TOPIC: I feel like I'm ready...

Hi all

So I've been prepping like NUTS for a few months now after taking a month hiatus from prepping for the exam after failing on my first attempt back in July. Previous to that initial attempt I had taken a 5 session prep course over a span of 5 weeks...

So here I am now at a decision point in trying to assess whether or not I'm ready to schedule this thing and finally get it DONE. In the past few months I've gone through all the prepcast videos, taken many quizzes (averaging 80% - 100% correct on most of them). And most importantly in the last few weeks I have taken 4 full length exams, the initial one wasn't so hot, 75%, but the three after that have been 85%, 85% and 83% (all moderately proficients and proficients). Have also been doing intense reviews after each exam to understand why I got things incorrect. I'm thinking of one more exam this weekend, but am feeling like I should schedule the exam for real soon! I'm feeling really confident but am also a bit OCD and keep thinking about the last attempt and how much I want to mitigate the risk of failing this time as much as I can.

So any insights, or confidence boosting anyone can offer here? I'm thinking I'm ready to take this now and am ready to pass. It will be my second attempt. If I fail, (which I don't think I will, UNLESS the exam is completely different than what I've been seeing in the prepcast exam simulators), I know I'll have one more quick attempt before the end of this year to retest HOWEVER I don't think it will come to that.

Thoughts? To schedule, or not to schedule, that is the question!

Sounds like you've taken the lessons learned from the last failure and applied a good strategy. Quizzes and questions (as many as possible) is a great approach especially if you take time to understand where you've answered incorrectly (which you say you've done!).

You've invested a lot of time and your results indicate you are ready or very close. Book it! Waiting won't help so take advantage of all the fresh knowledge. It sounds like you're prepared and you can use whatever time you have left to shore up any weak spots.

Other techniques like 'brain dump' and formula memorization are really helpful (they were for me) if you haven't undertaken that already.

John:

I think it sounds like you are ready too! Book your exam. In your previous attempt, were you able to pinpoint the area you needed to focus your studies on?

Lastly, consider the exam domain breakdown and be confident that you have applied your study efforts appropriately.

Good luck!

Thanks Tracey!

Yes I've been pinpointing the areas that I've needed to focus a bit more on most recently through the mock exam reviews at this point. All my prep at this point is solely based on taking exams and then reviewing them thoroughly... I have found it's been very helpful for me. I have even mastered pacing myself during the exam, which was a HUGE problem for me the initial time I took the real exam. I've recently set my goal to complete 50 questions an hour, but am usually at around 65 per hour, so I'm all good there.

I'm just really hoping that all these mock exams are mirroring (question type wise and difficulty wise) what I will encounter on the real exam. Based on my recollection of the initial time I took the exam in July, I believe the two are similar, but that day was such a whirlwind for me I can't even begin to remember just how similar it was to the prepcast exam simulator that I'm working in now. Wish me luck! Thanks again.

John

Thanks Jeremy, yes I have the brain dump all set and know all the formulas as well as I know my own name at this point

I can tell from the scores and the details you provided that it is better to schedule the exam as soon as you can, waiting can harm more as you may forget some details.

my advise for the next period:
1- take full length exams, one each couple of days.
2- after each exam, highlight the areas that you have not answered correctly.
3- study those areas from 2 different sources and try to exercise on questions specific to these areas.
4- write down the things that you feel you need to memorize for the exam.
5- relax, stay focused, stay confident.

Hi John, sounds like you are ready to go. I suggest you try and take some time relax before the exam so that you don't get burned out. Best of luck keep us posted!

Hi John, sounds like you are ready to go. I suggest you try and take some time relax before the exam so that you don't get burned out. Best of luck keep us posted!

Hi John,

Your scores are just fine! I would recommend not getting too hung up on them - from one OCD to another, I totally get what you mean . Your scores clearly are good enough to let you know that you're ready. Now just ask yourself on the inside and book that date! Don't forget to do absolutely nothing on the day before the exam Best of luck mate!

You're right! Thanks Dawn!

Thanks Rahul!

As long as the real exam will fairly represent these PM prepcast full length mock exams I've been taking lately, all things considered, I'm feeling really good about this now! Thanks again!

John,

I too, failed the exam on my first attempt just a couple of weeks ago. Besides the PM PrepCast, what other tools did you use to prepare for this second shot? Like you, I want to make my second attempt my LAST attempt.

Hi Jay

Initially I took a 5 week/5 session prep course in June of this year, using Andy Crowe's book, and even though the course itself gave me a great knowledge base, it didn't really focus too well on a solid test-taking strategy. As a result, I failed my initial attempt in July. Then at the beginning of September I purchased Cornelius Fitchner's PM PrepCast video lessons and PM Exam simulator and both those tools REALLY helped me put into much better perspective all the information I had previously learned to the point that I really understood it this around; and the Exam Simulator was also an excellent tool for helping me to better pace myself during the exam and helped me to truly understand the test-taking strategy needed for this particular exam. I hope this helps! Good luck with your studies!