Hello, 

Entreprenuer with 4 years PM experience in software. Took the PMP exam earlier today in Mumbai, India. Happy to say that I passed with 4Ps and 1MP. The exam experience is quite peaceful, so don't fret. Just trust your preparation! I hardly slept the night before and still survived the gruelling 4.5 hour session. If you prepare well, you can clear the exam standing on one leg. 

How to prepare well for the exam

As far as reference books go, Rita Mulcahy is quite helpful. It covers a lot of ground in sufficient detail, but not the whole of it. That's why its very important to go through supplementary material. A lot of people swear by the Head First book because it is an "easier read". While this is true, the book did not add much value to my preparation. As I was going through Rita later, I found it easy enough to understand. My 2 cents - read Kim Heldman with Rita instead. It's an excellent (and surprisingly underated) book imho. 

For anyone starting now, the earlier you get comfortable interpreting longer more formal PMBOK style text, the better. In this respect, Kim Heldman has an edge over Rita because it is closer in style to PMBOK guide. Yet it is easy enough to understand. Finally, you MUST devour and understand the PMBOK guide - especially the glossary 3-4 times at least. If you are are a good reader, you will have an edge in the exam. 

Practice exams

Practise at least 2000-3000 questions, no less unless you have a solid 6-8 years PM experience. Don't waste your time & money on substandard online courses and pass guarantee bootcamps. Instead buy quality questions which will familiarize you with the exam and also hone your understanding about project management. The following tests are excellent (listed in the order closest to the PMP):

• Farndale's Guide
• PMStudy - all 4 tests
• Kim Heldman practice questions
• Rita's practice questions 
• Oliver Lehman's 175 questions & 75 questions
• PMI member question banks - 
• Head First PMP
• PM Fast Track (I have listed this last because its overpriced. Go for it only if your company is sponsoring your PMP and you are OK with investing some money)

Blogs like deepfriendbrain, pmzilla, and some Google groups are also good. 

Criticism

The PMI requires you to have 40 hours contact hours. For me this was a total waste of time and money. I was forced to take one of the online courses which did not add any extra value to my preparation. I dont think "pass guarantee" bootcamps are any better. In the end, it is your understanding of project management that will help you triumph. If you can study on your own, you don't need these courses - except to earn your 40 PDUs. I strongly feel PMI should do away with this and have other alternatives in place. 

Being an education entreprenuer, I took special interest in reviewing material available on the internet.  I was quite disheartened to find that the PMP certification has become a money spinning business for some people who have failed to uphold the high standards sought by aspiring professionals. A google search for PMP preparation returns 4 million hits, much higher than for some other standardized tests. I came across at least 2 "authorized PMP reps" whose sample exams were wrought with errors and grammatical mistakes. Whats worse is their exam questions were blatantly ripped off from credible sources I have mentioned above. Don't take my word for it, try the sample questions and you will realize this for yourself. If PMI does not take heed, I suspect the PMP certification will lose its credibility in the near feature. 

Ask away if you have any doubts or queries. 

EDIT: Many thanks to Rajesh Nair for his excellent compilations.