A few days ago
natassiakc

For my college courses do I have to buy the EXACT edition of books?

I’m going to FAU and online you can find out what books you need for your classes and you can buy them from the campus bookstore. I am buying them from Amazon.com (WAY cheaper).

The thing is though, that on the list of books it says by what publisher and edition the book is. I know that for textbooks it needs to be the exact edition, but what about literature books?

For example, one book I need for my Lit class is “In the Time of the Butterflies.” It says on the book list that it is “Edition:94

Publisher:PENG USA.” I cannot find the exact edition and publisher for this online. So does it matter for these kind of books if I do not buy the exact one???

Top 9 Answers
A few days ago
Dr. Gregg

Favorite Answer

It depends. My daughter does have to get the exact edition. Why? Because they may assign you to read certain pages, and those page numbers (and even the content) may change with each new edition.

If you do buy books that are not the right edition (but pretty much contain the information), make a friend in class. Whoever bought the “right” book can always help you figure out what to read in your version.

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4 years ago
?
Exact Edition
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A few days ago
papercrane
For literature books, different editions usually just include minor changes or the publisher will add special things, such as a note from the author or quotes written about the book, etc. Different editions should be okay, just make sure you don’t buy an abridged version.
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A few days ago
tinkgirl
It just depends on the teacher. some don’t care which edition you have because the info they go over is in both, some don’t even use the book so you have wasted your money, and then there are those teachers that use the book and actually want you to have the new edition because it’s got that little bite of new info that they feel the need to teach you (even though you are not going to remember it when the class is over).
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A few days ago
trigam41
I think it depends on the class. If you are in biology, you definately want the same edition. Things change so frequently.

However, for a lit class, I can’t imagine that the literature itself is going to change, so you’ll probably be okay.

Also, talk to your professor. Hopefully he or she will be understanding about college students trying to save money. He or she may be able to tell you what the differences in editions are and you can determine whether it will be detrimental or not.

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A few days ago
felixthecat
I bought used books when I went to college — it was MUCH cheaper and I didn’t find any problem with them at all. The people who sold them made a few dollars by ‘recycling’ the books, and I saved a ton by buying them used. See if there is any place near campus that deals with used books. That’s definitely the way to go.
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A few days ago
Anonymous
go to your college bookstore and get the ISBN # from the exact edition they have there and then use it to search online (you will get the right book)

***ALSO : amazon is great, but Textbook411.com searched over 20 bookstores (including amazon) for the best price on any book, beleive it of not there are often better deals out there!

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A few days ago
blue_luck_no_1
For literature, it is ok to not have the exact edition. But I would advise you to email the teacher/prof and ask; he/she will let you know right away.
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A few days ago
Anonymous
Ask, some editions will change over time. so you will not get the same information as others.
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