I must say this was one of the toughest certification that I have given in terms of the mental aspect and stress related to preparing for the certification.I have given other certifications SAP-ABAP.SAP-SD but they are more like direct qsts and answers.

Well I decided to give my PMP in 2005 itself and bought the Kim Heldman book back then.But I had to travel to US and my plans were shelved.But about an year back I started reading the book and creating my own notes.Covered ITTO of all processess from that book and made sure everything from that book was there in my notes.This gave me an idea of this exam is going to be like.Then finally I came to back to India this year and decided to get serious about PMP.Since my notes were from Kim Heldman which was based on PMBOK 3rd Edition  I had to do a gap analysis between the notes that I had made  and PMBOK 4th edition. Took about 20 days to do this.

I used to study from my notes and once the chapter was over would go over that chapter in PMBOK 4th edition just to see if everything is covered.If i found something in PMBOK 4th edition that was not there in my notes I added it to the notes.I went through PMBOK 4th edition only once.

When I thought I had covered all the chapters in PMBOK then I started looking at Rita's Book and bought her PMP prep software.I gave the chapter test and was scoring more than 85% on each chapter .I gave the final PMP simulation test 4 days before the exam  and acored 92% which gave a lot of confidence.

So I prepared for about 2 months after coming back from the US.Would spent abot 3-4 hrs on weekdays and about 6-8 hrs on weekends.I memorized Rita's process chart and ITTO and that was of great help.  

I had built in a startegy for the exam.Initiation,Closing and Professional Responsibility hold about 50 qsts in the exam.I had to make sure i get more than 95% correct in these sections making it easier for me to pass the exam.But that is not the point.There is a difference in passing and passing with good score.If I got 45/50 correct in these sections then I needed about 61/150 correct in others.You can understand the law of averages.Anyways,on the exam day I was a bit nervous because I was the only one giving PMP and there were about 25 ppl giving GRE.It was chaotic.First thing when i was handed the scrap paper i wrote down all formulas,any ITTO i felt i was forgetting,and most of the process map.I had decided to take breaks after every 75th question.When I started the test for the first 5 question even though I knew the answer I was getting confused maybe due to nervousness and hence I marked those qsts for review.When I reached the 75th qst I Decided I will not take a break as i thought I was doing good.I attempted all the 200 qsts In one shot.At the end of 200th qst I had about and hour and half left and then when I clicked the review button I could count that I had marked just 37 qsts for review.This made me sure that 163 qsts were correct and with a margin of error of + -5 and take out 25 qsts out these correct ones which would not be evaluated that left me with 130 qst correct.I knew I was passing the exam.;-) .I finally reviewd the 37 qsts and answered them.AT end I did fairly well with rating of Profiient in three sections and moderately proficient in other 3.

On the whole The qsts were staright fwd.If you have studied well you should be able to answer them.I got only 2 mathematical qsts easy ones and rest 10-11 question on earned value was theoritical.There were lot ITTO questions espicially from Quality assurance and control and Risk management.Learn them by heart.

It is not at difficult to clear this exam.But do not take it lightly.Prepare well because what ever you learn will be used in the rest of your life and it does not end with the exam.

Sachin