April 25th-29^th, I took a prep course to satisfy the required 35 contact hours at True Solutions Inc. in Frisco, TX. They offer a 1^st-pass guarantee on the PMP certification test if you pass their final exam with a 75% or better and I met this requirement. This was a great course and I really enjoyed interacting with the other students in the class. There was a study guide provided with the course and we used it in conjunction with reading the PMBOK. I reviewed the study guide included with the course for the next week. 

Over the following 2 weeks, I read Head First PMP. This book is a very easy read and I wished that I had done it before taking the class. I thoroughly enjoyed the style of this book. I scored at least 75% on all of the end-of-chapter quizzes, purposefully saving the 200 question exam for later.

I picked up the PMP Exam Cram book and read it in one week while I was traveling for work. It is not an in-depth learning resource and I bought it primarily for the 200 question test on the included CD. I scored 74% on this exam when I took it immediately after reading the book. This was the least helpful of any of the study material I used.

My next step was to begin reading Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep 6^th Ed. Like many, I found the commentary in the book to be a little harsh and not at all motivational. The study material itself however was first rate and I highly recommend this resource. Half-way through Rita’s book, I retook the final exam from my prep class, scoring essentially the same as I had before; that was a little disturbing so a couple of days later, I took the Oliver Lehman 175 free question exam, scoring 76%. Having finished this book, I reviewed my scores from all the chapter quizzes and had scored between 65% and 90% on all of them. I re-read the 3 chapters where I had scored under 80%, answered those questions again, and had raised my score to over 85% on each of them. I continued to practice with Rita’s Process Chart right up until the exam date and I think it was very helpful.

I was on vacation for the next week and did no studying of any kind.

Over the next 2 weeks, I read the PMBOK again. It was no less dry, but I got a lot more out of it this time. I was able to answer several questions on the exam specifically because of this second reading.

In the final week before my exam, I reviewed areas where I felt deficient in each of the books and took the free exams at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com. I was very concerned because I scored less than 70% on each of them. I had heard that most free test on the internet were not nearly as hard as the PMP exam, and I certainly hoped these questions were not more indicative of the true difficulty. On the day before the exam I took the Head First test that I had been saving and my confidence was restored, as I scored 92% on it. On that note, I felt ready and slept well the night before the exam.

During the 15 minute tutorial, I did my planned brain dump of formulas. My worry returned when I began the exam and felt it necessary to mark 5 of the first 6 questions for review. I took a few minutes to compose myself and continued. As I marked questions for review, I made notations about the question on the provided paper, in case subsequent questions provided relevant insight. I found this process very helpful later. I made note of my time after each 50 questions and found that I was finishing them about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, consistent with the speed I had observed during all of my simulated exams. I took about a 5 minute break in my seat after each 50 questions, but I never left the room. After completing all questions, and after my final break, I began to review all the questions I had marked for review – about 25. I used the remainder of the time to go back over the marked questions, reviewing the notes I had made the first time through. I changed less than 10 answers and un-marked them as I either changed them or settled on my original answer. I continued cycling through those that were marked until time was about to expire and then ended the exam. After a few moments, a survey about the testing process appeared and I answered it. After what seemed forever the results appeared: “Congratulations, you have passed the PMP certification test.”

Proficient: Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling

Moderately Proficient: Initiating, Professional Responsibility

Two months from 1^st day of PMP course to exam date.

I usually read for an hour or two each day after the class and answered chapter questions as I came to them. Each of the 3 weekends before the exam, I took a 200 question simulation. Between the chapter quizzes in the books and the simulated exams, I answered close to 1500 questions prior to the exam.

The exam was quite comprehensive and I had to read many of the questions multiple times to completely understand them before looking at the answers. There are many ‘double-negative’ questions and many others that contain information not relevant to the actual question. There are questions that use process names from earlier editions of the PMBOK. http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=2315&country=United+States

As is my typical practice on multiple choice questions, I read the answers from bottom to top. I find that this helps me avoid jumping at the first answer that seems plausible.

I did not memorize the ITTOs, rather I made sure I could follow the flow of documents/artifacts from output to input and to know which documents should have been previously created at any given stage. If you can do this, I feel you will be fine. Having said that, if you think you are borderline on answering situational questions, it would be of great value to be absolutely certain that you could answer ANY question that appeared regarding ITTO. www.brainbok.com is a great resource if you choose to study the ITTOs.

Quality and Risk seemed the most difficult/detailed areas to me.

Be prepared to deconstruct CPI and SPI to get components to use in your calculations.

 

Good Luck!