Hi All,

Cleared my PMP exam on 23rd January with  proficient in Planning , Monitoring and controlling and  moderately proficient in Initiating, executing, closing. Listing my study plan and other things I did.

Study duration -2 month (Only on weekends and occasionally weekdays for 3 to 4 hours a day)

Last 10 days before the exam 7 to 8 hours a day

Study materials

1) PMBOK 5th edition- Extensively read, page to page, extremely helpful

2) Rita's Book- read twice but not as extensively as PMBOK- referred when needed- I recommend this book

3) Andy crowe- Referred when needed, content is of high standard - quite useful.

4) PMP headfirst - Referred couple of chapters - not at all useful- not up to the PM standard (Strictly my personal view )

5) Referred PMzilla for specific questions- which was very useful and helped a lot.

Mock tests and result ( All mock tests were taken after   I completed at least 1^st round of studying and  25days before the exam)

Tests have been ranked based on their standard and similarity with real PMP exam ( again strictly my personal views)

1. Oliver Lehmann 175 questions(free)- My score 77.9%- highly useful, very high standard , highly recommended- Rank 1
2. PM study exam 1 (free)  - My score 77.14 %- very good standard – very useful – highly recommended- Rank 2
3. PM exam simulator exam 3 (Paid )- My score 83%- good –useful – Rank 3
4. Rita fastrack (Paid – very costly) –super PMP- my score 69%( 1^st try) and 80%( 2^nd try ) –many questions were repetition from 1^st exam ( that is the reason I could score high 2^nd time) – good standard and useful – Rank 3
5. Rita fastrack(paid very costly)  knowledge area exams – my score 73 % to 89 % - Very useful for learning concepts- highly recommended- Rank 3
6. PMZilla 30 tough question – My score 30%- not so authentic answers, not useful , it may be harmful as well ( strictly my personal view) – Rank- not even worth ranking
7. There are many free tests I have taken which were very easy and I was scoring more than 80% in all of them- they were good to learn concepts but not focused towards real exam.

My views on real exam.

1. Real exam was not easy neither highly difficult if you have prepared well
2. Things were highly logical and questions were of very high standard
3. Looked like lot of research has gone into creating those questions.
4. I felt It never tested my memory power
5. It had put my analytical ability to the intense test.
6. Understanding the wordy questions was of utmost importance.
7. I was threatened by first few questions , but I regained my confidence and maintained my calm.
8. I had left with only 8 minutes to review my answers and I had marked close to 29 questions for review. Around 10 questions were so confusing and difficult , I dint even marked them for review.
9. Finally blank screen . moment of silence and eruption of joy – I had passed !
10.  I could not take even single break due to my slow answering rate.

Regards

Goutham