I probably should have cancelled... but I felt ready and wanted it over with.

My primary study materials were:
1. Rita Mulcahy's PMP Prep Exam, 8th Edition
2. PM Prepcast (great for listening to to shore up Rita's book)
3. PM Prepcast formula package

Exam Simulators:
PM PrepCast PM Exam Simulator

I'm glad I took Rita's book because I could really visualize a classroom situation where there would be a chorus of "but we do it this way..." (time waster for exam prep). Rita's book reiterated it many times that nobody cares how it was done at XYZ corp, "PMI says this...". It always provided a chuckle and got straight to the point.

Based on time estimates, budget approx 150 hours. I think I *could* have done it in 140 hours. I did it in 177 hours. This hours figure is "all-in" including all the paperwork with PMI. I'm pretty good at taking exams, so factor in a +/- adjustment on 150 hours based on how well you are at taking tests and studying for them.

The worst part of it all was anxiety over the exam and the PMI application process.

For the PMI process, just get references, tell them what you will say (you only have 550 characters) and ask them if they will back you up in an audit. This was the hardest part of the PMI process. I did have some references that I determined I could not trust to follow-up with the paperwork in an audit, so doing this pre-work really helped me with the PMI process.

For the exam, run through the material once then start taking the exam simulators. It will become quickly clear what you need to memorize or not memorize. Take the exam once you're consistently over 80%. Voila! You are done!

Cheers,

Trevor
Calgary, Alberta, Canada