You already own it so go for it. I've used NeoOffice and OpenOffice (PC side) and, while they are "nice", there's really no comparing the two in the end. Microsoft's Office suite is a decent product. It loads fast, is compatible just about everywhere in the world, and is very flexible. NeoOffice is updated constantly (almost daily at times) but it is what an open source, free program should be ... slow and buggy. I guess I'm referring to slow more than buggy, although it is improving. Load times can be a bear if you are used to Office and it doesn't have the depth of Microsoft Office. The primary selling point for NeoOffice is ... it's free. You have the student version but free always beats cheap from a consumer standpoint. From a user standpoint, I'd say your money was well spent. You received a considerable discount for being a student and you won't be disappointed with the product.
Enjoy it! You can download NeoOffice if you want to feel better about your decision in the end.