TOPIC: First timer here taking the PMI-ACP exam soon

Hey everyone!

I’m currently preparing for the PMI-ACP exam and honestly, it's starting to feel real now. This will be my first time taking it, and I’m both excited and nervous. I know it’s no walk in the park, so I’m reaching out to this community with some questions:

• If you’ve taken the PMI-ACP, what was your experience like?
  Any study tips, resources, or things you wish you knew before taking the exam?

Would really appreciate any insights.

Jefferson,

I haven't personally taken the PMI-ACP Exam, so my answers are based on my experience as a trainer - it's a "summary" of what I hear from my students:

What was your exam-day experience like?
- Don't skip the tutorial before starting the exam. Use it to get to know the interface and help calm your nerves.
- Find a pace of roughly one question per minute and mark as few questions as possible (your first answer is usually the best)
- Expect mostly scenario questions that reward applying Agile mindset, not memorization

Study tips, resources, or things you wish you knew earlier
- Use an exam simulator. The more you practice before the actual exam, the better you'll get at it.

My PMP exam was largely as I expected - the nature of questions, the distribution, etc.
My PMI-ACP however, threw me off balance. The types of questions - were so very confusing, and I was not able to second guess which aspect they were trying to test.

I made a conscious decision halfway through the exam to keep calm no matter what.
Nerves can spoil focus of even the most knowledgeable people, and I didn't want to find out what they could do to me!

I would say - practice until you are confident, and are really comfortable with the concepts. Then mentally prepare yourself to feel out of your depth during the actual exam. Take a deep breath, and just do your best.
USE THE REVIEW OPTION!
This is a great functionality the exam offers you - very often one can miss some detail about a question on the second read, which makes it clear what the answer is.

All of that - and all the best!