<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I'm 90% packed for University Park next week and I've just got to get all my textbooks figured out. I'm one of those folks who feel compelled to buy new books for classes but I recognize the outrageously priced nature of the psu bookstore. So I've been browsing Amazon through the ISNB #s and I've run into a Hiccup with Stewart's Calculus book.</p>
<p>He just recently released his 7th edition in January of this year and the class is prescribing the 6th. I'm afraid that following their suggestions to the "T" will force me to purchase the 7th edition next semester or next year.</p>
<p>I know that people run into problems with using old editions for class -- but what about using NEW editions? Is that better? Or pretty much the same?</p>
<p>I'm sending emails to the prof (Simring), but I have yet to receive a response and I'm leaning toward the purchase of the newest edition atm.</p>
<p>Buying anything but the prescribed edition will cause problems whether or not your edition is newer or older. The biggest problem will be that SOME of the problems will have changed, as well as page numbers - this may mean anything from mild confusion all the way up to a constant scramble to get photocopied pages so that you don’t turn in the wrong problems. Buying a newer version can actually be WORSE because at least the professor is familiar with and has solutions and references for the old edition.</p>
<p>When a series of courses require the same textbook, professors usually try to avoid switching midstream - since they have decided to go with the 6th edition for this class, they will probably keep it for the next class in the sequence as well, and anything after that would require a different book anyway (I have never heard of a textbook that would last through 3 courses). The only real danger is if you wind up taking things out of sequence - like if you fail or drop this course. In that case, you may have to buy the new edition when they change next year.</p>
<p>Until then, stick with the 6th edition. You are not missing anything by keeping the old edition - the math has not changed, even though the homework problems have.</p>