Hello,

I cleared my PMP on 27-Jan 2014. First things first, before getting into my lessons learnt on this, I will like to thank Naperville library for right environment, books & infrastructure to get through this and PMZilla.com for making this such a resourceful site.

Please bear with me. It is going to be lengthy. Have done this with a purpose. Want people to relate to the content and get motivation to achieve it irrespective of various constraints.

A bit of background in order to understand the scope better . My time from 6:30 AM to 6 PM is booked. (Getting up at 6:30 AM & by the time I am back home from work it is 6 PM). When I started to plan for PMP, I had to take this into consideration that I will not be able to squeeze in time during that period. I kid of 2 ½ years old and he would not give me anytime from 6 to 9 PM or until he goes back to bed in the night. This was the most important constraint (Time) for me to take up PMP.

Segregated different aspects of preparation for better clarity:

Schedule Management:
• Had started understanding the material by scanning websites, forums, lessons learnt, PMBOK to gauge the difficulty of the exam.
• Concluded that complete self-study without any training would need roughly about 120 – 150 hrs (Including about 5 mocks).
• Scheduled my exam for 27th Jan on 13th Dec 2013. This left me with 6 weeks of preparation time. This is when I started studying.
• Based on my constraints on time, I made up my mind to wake up at 5 AM in the morning and study in the library from 6 to 9 PM in the night. This gave me roughly 4 hrs a day to prepare and then you sacrifice last 3 weekends to get about 40 hrs. Surprisingly I had surplus hours (6 weeks of 5 working days each X 4 hrs = 120 hrs and additional 40 hrs from the weekends.)

Scope Management:
• I read through PMBOK once (The online version).
• First Pass: Picked up Andy Crowe from library. Found this very easy to read and interpret.
• Second Pass: Picked up Rita from library and started reading to understand gaps or missing pieces of information from Andy.
• Third Pass: By this time you will clearly understand the gaps in knowledge. Was revising those gaps by solving questions after each chapter in both Rita and Andy Crowe. This will give you lot of confidence.

Mock Exam Plan
• Solved about 10 Mocks from Scrodo (50Qs each)
• PMStudy (200 Q)
• Andy Crowe Final Exam in the book (200 Q)
• PMP for Sure
• Kim Heldman
• Exam Central

Finally, what worked for me was:

1) Have a definite plan for study. No substitute to this.
2) Three pass rule for studying through the material. Every pass makes you grow in confidence.
3) Doing mocks from different sources gives you a kind of mixed questions base. I was scoring 70 to 80% in all mocks. Somehow I found actual PMP questions relatively easier.
4) Blindly believe in what tips Andy and Rita give for passing examination. They really work.
5) If you do not have access to Andy Crowe, going for Rita alone should be good enough but the size of the content may be over whelming.
6) Read through RMC tips for nervous test takers in the last week. Helps you stay calm if you have high stakes on passing this through.
7) Memorize PMBOK Page 61 grid and formula. Not a big deal considering the amount of content.
8) Did not memorize ITTOs at all. All logically derived in understanding when you do a three pass.

All the best for the people who are going to give their test. Hope this is useful.

Please feel free to write to me if you have any specific queries.