TOPIC: Passed the PMP Exam without ever opening a PMBOK Guide

I passed the exam with AT/AT/AT on my first attempt with over an hour left on the clock.

The three videos that ended up being core study guides for me are as follows:

Processes


200 Agile Questions & Answers


150 PMBOK 7 Questions & Answers


Because of the aforementioned videos, I didn't read any of the PMBOK guides. My lessons learned are...

1) Watch the PrepCast videos.
2) Watch the Processes video and download the .pdf of the process flow (I set it as my desktop image so I could continually look at it and see how PMI wants you to run every project).
3) Watch the two Q&A videos at 1.5-2x speed. I would pause the video after he read the question, try to figure out the answer myself, then listen to his process of what answer he thought it was. Whenever there was a term or process I didn't know, I would pause the video then research and take notes on what it was that I didn't know/understand. This helped me figure out what knowledge I was missing. These videos also helped me understand how to spot key words or phrasing in the questions and also how to detect wrong answers.
4) Take a handful of 4-hour practice exams. I started out with just the 10 question tests, but I think the actual 4-hour practice exams are way more helpful. I took four in total. I got a score of around 60% on my first attempt, and I went over the allotted time allowed for the actual exam. I then spent the following week going through the wrong answers and trying to understand why I got them wrong. The second practice exam I scored 63% and I did slightly better with my time. Once again, I spent the week going through my wrong answers and trying to understand why I wasn't doing so well. On my third practice exam, I scored a little over 66%, but my timing was way better. I think I finished with like 20 minutes to spare. I then discovered the three videos I listed above (steps 2 & 3). I finished watching these videos before I took my fourth practice exam, which helped immensely since I scored over 75% on the practice exam with a little over 30 minutes to spare.
5) Take the real exam (strike while the iron is hot). As soon as you score well on your practice exam, and you understand most of the terminology and what they're talking about, you should do just fine.

I passed my exam with above target (AT) scores in all three domains with slightly over an hour left to spare, and I never opened a single PMBOK guide. Good luck!

Congratulations, Jeremy! Thank you for sharing your lessons learned.

Wow, this is an incredible accomplishment! Congratulations on passing the exam and actually nailing it! Enjoy the PMP designation.

Cheers,