Hi all, 

I have been a silent visitor on this site.. and today I am finally writing my first post. This is dedicated to all those who are aspiring for PMP and all those who shared their Lessons learned and guided and inspired me 

I cleared PMP PMBOK 5 exam last saturday (24th August 2013)  on first try. 

Lessons Learned

1. Getting training in a physical class, face-to-face from an instructor in a good institute definitely helps, recommended.. 

2. Do not be lazy in scheduling the exam after you get your training PDUs, schedule it to ensure your own firm commitment towards exam. 

3. Read RITA 8th edition thoroughly, at least two times, solve all the problems in it (target to score 75%+ in that), make sure you do the in-chapter excercises as well. 

4. PMBOK 5 is a must-read, I know people skip it sometimes but as far as I am concerned, I think it is important to read it. I read it after reading Rita, and I also read the glossary (about 50% of it) once

5. Practice the critical path, EV problems, Risk and PTA problems thoroughly.. should be straightforward if you get a hang of it. I used Head First PMP to study Critical Path topic only. 

6. Give at least two or three full length mock exams, I gave PMP for Sure (67%), PMSTUDY2 (74%) PMSTUDY3 (77%) Oliver (71%) , PMP for sure was an eyeopener for me.. Filling the gaps is essential, Practice exams make things very interesting during the course of your learning :) Practice tests should start at least 1-2 weeks before your final exam

7. Page 61 of PMBOK 5 is a must 

8. ITTO memorization.. well I did understand and memorize main ITTOs for all important processes given at the end of Rita, apart from that I memorized scope, time, cost, quality and stakeholder ITTOs, it helped in exam actually..  level of memorization should be sufficient enough to identify and pick the answer in exam 

9. Special attention should be paid to Communications and Stakeholders management chapters, they seem easy but they are tricky.. 

10. Overall preparation took me around 2 months 

Test 

- Test was quite difficult. At the end of the first hour I was behind schedule so I took appropriate corrective actions and sped up, Saw quite a few EV questions, HR questions.. no questions from prof social responsibility (at least i cant remember any) 

All formulas should be on your tips.. 

Note: Do not, in any case, leave any question blank and marked, it is better to choose an answer and leave it marked rather than totally leaving blank. You may not be able to review all questions 

I guess thats about it.. I passed and was so relieved.. all those hours of preparation paid off.. :)