M1 textbook costs

[chauffeur]

Can anyone give me some idea of the average an M1 spends on textbooks? I'm trying to estimate the size of my loans.
I imagine that expenses are going to vary from prgram to program (courses, PBL stuff, etc...). Also, I was told by many second-years to not buy all of the "recommended" texts, because they're not all needed.

Thanks.

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[mcwmark]

Check to see if your library has copies of texts, or if upperclassmen have texts that you can borrow.

I only ended up buying Moore's anatomy (an older edition, same stuff), Guyton's Physiology, and Netter's Human Anatomy. About $120 for me. Our school has extensive notes, however, and I was advised that exam questions would come from those notes, so I passed on many of the books.

If I had bought all of the recommended books, the total would have easily been closer to $500.

 

[Popoy]

Try checking with the Financial Aid office at your medical school. They're suppose to work closely with the bookstore to get a rough estimation of how much you'll be spending on books....

To cut down the cost I think mcwmark has great ideas of which I will be using myself....

 

[Azygous]

don't buy textbooks till you start the class. Though some classes might say the textbook is "required," it's not really used. Most questions usually come from previous exams, class notes, and lectures. The textbooks "supplement" the subjects. I only used a handful of the dozens of books on the list

 

[AJM]

Also, students the year ahead of you will often want to sell you used books at a lower cost. Don't buy books ahead of time, because you'll just waste your money.

Definitely ask your financial aid office about costs. They're supposed to include miscellaneious costs such as books in your cost of living calculation to figure out your financial aid package, so they should know what the average cost is for your school.

 

[Winged Scapula]

All good advice above. Ask your senior class members which courses you really need a text for. For some with excellent notes, you can get by with just reading lecture notes and occasionally checking out a book from the library.

Best of luck.