Hi All,

Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,  Cleared the PMP exam on 1st attempt today.

Prepration Time: Exact 1 month
Cource Material: PMBOK 4, Rita V7
PMP Fast Track V7.

Free Mock Tests: 
www.oliverlehmann.com
www.pmstudy.com
www.edwel.com

So Here Goes my Story:
Iam a core technical guy with little or no exp of PM Concepts,So far my role in all projects was Core project team member, I would say this helped me a lot as i had nothing to wipe out of my head (Real PM Job) and get into what PMI expects PM to be. Those who are in this PM world would know the meaning of this well because lot of things which PMI expects a PM to have are contraductory with real world. Whatever the reason may be but its a hard fact. So i was a fresher for the concepts and hence could grasp the concepts like a kid.

You may find tons of other LL's here who would guide you on material, mock tests etc. Trust me guys, main thing which would help you is the determination. I started preparing for PMP on 19th June, Read Rita 7 relegously, Post rita i read PMBOK thouroughly. So one book at a time and only once. Main thing while reading any book was reference to Rajesh Nair's notes. I used to keep the notes open on my laptop all the time while reading the book, that way i used to relate the concept with corrosponding KA, without this i was getting lost where i am while grasping the concepts.

I Used to study 5-6 hours weekdays and 12-13 hours weekends (Including mock test time).
Did lots and lots of Mocks from Pm fast track, twice from PMstudy (Free ones), once edwel and oliver.
Trust me, none of the Mock tests depict exact picture of any question in exam, however you definately need to know how to concentrate and sit for 4 hours in actual exam and focus, without enough practice there is a fair chance of fatigue. All these mock tests bring your level of expertise to exam level and teach you to concentrate in live environment, So take mocks seriously. Also mock score seem irrelevant to me coz i got 50% in oliver, 60% in edwel and constant 63-66% in rita, god knows why but i was still confident of attempting the real exam looking at mock low results. One thing i surely did was to get back to results of each mock, take screenshot of every wrong answer and figure out why my understanding differed from right answer.

While you decide you have to become PMP certified, make sure you develop a strong will ,desire and determination too,  Also make sure to stay away from distractors ( Iphone, BB, other gadgets or things you are fond of) while you study, Strictly nothing else than study material while you study.

Also i took printouts of Rajesh nair's all ITTO sheets on 11X17 sheet and pasted them on my wall along with PMBOK page 43, i used to read that every now and then whenever iam standing idle, even while evening tea or any free time,I didnt had to memorize anything coz by the end of 1 month all that was in my mind as picture. However i did not feel any need to memorize the ITTO looking at exam, even if you memorize it wont help much, you definately need to know the logic behind input and output, once you know them,you can create the ITTO on tips with little knowledge and topping of common sence. Though you need to know tools as you may not guess them if you dont know them.
Also i have a 8 months Kid and while playing with him i used to readout Input/Output  to him, He used to enjoy as if iam takling to him and i used to brush up my concepts :) this was my way, surely you'll find one or some other innovative way of your's.
 

During exam my exp was same as others in LL (Reached early, wrote all KA, formulas.....Etc) however one thing i felt most important to share is distractors!!, exam centre bieng a shared one has other candidates too, i had GRE candidates next to me (Both sides), they had some sort of typing test wherein they had to type fast or type a lot, noise of keyboards was loud because of calm environment. I had to ask soft plugs from centre but they were of Bad quality and could not fit, Make sure you take some good soft plugs along if distraction annoys you.

Took one break after 3 hours for 2 minutes, actually i did not feel like taking break as mock practice had seasoned me a lot for 4 hour tests.

Best of luck to all and of cource thanks a ton to PMzilla as most of the resources i got from this forum.

Regards,
Navdeep