Passed PMP with 4P & 1MP on 31st Oct, 2012. 4 Weeks study.

Submitted by shruti_acharya on Mon, 11/05/2012 - 11:09

 

I cleared my PMP today with 4P and 1 MP (in Initiation) with 4 week prep

I wanted to share a few points that might help others..

I had completed my 35 PDU's from  Celtem in bangalore last Oct and then took PMI membership last oct. After a long break I decided to finish it before my PMI membership expired this year and so applied for the exam that got approved on 3rd Oct, 2012. I booked 31st Oct date and started my 4 week preparation.

  1. I studied Rita's book 7th edition [first read] seriously solving each exercise & tests for 10 days. [ I was on 2 week leave]
  2. From 11th day, I Started solving 18 Mock Tests from PMI's Book - PMP Exam Prep Questions, Answers, & Explanations: 1000+ PMP Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions. [ Available free online for PMI members ]  For each failed scenario, I referred the soft copy of PMBOK studying it. [ Usually 1 hr during lunch break at office]
  3. I also started reading 2 chapters of Rita again per day after office. This time, i just glanced at exercises
  4. Around 15th day, I started taking online tests - 175 + 75 Lehman, Brainbok sample test, Head first sample test , Simplilearn, Exam Central, Pmzilla tough 30. For failed scenarios I cross checked and studied PMBOK again. I liked using soft copy for the quick search. In each I scored 70-79%. Never above 80%. I was working, so I tool the tests in 1 hr breaks. 
  5. Read all PMP related posts on DeepFriedBrainProject - http://www.deepfriedbrainproject.com/2008/12/pmp-certification-exam-prep-study-notes.html
  6. I took PmStudy 4 hr paper on Dussehra. and scored 78% .. I was very nervous after the results as it said that a score of 85% and above guaranteed Pass. But 70-80 meant more practice was needed.
  7. 5 days before exam, I solved the questions in Q & A's for the Pmbok Guide by Ph.D. Frank T. Anbari after reading some LL's here.  This book is also available for PMI members free online.
  8. I did a quick glance through PMBOK 3 days before my exam and then just concentrated on reviewing all the questions I had got wrong in tests solved so far. I noticed that I had mis read many questions and so got them wrong. so my strtegy was to go slow in real test.
  9. Finally on exam day [ I had 12.30 Pm slot]  I just read through glossary one last time and went to the test. I did not find the test tough, but found that I was taking too much time.. The last 50 questions I have solved within 50 secs each.. and completed with 7 minutes to spare. I had marked about 30 questions.. and 3 questions I had specially noted on paper which i had max doubt. So i could just check those and not the marked ones.
  10. After submitting and an agonizingly painful survey, I got my result. I was really happy to see 4 Ps :)

 

Tips for exam

  1. Read Risk mgmt & cost mgmt thoroughly. Lot of questions were on this.
  2. Pay lot of attention to alternate terms.. PV was never called planned value.
  3. Very few questions were lengthy. But I had to reread almost all questions twice .. maybe because it was the afternoon slot.
  4. I never had to memorize the ITTO.. and could sail through. A little logic goes a long way.

Best of Luck! and a big thank you once again.

-Shruti

 

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PMP Exam Tips, Tricks and Lessons Learnt.
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gachow

Mon, 11/05/2012 - 15:14

 Hi friend,

 

Congratulations on passing the exam!!

You've  done a good job with 4P & 1MP.

However, I want to know how PMI assign questions to each candidates??

Because some of our buddies said, there were many lengthy questions in their exam(around 50 - 60 questions), some of them are not.

Some of our buddies said there were many questions need calculation, some of them are not.

I have to take the exam on 8/Nov, feel so nervous now....:-(

 

keddypa

Mon, 11/05/2012 - 16:19

You mentioned free PMP Question inside the PMI website,,can you give me the link since i am a member i want to take advantage of this free questions base.

 

Thanks a million

shruti_acharya

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 06:17

  1.  Login to PMI
  2. Go to http://www.pmi.org/Knowledge-Center/Virtual-Library-eReads-and-Reference.aspx
  3. http://pmi.books24x7.com/bookshelf.asp?view=new
  4. Search for Books - 

 

keddypa

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 14:22

Thanks a million

shruti_acharya

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 06:09

 The lengthy questions are not many. But they are wordy. I had to read and reread most questions just to be sure I understood them correctly. 

There were appprox 20 + questions on calculations.. in each, PV & EV had to be calculated based on the data (text) provided. 

Don't stress. If you have read your subject well, you can pass. I found only 1 / 2 questions tough. 

Best of luck. 

 

gachow

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 09:37

Hi Friend,

Thanks for your advise.

Hope that I can post my lesson learned with positive reult after 8/Nov

:-)

 

puneetarora1978 (not verified)

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 02:58

Shruti

You have done great piece of help in summaring your strategy for PMP aspirants.

Few questions:

I  know everyone has his or her own way of understanding ITTO's but could you please throw more detail on how to logically register them ..i tend to forget them

Also i know 18 mock tests are from Christopher Scordo but i could not find the questions from Frank T. Anbari

on PMI ..can u provide links for that

Lastly did you take any paid mock exam

 

shruti_acharya

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 06:22

 For ITTO, I just memorized the output from each process. I understood each Tool & Technique .. just what it generally means. and Inputs again just logical .. studied the data flow diagrams in PMBOK 

The link for Frank's book is http://pmi.books24x7.com/toc.aspx?bookid=35841

No. I did not take any paid mock exam. 

Thanks, 

Shruti

 

go4pmp

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 23:03

Hello Shruti,

Should I concentrate more on Scordo's questions or Rita's end-of-chapter/Fast track? If both are reqd, do I need anything other than these two? Like Lehmann/HF/Andy/Kim. PMStudy is good too.

 

Thank You

shruti_acharya

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 05:22

 Actually both are good. I did not use Rita's fast track though I have heard very good reviews about them. If time permits, do both. Else, Read through Rita's end of chapter questions and all exercises in Time & cost management + last 6 question bank from scrodo. Lehmann is good. HF during initial study. Kim's closing chapter helped me. I did not solve any questions from that though. 

go4pmp

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 21:01

Thank You for your reply. Appreciate it.

puneetarora1978 (not verified)

Wed, 11/14/2012 - 03:17

Shruti


What was your strategy in last 1 week and questions from Frank and Chris Scordo are easy ..do you think they helped you in consolidation ..Also how many questions do you think were directly related to ITTO's and in last 2 weeks should we revise from Rita or HF or just stick to PMBOK


 

shruti_acharya

Wed, 11/14/2012 - 09:56

 Scrodo questions are easy. It helped me summarize PMBOK. Last week I reread all chapters from PMBOK, Studied ITTO & data flows in PMBOK. I revised all failed questions so far and took PMStudy exam 4 days before my actual test. I read many forums for some of the terms that I was confused. I used to score a MP in all my tests related to Closing. So read the chapter of Kim Heldman on Closing. 

Hmmm.. last 3 days I just skimmed through Rita/ PMBOK once again. Exam day I read through glossary.

There were about 5 questions that asked what is an input / what is not an output of XYZ Process / Process group.. They were very easy [to medium] to guess. Rita summarizes the areas with most important ITTO. That helped. The Tools & technique part there were many more questions. Twisted and asked.  You just need to use logic to most questions. No need to memorize. 

 

HTH

Shruti

puneetarora1978 (not verified)

Thu, 11/15/2012 - 02:57

Hi Shruti


Really appreciate the time you have spent in framing the lucid response


Do you have Kim Heldman notes on Closing ..thats one area in which i have  always been scoring BP..if yes can you please send them across at puneet01.arora@keane.com 


When you say "Rita summarizes the areas with most important ITTO" can you give a particualr example /illustration

shruti_acharya

Thu, 11/15/2012 - 05:10

 Kim heldmann book is available online in PMI - http://pmi.books24x7.com/toc.aspx?bookid=32020

Last chapter in Rita's book. Tips & tricks to pass the exam. there is one exercise on ITTO. 

puneetarora1978 (not verified)

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 02:58

Shruti

You have done great piece of help in summaring your strategy for PMP aspirants.

Few questions:

I  know everyone has his or her own way of understanding ITTO's but could you please throw more detail on how to logically register them ..i tend to forget them

Also i know 18 mock tests are from Christopher Scordo but i could not find the questions from Frank T. Anbari

on PMI ..can u provide links for that

Lastly did you take any paid mock exam

 

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admin

Tue, 11/06/2012 - 09:43

Congratulations Shruti, and thanks for helping out people here with queries.