I visited this site to read some forum posts in the last few days. That helped me in getting into the exam mode, so I decided to give something back ...

I didn't have much time to do a long preparation. I studied for 12 days flat and sat for the exam keeping my fingers crossed!

- All I studied was PMBOK. I completed it twice and then once more thru my 2-page notes on each chapter.

- Those 2 page notes depicted the schematic of ITTOs which were really helpful. But I would like to stress here that it is your internalization of the schematic -  why this input, what could the output be and where can that be used next, same for T&T - which is very important. At any time if it is asked what is the ITTO for a particular process, one should be able to answer that along with a reason as to why it is so.

-  Sample tests are a real help and must be taken in exam like conditions to ensure you can meticulously find where you are getting your answers wrong, and is the reason a knowledge gap (then revisit the topic) or other factors (those are specific to your personality so keep those in mind for the exam)

- The tests I took were (all free) - Headfirst, PMstudy, Simplilearn & I was scoring between 65-80% in these. I took the first test just 3 days into my preparation to find areas which are important from the exam perspective. This óverlap' kind of study strategy helped me in keeping me on my toes for covering the syllabus while also keeping me in the exam mode.

- In the exam, I finished 55 questions in the first hour. I touched the Q200 in 3 hours 10 min. Then I jumped on to the questions marked for review. I was all done in 3 hours 35 min. I got 3Ps and 2 MPs in the end.

- Some topics/ areas that one should understand carefully - OPAs/EEF, WPI/WPM, Quality- what exactly happens in QA Vs QC, CR (Request, approval and execution) in different Process groups, sequence of activities for closing a proj, QA deliverables vs Verify scope deliverables, Level of details of requirements in Charter Vs Scope, Control chart vs run chart applications, level of risk in different contracts and why, BAC/EAC and methods of calculating EAC (Bottoms up ETC add, at current CPI/SPI, at budgeted rate), Comparison of conlict mgmt techniques etc..

- Finally, I would like to say that the exam is not tough, though it requires a certain level of focus. All the best to the aspirants, any questions are welcome. Thanks.