To Rent or To Buy, That is the Question?

[easybreezy]

Hey everyone! I've been trying to decide whether to rent or buy my textbooks.  This upcoming fall will be my first year in grad school and I'm taking three intro classes (Epi, Biostats, and Intro to Healthcare).  My concentration is health promotions, but I am interested in switching it to epidemiology.  I'm still in the process of getting a feel of what I want to do as part of me would love to research, but the other part of me wants to open a non-profit based on what I've learned in health promotions.  Should I buy all books related to health promotions and epidemiology and rent all other books related to specific concentrations? My booklist is available, should I email my professors regarding the syllabus? 

[chugh]

I think it's really up to your study style and what you think you'll find useful in the future. I bought my first PH textbooks (used), such as Intro to Biostatistics. I'm in Epi, just finished my first year. I thought I would reference it more than I have, but maybe the book will still be useful in the future. You seem to have a good starting point--buying what you think is useful and renting the rest. 

[themmases]

I just finished an MS in epi and I bought most of my required books except for an intro course I really had no interest in.

I did go back and reference my intro biostats book in subsequent classes. One hard thing about looking up help with biostats is that not everyone will use the same notation... It's hard to jump into some random author's explanation of a concept when they are using notation that looks familiar but means something different. So at those times I preferred to just go back to a book that I knew.

Also, there are a few very well-known epidemiology textbooks that are commonly assigned and you will start to see them referenced in other work. Some of their authors (e.g. Greenland, Kleinbaum) are a big deal in epi methods and biostats so it's helpful to know who people are talking about. One book-- "Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics" by Szklo and Nieto-- was actually assigned to me twice. These are important reference books if you want to stay in epi, especially the more advanced texts like "Beyond the Basics" and "Modern Epidemiology".

Many of my classes had an optional text that was just a suggested reference, or a book from which they shared the needed chapters on Blackboard. If the professor says that's the case, believe them and don't buy the book unless you're really interested. Get it from the library or don't get it at all.

[easybreezy]

@chugh, thanks for the input  how did you like your first year? honestly. i'm ready for august to come around lol. it feels weird not having to worry about classes.

@themmases, awesome! i already started a small collection from undergrad with some epi, biostats, and grant writing books.  i just had a hunch that for the required research methods classes that i have, it would probably be best to go ahead and buy epi and biostats related books.  i'm hoping my professors are generous enough to provide that sort of information or at least remember to share it on blackboard lol.  thank you so much!!