TOPIC: Passed PMP AT on everything!

Passed my PMP yesterday and thought I would share my lessons learned. I found the questions on the pm precast exam simulator to be very close to what was on the actual test. I will say I thought the exam questions were a bit harder, I could usually narrow it down to 2 different answers but definitely had some trouble picking from the last 2. My scores on the exam simulator were 81.5, 74.5, 81.5, 78, 85.5, 79.5, and 77. The exam simulator was by far the best way to prepare for the exam, doing as many practice questions as possible will help you prepare more than anything else.

Looking back on what I wish I had studied more or less I would say understanding the change control procedure, the difference between communications management and stakeholder management/engagement. I thought there were lots of questions asking about what to do when projects go wrong, how best to communicate to stakeholders, what's the proper procedure, what could have been forgotten to create this problem. Also I had almost no formula questions, less then 10 for the whole exam and they pretty simple ones.

Overall I think the most important thing is to do as many practice questions as possible and review the exams. When you are actually writing the exam read the questions more then once, don't get flustered if you don't know the answer right away, really trust your preparation and for the questions your not sure about trust your gut on what you think is the right answer.

Did you take your exam at home, or at a local testing center. Your mock exam scores are amazing. Did you get those scores on your first attempt at all the mock exams, or did you have to retake any of them and record the highest score? I thought that I was ready. I been studying since January and I took a boot camp in March. I just purchased this software about 2 weeks ago and I'm loving it, but my scores on the first 2 exams were 53%, & 58%. I am really trying to build my confidence to knock this exam out before the year ends being as though I done invested so much time into passing it. I have been taking detailed notes on what I got wrong on the first 2 exams that I took and I'm confident that if I was to go back and retake them, I will pass. What strategy did you use for passing mock exams?

I took the exam at home through PearsonVue. I had a pretty good experience with them, although once you hit question 89 you are given a 10 minute break before you go to the rest of the questions and you cannot go back to question 1-89 once you pass that point.

Ya my scores were the first time I took the practice exams. My strategy for the mock exams were pretty simple, I found reading the question carefully and really understanding what process you are in, what stage of the project your in (initiating, planning etc...) and then what the question wants from you (either an input, tool & technique or output) asking myself these questions for each question really helped me eliminate answers that would not make sense based on the proper steps to take in a project according to the PMBOK guide. Sounds like your doing everything right doing the mock exams and reviewing them was definitely what I focused on the most. Reading the PMBOK guide and on topics I wasn't sure the prepcast elite videos really go into detail on each process.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm thinking of taking my exam at home as well. I been trying to get some insight on that process. I think I can pretty much hide from my 3 kids and wife for 4 hours, but I have a little shitzu that most likely won't leave my side if I'm sitting down at my computer. I'm going to try to use your approach towards answering the questions and see how I do moving forward

Hi , did you use a wired or wireless connection ? I only have the wired internet Connection in the living room and I am not sure if thats the best place to take the test though

My router is in the living room, but, like in your case, it is not the best place to take the exam because to large of a room. I bought a 5 meters LAN cable so that it could reach my guest room, which is quieter and a better place to take the exam.

thank you, this is a vey helpful tip!

Hi - Is a wired bluetooth mouse permitted for the exam ? I have a Microsoft Surface laptop that has only 1 provision which I need to use for ethernet / lan chord.