Yesterday I passed the PMP exam on my 2nd attempt, I am so thankful to acomplish my goal.

So here is my story...  I failed the exam in July.  I felt prepared but no one explicitly told me how hard the PMP exam really is.  The most important thing everyone should understand is THE PMP EXAM IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.  I have never taken an exam where the majority of questions have two correct answers and you must select the 'most' correct.  I know PMI wants to ensure you fully understand the material but having two correct answers out of four is tough even when you know the material backwards and forwards.

After failing the exam I felt terrible, and did not know if I wanted to even attempt again.  After two weeks I decided to go for it again.  I began by reading PMBOK 5, it is not as bad as some make it out to be.  I found it very easy to read and by far the most valuable study tool over the course of three months I read it four times, each time you read it you will learn something new.

I also read Rita's 8th edition book which fills in all the gaps for the PMBOK.  After a full read of Rita I went back to the PMBOK and read it cover to cover.  While reading the PMBOK for the second time I had Rita's book alongside and would read areas that the PMOBOK did not go in depth when needed.

I ordered Rita's flashcards and Exam Prep software.  It is not cheap but well worth the money as the questions are similar to the exam.  The flashcards are very good and keeps your mind in the PMP mode at all times, I carried the flashcards with me everywhere, to work, on road trips, flying, etc. 

About two weeks before my exam date I focused on just taking practice exams, there are numerous free PMP apps available for iphones, ipads. etc.  Download ALL of them and whenever you are able answer the questions. Some of the questions are simple but the key is to just keep your mind in the PMP mode and get to thinking as a PMI Bot.  I also used Rita's exam prep software constantly it is very user friendly allowing you to select knowledge areas, process groups, or keywords to test on.  One area where I was weak was Planning and Cost so I focused on that.

Five days before the exam I read the PMBOK from cover to cover one last time.  I believe this helped me more than anything because it really is the sole source of all the exam questions.  I continued to take practice tests using the PMP apps and Rita software along with the flash cards.

The night before the exam I just flipped through the flash cards and went to bed early.  My exam was scheduled at 8am.  I arrived at the test center at 6:55am and was the first one there.  It was much better to not be in any rush at all and decompress at the test site. 

When I was seated at the computer I wrote down all the Knowledge Areas and Process Groups, all formulas, quality theorists, and motivation theories.  Hint - if you do not touch the computer to begin the tutorial you will get an extra five minutes before taking the exam (total of 20 minutes).  After writing everything down I read over my notes to give my mind one last boost of all the PMIisms, said a prayer, and  then proceeded to take the test.

The test was NOT any easier the second time at all.  So if you are taking it for the second time don't get overconfident that it will be a cinch.  I finished the 200 questions in 3 hours 55 mins.  Used the final five minutes to review some marked questions.  Needless to say I was THRILLED to see Congratulations you passed.

Best advice while taking the test:  don't get hung up on one question.  If you take more than 3 minutes just select what you think is the answer and mark it for review.  You need to keep your mind in gear and not wear it out trying to figure out a complex question that may not even be graded.

Hope this helps....