I PASSED - Thanks to pmzilla
Here is what I did.
1. Casually read headfirst book.
2. Read PMBOK 4th edition once.
3. While I was reading I was practicing Fast Track questions. Bought PMPerfect questions as I ran out of practice questions. In PMPerfect, question gets harder as you continue taking exams and there are so many things you forget just by reading the books and notes are caught in these exams. I got the link of Pmperfect.com from pmzilla and took a chance. I wasn't sure what type of questions would it have. It turned out to be very valuable. My score averaged around 85% towards the last days. My headfirst test also came to be 79% but it was taken earlier in the practice. Although the time I took headfirst test, I thought it wasn't that easy but people say it is simpler than real. Make sure you practice with timer to gain speed which gives you time at the end to review marked questions. I marked my mathematical questions also and reviewed calculations in review time.
4. In any of the exam you take, there will be some black and white questions, you know that your answer is correct. Some questions will have more that one answer right, my strategy was to choose superset in those i.e. team, stakeholder ... you pick stakeholders. Then there are questions that have 3 or 4 answers seemigly right. Those are the toughest ones - thats where I lost my points. I am more of black and white than gray.
In the questions where you have to select the correct input , output or tools list, look for the incorrect choice rather than right choice i.e if you are asked to tools for quality control process and you see contract in the list you know it is incorrect answer - this makes it easier to select the correct answer.
Practice with formulas and sequence diagram realated questions. Though they take a little longer to respond but they fall in the black and white category and sure scorers. Do write formulas down before exam starts - weirdly, it gives you a support even though you remember them.
There are several youtubes around EVM, sequence diagram and other topics that you should watch. Any concept you are not clear about, google it up and understand, don't just try to remember it. For example difference between, accurate and precise ... I thought I knew it until I really googled it up and really understood the difference.If you will try to just get over with the exam ...it won't work. You really need to spend time and understand each concept.
5. Having a good overview in your head and then practice questions till the last day is the only way to do it.
6. It is a long 4 hour test without breaks (you can take breaks only if you want to loose time) so make sure to sleep well the night before and have food that hold you for long time - avoid quick sugary food before exam. (Sorry had to give you this tip - I am a mom!)
Good Luck All!


uglory
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 20:57
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Congrats Seejain!. Thanks a
Congrats Seejain!. Thanks a lot for sharing your LL. What was the duration of your preparation?.
seejain
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 21:49
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how long to prepare?
I took longer to read the books and practiced Fast Track questions at slow pace may be because I had given 2 months of time to prepare with other high priority items on my plate. About 13 days before the exam - I ate, talked, walked, slept and dreamt the questions. I made sure I understood each wrong answer.
Last day before the exam, I was able to answer non-math questions in less than a minute. I completed the real exam in 3 hours, than took a break as you start feeling dizzy by the last question and then reviewed the marked questions.
For each wrong question during preparation, I verified the answer from PMBOK as different sources tend to overwhelm you with many right choices.
You must read the books to grasp the overall picture but once you are done reading the books, download the notes from pmzilla and refer to them when you can't remember the content. Abhisek / Rajesh notes are great memorization tool.
This test is a combination of your understanding, memorization and analytical skills. Give emphasis on each of them. Just one skill may not float the boat.
uglory
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 23:26
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Thanks a lot. I am
Thanks a lot. I am impressed.
seejain
Tue, 01/15/2013 - 14:05
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Thanks
Thanks and Good Luck!
admin
Tue, 01/15/2013 - 04:07
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Congratulations on your
Congratulations on your PMP. Thanks for posting your LL
Regards