TOPIC: Time duration is not enought to complete the exam in 4 hours

Hi all,

I am comfortable with PMBOK and completed all PM Prep exam simulation. Now as I review the PMP Exam, which is 4 hours duration, although I know the answer I still cannot finish the exam with 4 hours.
I hardly managed to complete 180 question within the given time. Basically, some of the long questions may take 3 minutes to digest and be able to have the answer for. If there is enough time to read and understand the question, the answer will be easy. Sometime it takes me 3 times to read a question to understand it.

Since I have covered these test before, I am comfortable answering some of the questions quickly. How about if the question were fresh, which I have never seen. I am sure I would need more time to grasp it.

In your experience, what is the best way to go through the questions so I can finish within the given time frame? Is there any strategy to know which part of the question is important? How can I improve that area?

Thanks,

First let me break down the long question structure:

1. The background (ex. You are the PM of ABC Pharmaceutical - usually 1 sentence)
2. The scenario (3-4 sentences)
3. The question


For really long questions, this is my way of handling them:

Read them backwards, from #3 - 1

3. You'll know whether the question is looking for a process? a tool&technique? project document?
2. Provides you the supporting information you need to answer the questions (the process group the scenario is in/stakeholders involved/constraints)
1. May contains additional clues

I didn't get backward, from #3 - 1.
For a really long question, shall I start by reading the answer or the questions? can you please collaborate a bit more on that point.

Thanks

Hi Rawand,

For longer questions, I usually start by reading the last sentence (The question) first, and then #2 (The scenario) and finally #1 (The background).

I find it helps getting my thoughts structured better, so that I don't have to go back and re-read the question again.

Hope this helps

I think Joe's method is a great suggestion. one thing I'd like to add is that the exam will allow you to highlight relevant words and phrases and to cross out answers that you know are wrong. This is VERY helpful on the long questions. In fact, there should be a tutorial when you start the real exam. Don't skip this as it will allow you to practice both the highlighting and crossing out and doesn't count toward your 4 hour exam time.

There is often a lot of superfluous information in the long paragraphs. If you start by reading the question first, then you can highlight key information as you read through the scenario and background the first time. Then if you need to concentrate and read again, you can focus simply on the highlighted information .