<p>Current Amherst students…</p>
<p>Do professors tend to use the same books from year to year? If the professor is new to teaching a class, but the class is the same year after year, do the textbooks change? Is there a way to find out what the textbooks are for classes now, before school starts?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Which classes in which departments are we talking about here?</p>
<p>Basic freshman stuff…Chemistry, Calculus, Biology</p>
<p>anything else you know freshmen take.</p>
<p>Oh… the typical fare. =P</p>
<p>Yes, new editions come out annually. Adding “bonus content” and fancy graphics lets publishers charge ever more exorbitant prices.</p>
<p>Syllabi and readings information are updated annually to accommodate the latest editions, but professors aren’t going to compel students to spend 200 dollars on these tomes when we can find the previous edition for a fraction of the price at The Option or on Amazon.</p>
<p>You would only have to be concerned if the class were using the 5th edition and you were using the 2nd edition.</p>
<p>With regards to finding out what books are used ASAP… e-mail the appropriate professors.</p>
<p>Sometimes different pagination is a pain, but I would imagine that all Amherst students are intelligent enough to accommodate those differences.</p>