Passed PMP-My suggestions for you

Dear friends- I have passed PMP exam last friday.Sincere thanks to PMzilla as I have been following  this forum right through and has helped me achieve PMP(sorry, score is low  1P & rest all MPs). I see a lot of posts asking for what needs to be done to pass  exam and I believe its my responsibility as well  to share my learnings and advise for  the fellow PMP aspirants there. Here are my suggestions...

First thing, please dont  feel that PMP exam is extremely hard and unattainable and qns are very very twisting and unapprochable, to me  I would say thats completely wrong.  I agree that exam is little tougher when we compare this to the other certification exams  as this has 200 qns, and most are situational and no dump qns can help us clear this exam & this is why this exam is conceived as so difficult to passs. As I wrote exam, what I clearly understood was  the qns are all based on the concepts and if we know the concept then we are sure to pass this exam. The qns are situational but not that twisting and is simple english that we can understand what they are asking.

so , when u start prepairing keep in mind, if you can learn the concepts, you can win this exam. Here is what I did. 

I took 1 month for preparation . Started with Rita, but quickly felt that this is not my kinda book. I wanted a book which is organized in the process order ( Initiating, Planning .... ) as this would give an orderly flow of a how a project is to be initiated, planned, executed .., and closed. I thought such an order will help me as I  can remember info if thats more logical and in a flow. Also, keep in mind that the qns are based on process groups and so going by process groups can give you a better logical rythm and understanding.Also I wanted  to know the topic in some depth so that I can grab the concepts clearly. After some investigation, I bought the KIM HELDMANs PMP book. I loved this book as Kim has made a superb attempt to organise the book  and to give sufficient explanations as required. I took 2 weeks  to  completely read the book once and  I tried my best to understand all the topics  and to memorize areas highlited by KIM in the book.  I also completed the  qns at the end of chapter.   I also started  taking mock exams - oliver, headfirst, PMstudy,  Edel...scored ;less as i started but  then re-read the portions from Kims book where I scored less & then took exam again and I was scoring about 70%.  Third week I attended a PMP boot camp from PMTI. That was a very good training as they fasttracked all the  portions and we did about 700 qns and the results were good. 

In the last week, I just went through PMBOK.. quite fast and  read the topics which I had doubts. Also,  I used to memorize the processes under process groups /knowledge area.. table given in PMBOK. Its easy, if you write down 10 times.. u can easily reproduce. Also, memorized  formulas. I didnt do any test  in the last week and was just glanzing throuh PMBOK and KIMs book. 

On the day before exam, I went to bed early and had a good night sleep.reached centre about 1 hr before exam  and waited there so that I got my time to make myself calm. When i started answering first few qns,,I was tensed  but as I progressed I was getting myself to the rythm and was able to proceed better and confident. I took a break after 2 hrs and did a review in the last 15 mins....finaly with Gods grace and all the suport  passed the exam. 

Qns are mostly situational, but they are testing your concept and so learn the concepts and you are sure to pass.  I wouldnt advise a guaranteed pass with just 1 month study, but I believe a focussed study of 2 months can assure you a good win.

So, here is my advice in a nut shell.

1) select a book , which you feel comfortable to read - I will definitely  vouch for KIM HELDMANs book.

2)Read the book completely once, do all qns after each chapter, do try to memorise imp areas as you read through the book

3)Do some mock qns - Pmstudy is one which I felt so close.

4) Refer the  book again where u scored less and also read PMBOK once...

5) If possible , please do attend a boot camp - 4 day camp from PMTI was superb for me..( but please prepare yourself before attending boot camps). They covered all the topics pretty quick, keywords,  their study materials are very good, and we did 700+ questions. they do share the tricks and tips for quick learning and applying the same in exams..altogether was a wonderful experience & our trainer- Mr Padmanabhan was really good in taking the sessions.

6) Refer the books once last time before you go for exams.

7) last day before exam, just relax and have a very good sleep & then with all confidence go  for exam.

 All the very best  to all the PMP aspirants there.

Thanking again the PMzill group for all the support.