GEO Depth - April 2016 Exam

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geomane

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What references did you GEO guy's and gal's find useful during the exam? Are there any references you wished you would have brought along?

 
I used the All-in-One by Goswani for both AM and PM. I also had my school notes, Soil Mechanics by Lambe and Whitman just in case and my own equations sheet for quick lookup rather than flipping pages. Everything I needed was in the All-in-One. Most of it is likely in the CERM, but I can't say for sure because I didn't really study with it. I just had it for a few things that the All-in-One didn't have or was too brief on (i.e., Slope of temporary excavation). 

There wasn't a question that had me going "Oh I wish I had that". But that's only because I knew I wasn't going to bother with certain things if they came up. For example, the All-in-One, and even the CERM I believe, doesn't have depth coverage for Knowledge Area IV and parts of Knowledge Area X and some other things I'm sure, from the depth geotech test plan/specifications. So if you want to be prepared for questions like that, you want to make sure you know how to do them and have the proper reference.

 
I took CERM, All in one, Das (Geotech and Foundation), and Practices Exams.

I think the most important thing you should be familiar with your references (what did you use for your study)

 
I took too much and left home the soils engineering book I needed the most. Took: Goswami, CERM, Geotech Engrs Portable Handbook, NAVFAC (Useless), Geotech Engr and Foundation Engr (Das) and many notebooks. I used my notes, Goswami and Geotech Handbook the most.

 
I noticed all of you took the Goswami book. I do not have this book and likely will not purchase it as I have more than enough references to choose from that I am already familiar with.

Thanks for your input though!

 
I noticed all of you took the Goswami book. I do not have this book and likely will not purchase it
Everyone I know on the East Coast used the All-in-One. I got to CA and everyone uses the CERM. But it's all about what you use to study.

Personally, All-in-One helped my focus and understanding in reviewing, and it minimized flipping through references. Pass or Fail, it was a well-invested 50 bucks and the September 2015 problem sets he made were closer to exam difficulty than the previous problems book. 

I had a bound set of my cheat sheets on the desk with All-in-One. The CERM was on the crate on the floor along with other references. I looked at it 4-5 times in 8hrs and a few of those, I couldn't even find what I was hoping to find.

Whatever you use, make sure you start using it early so you cover everything and know what you need to supplement. At that point, I don't think it matters what you have.

 
I used the EET binders for all my geotech problems.  I also took the CERM, Das books, and the NAVFAC DM's.  The NAVFAC manuals helped me with one problem that first time I took the exam.  Didn't use them much this go around.  Biggest thing that helped me was more practice exams, specifically from Goswami. 

 
Thanks, tangowhiskey. I am currently enrolled in the EET live webinar. I am able to access past recordings right now and like it so far. 

 
Geotechnical Engineer's Portable Handbook and CERM took care of most the problems.

I picked off a few others with my other soils books: Coduto & McCarthy

 
I also used my EET binder for all the geotech problems. I took the webinar on-demand and passed on the first try this past April. 

 
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