Hi Folks,

by the grace of god and with my wife's as well as my family's support I have passed my PMP exam on 26-Mar . I must tell you that it has been a very interesting as well as informative learning experience while preparing for and passing the exam.

My score:
1. Initiating - MP
2. Planning - MP
3. Executing - P
4. Monitoring & Controlling - P
5. Closing - P

Books that I read while preparing for PMP:
1. PMBOK 4th ed.
2. Rita's
3. HeadFirst's
4. Kim Heldman

Mock tests:
1. Rita's Fast track (extremely close to the real-life PMP exam)
2. PMStudy Free Test + 100s of online free mock tests
3. PMZilla's 200q

Study Schedule:
I have about 5+ years of experience managing large multi-site projects from different domains. I had been thinking about getting a PMP since last few months but finally I took it by the horns this month!
I started preparing for PMP in Jan 2013 (one task off of the New Year’s resolution list now!) and took about 2 months to cover PMBOK as well as other study material. Study time per weekday was about 2-3 hours and 8-10 hours on weekends. I have given numerous free mock exams available over internet however, as I read somewhere in this forum before, the free good-quality-real-life exam situational questions are hard to find.

In brief:
PMBOK - Dry as sand but it has the foundation and building blocks. Resist the urge to skim through and read it atleast twice.
Rita's - Excellent book on PMP. Few may find it bit condescending but overall a nicely balanced book with enough exercises and tips to cover the exam. I read it about 2-3 times.
HeadFirst's - Another excellent book on PMP. The only reason I read it was because of it's graphic content and storyline associated with each chapter! The book may present the topics in a comic manner but do not take this book lightly! It has all it takes to be a PMP. I read it about 2x. Easy review questions and mock exam should help you boost your confidence.
Kim - I read this as a backup book for any topic which I was unable to grasp from above books. Good review exams at the end of each chapter though.

Lessons Learned:

1. You may never feel "fully prepared" for PMP exam (except if you have like a decade of PM exp). Always track the results of all you mock tests and always try to uncover new questions instead of repeating tests.
2. GIVE AS MANY mock exams as you can. If you are come to a position where you can identify good exam questions from bad/mediocre ones, you are ready.
3. PMBOK alone is not sufficient. You must read atleast one accompanying reference book.
4. EVM Questions: Understand the formula instead of memorizing it. Exercise on interpreting the EVMs rather than just calculating it. Just because questions mentions EVM figures does not necessarily mean that you will need to use it to answer the question.
5. PMP tests you at an expert level. Be prepared to answer situational questions that will test you with a real-life like scenario. The test also contains choice which we managers will make in real life vs. what PMI states.
6. There is NO NEED to memorize ITTO. It’s more useful to relate those to KA/PG and understand its value.

About the exam:
1. I got many wordy questions but 30% of the times it contained "distractions" than to contribute to actual question.
2. Wordy questions will most certainly and always have keyword(s) that give away the answer clearly.
3. EVM questions were easier but always had "distracters" or extraneous information. Surprisingly the network analysis questions were quite easy.
4. Few questions were directly related to ITTO or Theorists but there was no explicit reference. For e.g. IO were explained instead of specifically mentioned.
5. In Rita's book, the Tips-and-Tricks sections are highly recommended. And it is for a good and true reason! Keep those in mind.
6. Read each question COMPLETELY before answering it. Many a times question will end up asking something else.
7. Read ALL answers before choosing one. There were both TRUE and CORRECT choices as option.
8. Don't let the exam control you! I jumped questions as my exam taking quirks for e.g. in the beginning I did Q# 1 to 25, then 150-175, then 75-100, then 25-50 etc. It worked for me!
9. DO NOT leave any question unanswered. Even if you mark a question to be reviewed later, make sure you select an answer before going ahead.
10. Exam was not very tough but not very easy either. The answers were fairly complex to choose from and there were always 2 seemingly correct answers most of the time. Also there were 2-3 direct questions which I honestly had no idea about (from glossary/appendix section may be!).

Lastly, many thanks to all the contributors for their inputs through this forum. To all the PMP aspirants, please use this site's vast pool of information to prepare better for your PMP exams.

Cheers!

-Vikram, PMP