TOPIC: Formulas and Calculation Based Ques

At the moment, I have two major challenges that are making me anxious about the exam.

The first challenge is formulas. There seem to be so many PMP formulas to remember, and I currently do not have one consolidated cheat sheet that includes all the important formulas in one place for quick review before the exam. I am finding it difficult to retain everything together.

The second challenge is numeric calculations. I am worried about calculation-based questions because I was under the impression that no calculator is available during the PMP exam. This has made me nervous, especially for EVM, float, CPI/SPI, communication channels, and other formula-based questions. I honestly do not know how to overcome this concern at the moment.

Could you please advise:

* Which formulas are truly essential for the current PMP exam?
* Whether there is an official or recommended condensed formula sheet available?
* How calculation questions are usually handled during the actual exam?
* Whether a calculator is available during the exam or if mental math is expected?

Your advice would really help reduce my stress and help me focus more effectively during the final preparation week.

Thank you again for all your support and encouragement.

Hello,

I can give you a little bit of comfort in telling you there will not be many if any calculations when you take the official PMP exam. The test primarily focuses on use cases and provides you scenarios where you must identify the best approach based on what you learn in the PMP. Typically because of this instead of having you do the calculation yourself they will provide you the values and ask you to make decision based on what you now know about the data.

In total there were probably 1 calculation formula on the entire exam i took and it was related to CPI/SPI. I would not focus much on the calculations but more so the PMP concepts and applicable use cases/scenarios.

Hello,
I can confirm that the exam as not focused too much on formulas. Plus, they do provide an embedded calculator, so calculation itself won't be a problem!
With that being said, try to understand and memorize at least some basic formulas for EVA.

-Elena

With all the scenario based question the formula section can seem a bit daunting and there seems to be so many of them.
The approach I used it try to know the basics well, and how they are used in EVM, do a few questions and when you are comfortable with the concepts then start thinking of drilling down to the more complicated ones.
The thing about the formula section you never quite know how complex the question will be, you may get an easy one and therefore be glad you know the basics, or it could be a very complex one and you may struggle in the time. As many have already said, its likely you will only get a handful of these questions, it is worth knowing them as they often come up in interviews, but its about breaking them down so they don't seem too overwhelming.

Even in 2019, the only thing that I was tested on was earned value. I had two "math" questions (ones that required actual calculation) and one of those I could do in my head that was for "ahead of schedule/behind schedule" based on EV.

I would not worry about it.

There are very few formula questions on the test. Generally, even if you get a question about SPI or something it will ask which of the provided values is better than the others or worse or something similar. The PMP has moved away from having people memorize formulas as you will always be able to find it online and they didn't consider the "brain dump" technique from previous tests to be a true test of your Project Management abilities.