Civil Engineering All-In-One PE Exam Guide: Breadth and Depth, Second Edition

Hands down the best prep for the PE exam. I know it sounds like an exaggeration let me explain why. The Lindberg book is the size of a phone book with a layout like an encyclopedia or a medical textbook. No engineering book follows such a convoluted format. Goswami's book is set following basic concepts to complex details. I was able to read the entire book cover to cover and get a sense of being able to understand all the subjects on the PE. The book includes some great practice problems that are only a little harder than the NCEES practice exam questions but easier than the horrible 6 Minute Solutions. The book has an easy to follow index and you are able to use this book much more efficiently than Lindberg. I have thoroughly compared the geotech section in Lindberg to Goswami's and for example; on the Shallow square foundations Lindberg gives you the the general formula with values to modify the equation for a square foundation. Goswami gives you the formula for a square foundation without confusing you no values to modify. Also Goswami gives you a table with more values for Phi instead of having you interpolate like Lindberg. There might be some complex detail lacking for the depth section of the PE. It would be impossible to include this in the book. Sort of what Lindberg tried to do and failed. So you still need advanced section references. The Lindberg book was really expensive. Honestly I could have done without it. Just buy Goswami's guide and get reference materials for the in depth section. Buy early edition reference books and the whole package should run you about 400 for geotech. Half if you got Lindbergs. Goswami also gives a great review class for the PE google his name. You study before hand from this book and ask him tough questions in a webminar. I talked to people that took school of PE and that class is basically for people that are unable to study. The school of PE class goes over formulas and theories. Don't waste your time studying in a class. Do it beforehand and troubleshoot hard questions with Goswami. Goswami is a Structural PE at Morgan State in Maryland. No other class has a PhD teaching it. Oh and did I mention Goswami's class is half of what school of PE charges and about 1/3 of what the Test café rip off charges.

This book is a good resource overall, in addition to using the CERM. When this book covers topics beyond those covered in CERM, it often is poorly worded and it is expressly lacking details that can leave you scratching your head trying to understand what the author is saying. I also noticed that there a several errors in the practice problem solutions where I can not find an errata for anywhere.

This book is much easier to read, follow, and understand than the CERM. I used this book more than the CERM and was my main go to book during the PE exam. It's a handy companion to the CERM and the All-In-One Practice Exams. I recommend adding this to your AM studies and use with the CERM. In using the two you will find that what the CERM doesn't cover All-In-One does and vice versa. I found several topics that the CERM did cover but was very hard to follow and understand. All-In-One did a much better job at explaining the material. Putting the two together will be all you need for the AM exam as far as references and books.

If you're trying to sort through... just what do I study??? This book will kick start your work. Read it cover to cover to prep for the exam. It has everything you need and nothing you don't. Unlike the typical giant CERM reference, this books is easy to navigate and keeps things relatively simple. I recommend both books if taking the exam because there will certainly be those random "out of left-field" questions on the PE that are only found in the depths of the CERM but this is text will help you study and provide you a great "view from 5000 ft" keeping you from getting deep in the weeds which is exactly where you'll be if you try to read the CERM :) Good luck on the exam!

Two huge benefits of this book made it indispensable for my PE study: 1. This book seems to have been written expressly for the Civil PE Exam, which means that it is organized more closely to how the exam is organized, and gives you a targeted study tool to prep you for the exam. 2. Available in electronic format, which meant that I could take it with me while traveling (unrealistic with the other books). Also, searching was much easier. However, I would suggest having supplemental materials in case you find explanations that are not comprehensive enough. Occasionally, I did find terms that weren't extremely well-explained, a couple topics for the exam were missing, and some variables were not clearly defined. That supplemental book for me was the PPI "bible," which I found helpful as a reference but did not help focus my study for the exam. Together with these two books and a practice exam, I passed the April 2013 exam on the first try.

At least for me, this book was not especially helpful for the PE exam/ The formatting of the information and sample questions was dissimilar from the setup of the exam and sample exams from NCEES that it left me frustrated. I spent more time notating the book to "translate" the relevant sections into the exam breakdown that I actually used it as a reference. The information was good, but I really needed something more in line with the actual exam. I took it to the exam, but I don't think I ever even opened it. I recommend sticking to sample exams and other information offered directly from NCEES since the formatting will match the actual exam, saving you time and effort on exam day where you will already be stressed enough.

This book was well worth it and so much cheaper than the alternative. I used it from the beginning of my studies. I had a CERM borrowed from work and realized that was way too much and too confusing when I started studying. Granted I did put in a lot of studying hours mostly doing problems from Goswami's problem sets (which are much harder than the test), but I can say that this book is all I needed for the morning and afternoon geotech. I recommended this book to a few people and they all agree that's what they should have used the first time. Keep in mind though, that for Geotech, a lot of it is theory, concept and experience. So, if you're relying on this book to teach you that, you might be in trouble. You need to go back to your school notes, labs, field work etc... for a refresher on that.

Edit: In case it matters, I did pass the Env/WR PE exam. Honestly, I shouldn't have bought this book. I bought it at the beginning of my review (while I was in my panic phase!)- but ended up abandoning it pretty quickly. I did not end up taking this with me as a reference for the PE exam. If you're not sure what this book is and you're just getting started- this book is not in any way a replacement for the Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE exam. You need to buy the CERM. Go buy it. The All in One, reads like a book that wanted to give you a comprehensive understanding of all of the topics...rather than prepare you for the PE exam. Is that a bad thing? I think in this context, and with all due respect to Dr. Goswami who's clearly put an immeasurable amount of work into this text, yes it is. Let's not fool ourselves here- the reason you're buying this book is not to gain a comprehensive knowledge of all facets of civil engineering. It's to pass the PE exam. The biggest challenge of this exam is breaking down an impressively broad amount of material into the key pieces required. I thought too much focus in this text was given to concepts with relatively small or little impact on the exam. I tried to use this book to brush up on some of my hydrology and hydraulics (subjects I am well versed in) and found that it covered a lot of material far outside the scope of the exam (both morning and afternoon), and did not provide examples similar to much that I saw on the test. If you're going to prepare yourself completely independently (e.g. no review course), then I would recommend this book. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if you found the material a bit overwhelming and discouraging if this was your main reference. I would strongly recommend that you first print out the NCESS exam specifications which list the percentage of questions on each topic so that you know how much review time to spend on each as this book is equally comprehensive on some of the minor things. If you're going to take a review course (which I would recommend), this book is unnecessary. If you're on the fence- hold off and start your review without it.