I have been a following this forum for past 3-4 weeks and must say that I have benefitted greatly from the experiences shared by the fellow members.

This was my first attempt at PMP certification and I passed with 4 P and 1 MP (closing).

I started preparing 2 months back starting off with Head First (HF), I used skillsoft to earn the mandatory PDU's. After completing HF, I started taking sample tests and found out that while HF is a great book to understand the concepts, it did leave out the finer details (they don't claim to be an alternative to PMBOK). At that point I started referencing PMBOK to find the root cause of my mistakes although I must confess that I never read PMBOK front to back.

I took the following tests:

HF - 85% ( relatively easy)

PM Study - free test (78%) , test 4 (83%)

Oliver Kahn 75 questions - 75% 

PMP for sure - 79%

PMP Exam prep - questions, answers and explanation - 18 sets of 50 questions - avg 80% 

The exams are good way to boost your confidence and prepare yourself for a 4 our long exam.

I never tried to memorize all ITTO's and I am glad I didn't since most of the questions in the actual exam were situational . One should have a very good understanding of each process and general understanding of tools used.

Since I wanted to get over with it, I booked the exam on 24th and the center had only slot on 26th at 8 am, the next opening was on Aug 6th. I decided to take the plunge and went with July 26th. Arrived at the center at 7:30 but they took their own sweet time and i started the exam at 8:40 am - a full 40 minutes late ( not that it affects your exam duration) but waiting due to someone else's incompetency is frustating.

Overall the exam had a good mix of simple, medium and complex questions.There were 4-5 questions about PERT, CPM, EVM, risk strategies. There were couple of graphical questions around PMB, NPV..

My word of wisdom is not to get stressed out if you start slow, as the exam progresses and your nerves calm down, you will be able to catch up. I finished the exam in 3.15 hours despite a slow and cautious start. Also, take light snack so that you can refuel yourself between the exam if required. I took at break after 150 questions. 

Before I conclude I would like to give a big Thank You to Rajesh Nair for taking the pain to consolidate PMBOK into few worksheets. That was the only thing I reviewed day before my actual exam.

Good luck !!

RKS