My Friends,

I am now a PMP!

Passed on 10th Jan in Hyderabad Prometric center.

Lessons Learned:
---------------

I passed my exam in the first attempt on the LAST day of my eligibility (After an Year from applying to PMP!)
This is due to my onsite travel and other pressing commitments.

Let me share my experiences with you.

Attended simplilearn two days bootcamp in Pune almost an year back and went through Rita
(in the next immediate week for 3-4 days) only to leave it in the middle. Never gone through the PMBOK at that time.

When I was in the UK, started reading again in the month of July. A bit seriously.
Looking at few people suggestions, I studied (1) Headfirst only once (2) Kim Heldman once (4) PMBOK once. All these I covered in 25 days.

Scary of ITTOS (because I can't remember a single ITTO) and the exam format change, I postponed my exam again to October. But never prepared due to new project etc.,

Finally the exam due date is approaching and I have to give a go.
Purchased Rita 7th edition (procured it from US) and started reading it.

During the last week of my exam this is what I have done.

(1) Each and Every word of Rita Book, her end of the chapter's questions and her explanation.
(2) Purchased PMZILLA hard questions only to get 44% score.

I was NOT confident at all because my final preparations were very poor. Not a single ITTO is remembered. Didn't refer to PMBOK at all. My badluck, I didn't get time to know my errors from PMZILLA questions also!

Hating myself and with lost hopes, I went to Prometric center to give the exam.

Before that, on the roadside, I ate nice idlies (stomach full).
After that I started feeling sleepy because I was travelling from pune to Hyderabad the night before.

Anyway, in the exam hall, I was given a rough sheet and a pencil. Took 6-7 very deep breaths and started the exam. Answered 35 questions in the first hour. Only marked 2 questions. In the next 1 hour finished another 35 only.

I can feel the heat of time running out. I realized I spent lot of time on calculation related questions. But what can I do when I have to answer them!! Went for a quick break (3 minutes) to wash my face.
Started again. I kept on answering questions in my own way. At one point of time, I have to finsish 87 questions in 45 minutes! At  this timeI started reading the question aloud (not once but twice) to get what is the question about and increased my pace. Skipped 3-4 questions that seemed require more time to understand/calculate (Pity, I didn't select any answer - WORSE)

I know the exam would go for a toss but somehow I managed to come to the last question in the last 3 minutes time! (Lucky eh!)

But Iam left with only 30 seconds to find out how many I didn't answer and how many I marked!

Found 5-6 marked questions and 3-4 not answered questions!!!

Very quickly went back to answer the unanswered questions.
But very sad, system said the time is up!

The exam asked to complete a survey and I am least bothered because I know I will not pass.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw CONGRATULATIONS on the screen. I got all moderately profiecient but who cares?! I am now a PMP and felt very happy.

The reason for my pass is my solid understanding of concepts (study in July) from
many sources to understand certain difficult topics like EVA, Float etc.,

My mistakes and lessons learned:-
--------------------------------

(1) Try to read PMBOK just 2-3 days before the exam. (I couldn't do it!)
(2) Read Rita again just before a week of the exam. Attempt all the questions from Rita book.
(3) Never remember ITTOS. (This is not a mistake).
(4) Attempt at least 2-3 exams from good sources (including PMZILLA). Just to make yourself time paced.
(5) Review the answers of your mock tests. I didn't get time to review. Please don't do the same mistake I did.
(6) Prepare your own notes and refer to it before going to the exam.
(7) Try to imagine things while learning. Do this when you attempt answering questions.

All the questions in the exam are situational. There are 3-4 questions which are directly related to ITTOS.
It's waste of time remembering ITTOs. The exam calculator is similar to Windows calculator but it is slow. Please make sure when you click a digit on the calc, you make sure it appears on the screen :)

Thanks for reading this.

I wish all the best to other PMP aspirants.
Good Luck.