Hi Folks 

I passed the PMP exam on 29th July 2013  with 1P and 4 MP  . Firstly I would like to thank pmzilla and all the members for maintaing and contributing this excellent pmp exam forum.

My special thanks to  antony devassy, and sri ram for sending me the Scribid mathematics pdf ( just 3 days before the exam) as I was not able to download it 

I have divided my LL into three parts 

1 My prepartion 

2 Actual Exam Experience 

3 Lessons Learnt and study plan for aspiring candidates 

 

1 My Preparation

   Spent about  10 days to submit the pmp application collecting hours , getting buy in from my references, got my pmp eleibility letter onthird week of june 2013 . Please donot delay the application process as it keeps playing on minds of people , rather first get it out of your way .

Booked my date for the exam on 29th july ( had to travel to a differnt state /city as dates in major cities were not available . Made study plan on 16th june 2013 , purchased a copy of Andy Crowe ( incldues 1 week trial for velociteach learaning portal),Started Preparing from 17th June 2013  target completion date for prep was 20 july 2013 .

My study plan 

Read One Chapter from Andy Crowe before going to work ,solve the chapter end questions , Read Headifirst pdf at work as it is relatively easy to understand , next day cover the same chapter from PMBOK, and Rita 

Time devoted - 3hours daily , 6 hours over the weekend.

Mock tests taken after my prep

1 Andy Crowe - 84 %

2 Headfirst -84%

3 PMstudy 1 - 75%

4PMstudy 2 - 78 %

5 PMstudy 3 -86%

6 PMstudy 4 -78 %

7 Rita PMFastrack (1 exam )  - 76%

8 Solved Scribid Mathematics PDF twice ( Extremely Useful and important)

 

2 Actual Exam Experience 

  Travelled from my city to the different state/city a day before the exam , ensured to carry the require letters and IDs , comfortable clothing etc .Temperatture and Codnitions at the destination was very different from my own city needed a lil bit of adjusting .

Day before the exam - Solved Scribid problems, replicated page number 43 process groups and processes one more time, had god food and took good rest ( atleast take 6- 7 hours of sleep it keeps you fresh )

Exam was scheduled in the evening slot , 5- 9 so kinda had some time to review stuff 

Reviewed chapeters from PBOK, Ritas Tips and Tricks could recah upto Chapter 10, couldnt review Risk and Procurment .

Reviewed the ITTOS( didnt memorize ) reviewed the process flows for each subsectiuon within the chapter

Reviewed definitions of the processes from PMBOK, , reviewed sub contents of major plan documents , eg HR Plan , Cost MGT Plan etc .

Arrived at the exam centre @ 4.15 pm , signed up and completed the formalities from 4.30 to 4.50, started the exam @ 5.00 pm sharp 

They give you four sheets of rough paper on thfront half  created the page 43 of pmbok , and wrote EV/PV/BAC/EAC/TCPI formulas( Please donot skip this step it really helps you on stressful questions)

Please skpi the tutorial doesnt add any value ( requires only basic computer skils)

Started the Exam - Taget to finish 100 Questions - 110 mins - Take 10 mins break and target the next 100 Questions 

Exam Expereince 

1 Questions very really tough far tougher thana ny of the mock tests that I have given above , didnt find any questions repeated from above tests , not even from pmstudy /rita .

2 Questions were wordy , logical , integrated among various processee groups 

My startergy read the question , understand , read answers , was able to eliminate atleast 2, but there was a challenge choosing from the rest of the two , really really close answers , chose one , marked the onesi doubted for review and moved to the next 

3 Completed 100 qs at 110 mins , took abreak , ate a chocolate , drank water , did some deep breathing and came back

4 Solved the next 100 Questions , these were a lil easier than the first 100 , felt happy about it , a lot of questiondon maths , close to 5 CP/network diagrams , close to 15 questions on EV/PV/BAC/EAC TCPI

Approx - 2 Questions on Project selection criteria 

Note - Maths Questions were not direct but if you know trhe concepts and have solved SCRIBID It will help

CP/Network diagram questions were lengthy . practice them , dont take them for granted 

marked atleast 30 Questions from 200 for review , completed my exams approximately 18 before the end time, was in no mood to review , was exhausted  just prayed one anc submitted.

5 Then comes the white screen , sounds of processing and then finally the survey , got alil impatient at this time , filled the survey, then cam ethe white screen again ( this waiting time really kills you )

Finally the screen comes up Congratulations you have passed 

Distribution

Int - MP

Plan - MP

EXEC- P

MandC - MP

Closing - MP

Was happy that I paased a lil disappointed coz I expected atleast 3 Ps but then the exam was tough or maybe i missed it with a very narrow margin 

came to the hotel slept  , travelled back to the my city, and joined work , business as usual 

3 My Lessons Learnt

Though the PMBOK has changed in the last day , I Will still feel to share the lessons learnt , it should defintely help 

I would suggest the fooling study plan /tips 

Firstly donot take the exam for granted it can be a tough exam as in my case and few other posts that I have read

Put in your best effort  so that you dont regret , dont worry abt the results they are not in our hands but efforts are 

Step 1 Collect your 35 hours either go for traning or web based whichvere suits you

Step 2 Collect yopur application details , and submit the applicatin

Step  3 Book a date (45 - 90 days ) I could do it in approx 43 days 

Step 4 Purchase a copy of the supplemnetary book like Andy / Headfirst , I would recommed Andy Crowe as I found it better than the others , Frankly Rita didnt add any value in my exams I am not sure how people claim it it to be so good , but pick a book of your choice 

Step 5 Read the PMBOK, Please donot skip thisa step , PMBOK is very very essential , many defnitions will be used using PMBOK Terminilogy in the exam

Step 6 Mock Tests - Give as many as you can choose the standardised ones , Use scores to improve in specific knowledge areas 

Step 7 Please be prepared that Test may be dificult , donot assume that test may be similar to mock tests or one levely higher or lower , My expereince was I found the PMP test far above than any of the above 

Step 8 keep your self focussed , healthy , eat well , sleep well , study well , never loose confidence or hope , always say I cna do it 

Step 9 , As exam approaches evereyone gets stressed dont get over anxious / dont loose sleep over the exam ,It may have a negative effect 

Step 10 Keep you approval letters , id proofs ready , day before /on the exam day dont try and read anythging  new , you may choose to revise though

 

 Key Points 

1 Please solve the math problems , they really help in the examwhen the pother questions are tough

2 Read pmbok , read the definitions well , know the ITTOS, especially the usefullness of tools and techniquets

3 diiffernces like quality /grade , attribute sampling , etc 

4 Finally It is long exam , so keep going even if you feel questions are tough , dontskip any question , if your  are in doubt elimitae few options mark the best and move ahead , Dont waste time unmarking the marked questions , even marked questions are evaulavated .

5 Lastly be confident , give your best and leave the rest 

I wish all of you the very best ,

Please feel free to email me on madhavans19@gmail.com for any support . Will be more than happy to help

Regards 

Mady ( Success is not final . Failure is not fatal , What matters is the Courage to continue , - Keep Walking )