Hi Guys,

I finally passed on my 3rd attempt today with 1P, 3MP, and 1BP.

I came to this forum asking for advice on October 18th when I failed my 2nd attempt. You can read the review here: 

http://pmzilla.com/i-failed-pmp-twice

After thinking what to do going forward, I decided to give it one more try before my registration expired. I mindlessly wandered thinking what to do, bought couple of books and sat studying again. I audited my study methods and decided to be smart about it. I had failed a test in October, so I knew what kind of concepts are tested. 

- I bought Head first PMP to get my feet wet. I read about 70% solved all the questions and switched away as my exam dates were coming closer. 

- I decided come what may, I am just going to stick to PMBOK. Even it is boring,I am going to keep reading it. Whatever I did not understand from PMBOK, I read in different reference guides. 

- Solve a lot of practice questions. You can know a lot about how to date, but if you don't ask a girl out, you won't know what works and what does not! I solved about 1000 questions. I should have done more. 

- Reading the PMBOK is a MUST! People take initiating and closing for granted, but I think they are very important chapters. I read Risk, Procurement and Quality from PMBOK 5--6 times and everytime I found something new. 

- Test Experience: 

- My test started with a little drama,as soon as I got to answer the 1st question, my screen went blank. I had to call the guy administering the test and then we went back and forth about it. He restarted the system and strangely my test started again and this time question #1 was different. LOL

- Test is Tricky. No doubt!!! Questions are well thought out, they anticipate where people can make mistakes and have laid out traps accordingly. The 2nd time when I took the test, I finished the test with 1 hour to spare, but this time I forced myself to spend 4 hours and re-read every question if it did not make sense. Re-reading the question made more sense. I could eliminate 2 choices, but other 2 answer choices where very close. 

- This time, I did not get a lot of Math questions. Math questions are so easy and a relief at times. I got a TON of situational questions regarding initiation and closing.

- A lot of Input, output and T&T questions.

- Contracts

- Just 1 tuckmann ladder and 2-3 conflict resolution

- A ton of what project manager do now, where the project manager will look? Its important to understand the relationship between sponsor and manager as well. 

- I was surprised to find T&T and processes laid deep in some questions, I had to read it multiple times to see what they were actually testing. They have smartly wrapped concepts under a lot of verbage.

- I found a lot of questions with extra verbage which made no sense. 

 - If I were to give my 2nd test which I failed again, I would have probably nailed it. LOL.. I had 50 questions for review with 50 minutes remaining. I finished with 10 minutes to spare.

And finally the long awaited "Congratulations!" message appeared and my PMP journey came to an end. 

Thanks Guys! I will try to answer any questions you might have below.