I passed today on the first attempt.
First I would like to thank Mr Fichtner for a excellent resource to prepare for my Exam.
I began preparing in May.
I started with the Prepcast, which gave me some very useful tips for getting started, obtaining my 35 required hours, and with coalescing my previous work experience into my application.
1. I created a study plan that defined my study schedule (time spent per week, day etc), and worked diligently toward the stud goals. I am sure individual study time required will vary, but I set a goal of 180 study hours.
2. I purchase my study materials. which included the Prepcast(awesome product BTW Cornelius), Rita's Book,& the PMBOK. I also purchased three training apps for my Iphone (PMP trainer, Istudy, & PMP prep). I also purchased the ITTO game and the PM flashcards. To be completely honest I did not use the flashcards much. But the ITTO game was a GREAT tool for helping me learn the ITTO's.
3. I studied 3 hours a day 4 days a week or more often as my schedule permitted. I read the PMBOK guide cover to cover. then I read Rita's cover to cover. I then followed up with the Iphone apps. The Iphone apps were great as they gave me alot of questions/quizzes that I used to assess my progress regularly. I used these as a low cost means of getting quality questions in addition to the free online questions.
4.
As I got close to the exam(in couple of weeks). I purchased the PMP exam simulation exams (the 8 exams with the 1 ITTO specific exam). And I added these to my studies by taking an exam then reviewing it the next day and studying the areas that required improvement in Rita's book and with the prepcast. I worked through all 8 exam simulations this way. I have to tell you this was rigorous, but it matched my learning style.
One other activity I did was a brain dump sheet for the formulas & a few ITTO's I continued to struggle with. I have to say the Brain dump sheet was a key to my success. while it did not directly help me answer questions. It help organize thoughts so that I did not have to second guess my memory (especially for formulas) while I was in "deep woods" so to speak. And just the value of not second guessing items from my brain dump was a HUGE help for me. thanks again to Prepcast.
Midi Park
Senior Technical PM AT&T Mobility
