester of the LPN Program was over $800 of books but that was almost everything I needed for the year. RN was More as more reference books were required. I suggest EBAY

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 22, 2009

As delee99 pointed out, sometimes schools have the students use the same books for mulitiple classes. The students buy the books when they start the first class, then use them in later classes as well.

smartin13 · Sep 22, 2009

My first quarter of school was about 1,000 for all the books, however each quarter after that I only have to spend about 100 for maybe one or two additional books. Most of the books we used first quarter we use for the rest of the program. So yes it may seem like a lot for first quarter but it does even out.

OCD_Mom · Sep 22, 2009

Fortunately I was lucky enough to get into a program where someone else paid for my books (plus reference manuals.) Yesterday I had to get ALL of the books for the RN program at once about 15+ the total on the receipt came to $1220.14. The pack also included vouchers for another book that I need to pick up at a future date.

CeilingCat, ASN, RN · Sep 22, 2009

Go to the bookstore. Write downthe ISBN numbers. Go to amazon.com or somewhere similar. I saved between 20-40% on buying my books direct from amazon, plus no sales tax and shipping is free. I got brand-new books for less than my bookstore was selling their raggedy used ones for.

Also, pay close attention to what is "required" vs "recommended" in your book list. If you're on really tight budget, email the prof before class begins to see what the absolute bare-bones minimum would be. Then buy the "recommended" later, but only if needed. Some of the "recommended" are just references you keep at home on your desk, but guess what: the internet has some great references online free.

For some books, I've been able to get by with the previous edition. Last edition's textbook is usually 1/3rd to 1/10th the cost of new, sometimes even free, because school bookstores won't buy them back. Use common sense -- if it's material that changes alot or it's been a decade or more since last edition, I might not do it. I picked up some of my books FREE from www.paperbackswap.com. For example, when I did Anatomy & Physiology, they didn't mind if I used the last textbook edition. The bookstore wanted close to $200 for the current edition, but I ordered last edition of the text for free from PaperBackSwap.

Also remember that college libraries generally keep all the textbooks on hand. Even if you can't check it out, you can read them there. So instead of dropping $175 for a MicroBio text I wouldn't use much, I just do my Micro studying in the library and convert the book into notecards, outlines, and other study aids which I bring home. A plus for me is that I focus more when I'm reading a textbook in the library vs at home.

I've also kept in touch with students I've met doing my pre-requisites. I just swapped my one friend my Stats books for her Human Growth Development books. The bookstores never give us much if we sell back for cash, so this works out much better.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Sep 22, 2009

I dropped 2 grand on books my first semester. After that maybe 200-300 each semester after that. We carry the books all the way across so its not too bad. Initial sticker price is kinda shocking though

Sw88t Pea · Sep 22, 2009

I found it's best to wait for classes to start and then buy books. You need them for the sciences and MedSurg etc. but other than that... not many used were used at my school-UP. I buy mine from half.com and that was a steal or from another nursing student. I sent an email to the nursing staff and asked if they could forward my email to seniors that asked if I could buy their books.

Guerilla04 · Sep 23, 2009

Most of these posters are right. I'm currently in my first semester of Nursing school and tallied up around 750$ in books. I was outraged, and talked to some of my friends who have been through the program I'm in and most of the books are used throughout. Thank God.

kittykatty · Sep 23, 2009

ceiling cat said "go to the bookstore. write downthe isbn numbers. go to amazon.com or somewhere similar. i saved between 20-40% on buying my books direct from amazon, plus no sales tax and shipping is free. i got brand-new books for less than my bookstore was selling their raggedy used ones for.

also, pay close attention to what is "required" vs "recommended" in your book list. if you're on really tight budget, email the prof before class begins to see what the absolute bare-bones minimum would be. then buy the "recommended" later, but only if needed. some of the "recommended" are just references you keep at home on your desk, but guess what: the internet has some great references online free.

for some books, i've been able to get by with the previous edition. last edition's textbook is usually 1/3rd to 1/10th the cost of new, sometimes even free, because school bookstores won't buy them back. use common sense -- if it's material that changes alot or it's been a decade or more since last edition, i might not do it. i picked up some of my books free from www.paperbackswap.com. for example, when i did anatomy & physiology, they didn't mind if i used the last textbook edition. the bookstore wanted close to $200 for the current edition, but i ordered last edition of the text for free from paperbackswap.

also remember that college libraries generally keep all the textbooks on hand. even if you can't check it out, you can read them there. so instead of dropping $175 for a microbio text i wouldn't use much, i just do my micro studying in the library and convert the book into notecards, outlines, and other study aids which i bring home. a plus for me is that i focus more when i'm reading a textbook in the library vs at home.

i've also kept in touch with students i've met doing my pre-requisites. i just swapped my one friend my stats books for her human growth development books. the bookstores never give us much if we sell back for cash, so this works out much better. "

i did everything that you did and i saved a fortune--i never bought a book new and alot of the time and used the previous edition. i would just check my book with a classmate at the beginning of the semester to see if anything was different.

i also would photo copy the index of my text and the text of the book that everyone was using so that when assignment pages were assigned i could match them up exactly. usually page numbers may be off by a few numbers but the info was the same. i always got isbn numbers weeks before the classes started then got on e-bay and got the books cheap. the last textbook i needed my classmates paid 125 for i got it for 45 on e-bay. i would never pay full price for a textbook.

bananabubbletea · Sep 23, 2009

This was for a medsurg class for a bsn level degree. It was all required texts, I looked at the required books for some other classes and they were not even half of that amount. I guess this class is one in a million.