Hi,

I am glad to inform you all that I cleared my PMP certification exam on 25th May. It has been quite a memorable journey right from conception to the exam completion. Below I have mentioned my preparation details:

Preparation began from Nov 2010. I aquired my PDUs by attending the training for a week from one of the PMI recognized training institutes in December.
Books referred - PMBOK 4th edition - read at least 4 times. Concentrated on basic terms, Glossary, ITTOs,
Rita Mulcahy's book - read 3 times at least. Concentrated more on Procurement, Planning.
Andy Crowe's - read twice. Helped me in understanding the basic concepts. Concentrated more on Social and Professional Responsibility, Time management chapter. Also the 1 week online trial subscription of Velociteach tutorial and sample questions helped me a lot in understading the concepts.

I guess the above study materials were more than sufficient for me.

ITTOs - Personally I feel it is better to by-heart the ITTOs and formulae. But again it is upto the individual.

Mock exams - I started giving mock exams in the last two months.
Head First PMP - My favourite. Questions helped me in understanding the basic concepts.
PM Study - 4 tests - Attempting these gave me a lot of confidence. I scored in the 80% range.
Rita's questions at the end of each chapter - Nice ones
Andy Crowe's - Questions are good ones. I attempted Velociteach questions. But I guess that was not necessary.
Oliver Lehmann's 75 and 175 questions - Good questions.
PM Central

Actual Exam - I felt the questions were quite straight forward and most of them were 1 or 2 sentences. I was really surprised with this because I was expecting quite a few paragraph questions but instead found very few (may be 2 or 3) long paragraph questions. But the questions were really of high standard. Some really made me frustrated. I took 3 breaks, 1st one after completing 75 questions, next one after 150 questions, 3rd one after attempting 200 questions.

I finished the exam in 3 hours and spent the last 1 hour in reviewing my answers. I scored Proficient in Planning and Closing and moderately proficient in the rest.

My observations/suggestions:
1. Somewhere I had read that you need to prepare for PMP both as a professional and as a student. I agree with this. As a professional you try to understand the basic concepts, try to imagine how you can implement those concepts in your projects. As a student, by heart the ITTOs and formulae. Also solve lot of formula related questions. This'll really boost your confidence.
2. Do not try to reschedule the exam too often. Due to my project work load I rescheduled it once in March and again in April. Finally I gave the exam in May. Try to give exam when the concepts are fresh in your mind.
3. Always have a positive mindset. My approach to project management has drastically changed right from the day I started preparing for PMP. So just the PMP preparation can be a career transforming, irrespective of the exam outcome.

Finally, thanks to my wife, family and friends for their support. And PMZilla admin and members, you guys rock!

Best of luck once again to all of you.