<p>How does it work for colleges? If a professor says he is using the most recent 2006 edition of a textbook, do we have to get that edition?</p>
<p>It seems most of the professors I’ve asked have told me to get the most recent editions, which are quadruple the price of getting the 2004 or 2005 edition of the same book</p>
<p>Do professors care which books we have? How does that work in college?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>That is precisely why textbooks are so expensive -- a new edition is issued so often -- even if the changes are minor.</p>
<p>I'm not going to tell you to not listen to the professor's request for a certain book. But, in general, it's not like HS where you will be held accountable for reading pages xx-xx, so use your own judgement, in terms of how different the two editions are. </p>
<p>However, if it's a science/math class, it may be necessary to have the correct edition because problems are assigned from the specific book.</p>
<p>ask the professor - sometimes a different edition is perfectly ok, sometimes (due to discrepancies among different editions), it isn't.</p>