Hi everyone,
I passed the PMP exam at first try after just 3 months(Jan 12- April 11) of studying. Allow me to indulge you in my story
First, i registered at PMI.org, then purchased the prepcast (the single most important material for the pmp exam). I began watching the videos, and took notes on inputs, T&T, outputs, knowledge areas the whole time. Every little detail was on my notebook. This helped in assimilating the material more easily. I set a schedule with target dates for completing each knowledge areas videos. After about 4 weeks i took the exam to get my 35 PDUs and passed. Then i completed my PMP application and sent it to PMI. As soon as i got accepted, i set my exam date. I work during the days, so i would study after work from 6PM until 9PM every weekday, and from 12 noon to 4pm during the weekend.
After i was done with the prepcast, i purchased the pm exam simulator and set aside 4 hours during the weekend to go through the exam. I had 82% on the first exam and 75%, 77%, 82% on the next three respectively. I checked the exam center about a week before my exam. I downloaded the )PMBOK guide but didnt use it much except for referencing in a few occasions.
I passed the PMP exam with 3 Proficient, 1 Moderately Proficient, and 1 Below proficient.