Short version:

Studied for approx 75-100 hours total
Used Andy Crowe, Head First, and PMBOK (focused on glossary)
Passed test with "Moderately Proficient" in all 6 categories

Long version:

Hi All,

Some of you may recall in my other post that I was unsuccessful on my first attempt at the PMP examination.  I believe I got caught up in the idea that reading the head first PMP guide and thumbing through the pmbok would be sufficient.  It clearly was not.

on that attempt I scored "below proficient" on 4 out of the 6 processes, and "moderately proficient on the two others.

After failing the first attempt, I immediately re-scheduled my test for 4 weeks out, this gave me enough time to really study the items I may have missed prior, and it would not be so long that I would start to get “fuzzy” on the things I already had learned.

One MAJOR difference in the second time around was using Andy Crowe’s “how to pass the PMP test on your first try” book.  Although Head First was ok for some high level concepts, and it does do a great job on network diagramming explanations, I feel as if Andy Crowe has a better approach to actually passing the exam.

I also took quite a few online tests and after reading Crowe’s book, I was consistently scoring in the 70% and 80% on every online test I could find.  I also scored an 82% on the practice exam in the back of the Crowe book.

The second time I took the PMP test I also took two breaks (on my first attempt I took zero breaks).  I think this helped to relax me a bit, and I had a snack and some gatoraid during my breaks.  The first time I took the exam I think I rushed, and I only marked two or three questions for review.  This time I marked 40, but that was a good thing because I only marked the ones which either had math so I could double check it, and the ones that I was not certain of the answer.  This means I was “certain” I got 160 of the questions right.  Of course there is no way to know this for sure, and I would be willing to bet that I probably got some of them wrong, but either way I felt pretty good.  After my second break (which was about 15-20 minutes long since I had finished all of the questions in approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes – plenty of time to spare) I reviewed those 40 questions.  I probably changed about 5 of the answers and left the rest the same.

All of the math on the exam was straightforward, those are basically freebie questions if you have the formulass memorized.  Making flash cards for each formula is extremely beneficial - there's only like 12 of them so this activity takes no time at all.  I was able to memorize the formulas in about 1 hour (although I also have a solid understanding of all of the concepts behind the formulas)

Like many others, my heart was pounding rather intensely I was finishing up the test.  I still clearly remember the pain and feeling of defeat after failing the first time so I was extra anxious.  I finished up the survey, waited for the white screen, then saw the beautiful word “CONGRATULATIONS”! I didn’t really read the rest of it, or if I did I don’t remember what it said (I was too excited at this point).

My final results were “Moderately Proficient” in all 6 categories.  It would have been nice to have been “Proficient” in a few of them – but hey, a pass is a pass, and I’ll take it!

Thank you all for all of your help and input on this forum, lots of great tips here!

Andrew Q, PMP