Hi All,

I have cleared PMP exam on Feb-12.

I took PDU’s around 2yrs back when I was in India but couldn’t get much time as I moved to client place in US and was busy. As syllabus was changing in June so wanted to give a shot at any cost. As they say if you go for it you will find time or adjust your routine to take out time.

Preparation:

Around 180hrs.

I have prepared for nearly 1.5 months.

1 month - 2hrs (M-F) and 5hrs on Weekends

Last 15days - 5-hrs daily and 8-10hrs on weekends.

Last three days only revision.

Sometimes I used to get bored of studying so used to read the experience of PMP successful candidates on Internet it helps in generating positive vibes for preparation.

Material:

Rita

PMBOK (occasionally whenever exam questions explanation was referred to it)

Andy Crowe - To start with but left halfway as it was not detailed 

Prep Exams:

Rita exercise after each KA.

Exam Central-Topic wise questions

PMStudy - 1full exam

Velociteach- 1 Full exam

ExamCentral- 1 Full exam

Simplilearn- 1 Full exam

Leahman - 1 Full exam (toughest)

AndyCrowe – 1 Full exam(easiest)

PMZilla - 30 tough questions 

Cost:

Paid for PMI membership. I have gone for free exams and material nothing paid from my pocket.

 Examination:

After all hard work the day came for exam. I scheduled for 1PM slot as i generally revise till i hit the exam and this gives me that extra time in morning hours(just my comfort level). 

The exam was much tough than i expected. In actual exam there were a lot of EV cal's but were easy though which helped. Few in ITTO's and good coverage on procurement. Few of them on N/w diagrams and time consuming ones. 

It was exhaustive exam. I took 3hrs 45mins to complete and last 15mins to review 5-10 questions.

I was nervous and finally the blank screen appeared, it said Congratulations.

What a relief after the long hard work.

Credit: Almighty, Family for all support and Online user community who shared/posted PMP material free on Internet.

I prepared some tips for ITTO's taking key words from the tools instead of first alphabets like

Tools for Schedule:

-Schedule Schedule Schedule!!! Apply What? Critical Critical Resources

(Scheduling N/W analysis, Schedule Compression, Scheduling Tool, Apply Leads and Lags, Whatif Analysis, Critical Path Method, Critical Chain Method, Resource Leveling)

Tools for Control Schedule:

Project Resources Performance Varies Schedules. Whatif we Adjust Schedule.

(Project Mgt S/w, Resource Leveling, Performance reviews, Variance Analysis, Schedule compression, Whatif Analysis, Adjusting Leads and Lags, Scheduling Tool)

I have prepared a list and can  share if anyone is interested.

All the best!!

Regards

Rafi