I have been a silent lurker on this website for months but it has been such a great asset!! So, a little background is necessary.  I have decided to make a career change and focus on project management.  With my years of teaching and running my own business my application was accepted to take the PMP exam.  I began studying in January, ~two hours a night.  During the last two months, I spent about 4 hours a night, weekends included. I went through the PMBok loosely and mostly used Rita's book.  I downloaded three apps on my phone to practice questions as I was out and about ( A GREAT IDEA BTW!!! )  I wanted to take the exam prior to the change over in July so figured it would be wise to attempt it in April in case I did not clear and would need more time before July.  

Here is my prep:

PMBok-  used as a reference after reading Rita

Rita's book-  twice all the way through, then referred back to it for reference

Headfirst-  used the book more towards the end of prep.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28680971/101-PMP-Sample-Questions-for-the-PMP-...

Mock Tests

PMZilla tough 200- first time 55 second time 70

PMStudy 1 67

PMStudy 2 75 (closest to exam)

Oliver Lehman 70

Headfirst 50- 90

Scordo averaging ~75-85

Exam Central 75

PMforSure- 65 (did not like the wording)

All Phone apps- ~75

I was completing the mock tests in about 2 hours and then going back and seeing where I went wrong, making notes and moving on.  This was a great technique!!  I was finding that my weaknesses were with the flow of projects, therefore I did not truly understand the ITTOs.  And the math was getting me a bit.  It was not always straightforward like I had seen on a lot practice exams.  You had to go back to your middle school algebra to find the missing variable.

The two days before the exam, I focused on writing out my brain dump.  On my sheet I had page 43 of the PMBok, as well as all formulas and network diagram info.  The night before the exam I wrote out a detailed copy of page 43 with all ittos.  I wanted it fresh in my mind when I went to take the exam.  My exam was not until 1 so I went to the bookstore early, wrote out my dump several times and referred to my detailed copy as well. 

Exam Day

My exam started 30 mins late due to the MCAT's being administered in the same place so this was some added stress!!! The first 15 mins I wrote out my dump.  Just an easy trick I used for p43, make sure you know how many processes go under each column- 2 I's, 20Ps, 8 E's, 10 M/C's, 2 C's. This helped me know what I was missing, just in case.  It took me about 11 mins to complete this.  Once I got control of my nerves, I began.  I went through the entire test in 2.5 hours.  I took a break when I completed it the first time, ate a power bar, drank some water and came back to it for the last hour and a half.  I was able to go through every question again.  I had marked well over 100 questions to be honest.  I changed ~20 of them after having some food in my stomach and being able to think clearly!!! There was a lot of math on the test. For the math questions, definitely use http://www.scribd.com/doc/28680971/101-PMP-Sample-Questions-for-the-PMP-... It was such a help and I am so grateful that I found this the week before my exam!!!!

Overall, I feel the test was harder than most things I had seen.  It was very vague and definitely not at all straightforward like I would have thought.  I felt secure in about 75 of the questions.  I submitted my test with 4 minutes left.  It took a good 2 mins to churn and grade it.  I have never been so happy to see congratulations.!! I definitely felt it could have gone either way!!!!  Any advice I can offer anyone please let me know!!! There is nothing like passing that exam!! I was excited beyond tears, literally!!!!!  :)

Elizabeth McDonough, PMP