TOPIC: 5TH TIME IS A CHARM - FINALLY PASSED THE PMP

YES, that's right; It took five (5) times before I passed the PMP EXAM last Monday. And I am here to tell you that PM EXAM Simulator and PM PreCast made the difference in passing the test. A little History: I originally attempted the PMP EXAM twice (2) in 2017, (1) time in 2018; and failed the last attempt by the slightest of margin. This year I applied the PM EXAM Simulator early in my preparation for the December 3rd test but failed (by less than 3-4 questions) again. Not to be discouraged, I decided to attempt one more time in 2020, before the upgrade to 2021 PMBOK. This time I armed myself with Cornelius Fichtner PM PreCast videos which proved to be the "winning" combination of “tools and technics” (no pun intended) to finally concur the PMP Test.

Here are my "Lessons Learn". (1) Though the PMBOK Guide, is very thorough (and boring), it was hard (for me) to retain all the information necessary to pass the test. After four (4) months of reading the PMBOK (day and night, backward and forwards), I was shocked by how much additional information I was able to learn and retain from the review of all the PM PREPCAST videos, in less than three weeks. The PM PREPCAST videos help me decipher the necessary information to retain for the PMP testing. Combined with PM EXAM Simulator, which is as close to the actual PMP test there is, I went from four(4) failures to AT on all topics (except for Planning which was T). BOTTOM LINE: I would never have passed the PMP test exam without learning tools from Cornelius Fichtner PM PreCast videos and PM EXAM Simulator

George - Congrats! I'm so glad to hear you've passed and I'm sure seeing the CONGRATULATIONS at the end of your test was very exciting. I will say that I fear I may be in the same boat as you! I am attempting my 3rd try tomorrow but am not feeling confident. Juggling a busy home life I'm stressing that I didn't get enough study hours in, once again! I will say that knowing that I'm not the only one with multiple attempts is some what settling! Fingers crossed I can squeeze in a few more PrepCast tests to help me out.

Congrats George! Good luck Alexandra. I failed my PMP exam yesterday at an person Vue testing center and I feel defeated like I let my family down, I let myself down, I let my company down. One thing that I know is that I didn't fail because of the lack of studying. I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into the first attempt just like I did on the mock exams, but even with the mock exams I had to retake them at least once until I got a satisfactory mark in the 80% range before I moved on to the next full exam. That was my strategy leading up to the exam, so you can imagine that I did a lot of studying and reviewing the questions that I got wrong or didn't quite understand. I went into the exam lacking confidence and I was extremely nervous although I felt that I was well prepared. The last few months or so I feel like I have been racing the clock. I took a bootcamp by Reed Integration back in March earlier this year and I was pushing to knock the test out by the time it switched, which was supposed to be in July, but COVID hit so I took advantage of the time and studied a little more. I totally ignored the PMBOK Guide somewhat and was just using it as a reference up until the middle of November when I got this Prepacast Simulator. This simulator is awesome, I feel like I am learning something new everyday and it forces you to read the PMBOK Guide. I didn't realize that I was missing out on so much information. I've been relying on Rita & Headfirst PMP. I wish that I would have purchased this simulator earlier in the year.

I am debating now if I want to pay and retake the exam again on the 31st if they have any availability to test from home. I been hearing that the questions are not that long when testing from home, but who knows? I swear that a majority of the questions that I was hit with seem like novels and even after taking 5 mock exams on this simulator, I was not familiar with any of the scenarios. Maybe my nerves got the best of me. I was really close to passing and I know that I have what it takes. My marks were above target in initiating & monitoring/controlling, below target in planning & closing, and need improvement in executing. I don't know how much more info that I can cram in my brain. When I reviewed my analysis, I'm slightly to the left of the target line, which tells me that I was really close.

Duon - I can tell you that there aren't any exam openings on the 31st I looked the other day to try and push my test out by one day to cram some more studying in, but no luck.

It sounds like you really prepared well but I can relate to your situation. My first attempt I honestly shouldn't have sat for it, I was SO unprepared but thought what the heck I might get lucky and boy was I wrong. I was in the middle of the needs improvement scale. I too felt like I let everyone down, especially myself. I definitely shed some tears...maybe a lot, and was in a funk afterwards. But we have to remember that not passing isn't the end of the world it's very common to not pass on the first try. At least you have two more attempts! And hey, it's even okay to have to wait and reapply and take it 5 times! No one is judging, well at least George and I aren't!

My second attempt I studied pretty hard but my nerves got the best of me, I definitely think they affected my overall performance. However, I was SO CLOSE to the target range I must of just been a couple of questions off. This go around, I am regretting letting so much time pass between my last test and starting to study again but PrepCast has definitely helped a lot and I hope I pass tomorrow. If not, it wasn't meant to be quite yet.

I wish you the best of luck with your next attempt and I am sure you will do great! Try and remain positive in your thoughts and confident in yourself! You got this!

Thanks for the motivation Alexandra. And that sucks that there is not anymore openings to take the exam. I'm guessing this includes online proctor & testing at centers? I can imagine everybody is trying to get this done this year just like I had planned to do. I wish you the best of luck tomorrow. Nerves definitely got the best of me because I believe what I know is enough to pass the exam. I look forward to reading your success story. I'm sure you will be fine.

I was looking specifically at online proctor times but there could potentially but an opening in a center near you but I fear with it being such a short time frame, they will all be booked!

Thank you, I will update the thread this evening after my exam, fingers crossed!

I also wish you the best of luck trying to get a test time tomorrow and if not, best of luck on studying for the new test version in 2021!

I literally had to call Pearson and try to have them schedule for me for 12/30/20 on Monday, and the lady who helped me was so nice and confirmed that online proctor team was not working on 12/31/20 which explains why most people can not scheduled that day, which sucks for us because of the new changes.

Congrats George Hazelton, that is some serious perseverance! I passed mine today on 3rd attempt! wrote my painful lesson learnt in the "lesson learned" forum:)

Happy almost new year everyone!