TOPIC: Passed PMP Exam on the first attempt

Hi All,
I passed the PMP exam on December 28th,2016 . Here is my detailed study plan and few tips.
The study materials that I used for my PMP exam are
Books - Headfirst PMP, Rita Mulcahy and PMBOK
Exam Simulator and Videos by PM Prepcast
I started preparation by Mid October by going through Headfirst initially. It is a good book especially if you are a visual learner. I then watched Prepcast videos which I must say are awesome, with Cornelius Fichtner explaining all PM related terminologies and concepts in-depth and in-easy to understand language. The book by Rita Mulcahy can get a little complex at times in terms of grasping things and so I made sure that I referred it only after going through Prepcast videos to lay the foundation properly. PMBOK was referred at last. I followed this pattern for each knowledge area in the PMBOK guide; finish one Knowledge Area in Headfirst, followed by Prepcast videos followed by Rita Mulcahy and then PMBOK guide. This was topped by practice questions under each knowledge area.
I also created index cards which I could refer to during my travels/breaks/whenever I had time.
How to do this: Make index cards out of chart paper and write down the name of the knowledge area on one side of the sheet and the tools and techniques on the other side.
Make sure you go through this daily and try to recollect the KAs by just going through the techniques. This really helps in the examination to recollect which Tool/Technique is associated with a particular KA. If you have time you can do the same for Inputs/Outputs too.
I also studied page 61 of the PMBOK guide for process and process group mapping.
Once I finished revision of all the chapters in the PMBOK guide, I started taking full length exams on Prepcast Simulator. The scores ranged from 68% initially - to 86% on the last exam.
Upon scoring 80% I was confident about taking the PMP exam.
We do not get time for brain dump before the exam starts and hence I did not do any brain dump. The Prepcast simulator exam practice and the formula guide was sufficient enough to remember everything that is needed.
One more important aspect that helped me in acing the PMP exam is the Whatsapp study group I had formed. I had posted on this forum inviting people to form a group and got a 100 replies!! The discussions and sharing of all PMP related materials really kept me focused on achieving the goal!
Two days prior to the exam I stopped taking tests and focused completely on the PMBOK Guide and my notes. For every wrong question on the practice test, I found some time to go through the explanations given and make a note of it in my notes. This really helped during the few days before the exam.
Finally the night before the exam; get a good nights sleep and plenty of rest for your brain. On the day of the exam,carry water /snacks,take restroom breaks in between and deep breaths whenever you panic seeing a difficult question.Try not to lose focus during the 4 hours!
Hope that this lessons learned would be useful and wishing all PMP aspirants all the very best for the exam!

To add to my exam tips, please try to get hold of a PMP quick reference guide. I had the PMP Quick reference guide by Andy Crowe which helped me in going through the ITTOs really quickly when in doubt. It is usually a 2 page document and can be carried everywhere. Also make sure you join few PMP forums which will keep you updated with the current version/additions and does a lot of information sharing. The Prepcast forum and linkedin forum- " I want to be a PMP" will give you good insights on everything related to project management
I had also referred edward-designer.com/web/pmp/ which has a lot of informative materials/notes etc. which can be used for last minute study.
Good luck for your exam !

Congratulations on passing the PMP exam and Thank you Dhanya for the detailed lessons learned discussion on the forum.

Congratulations!
Your exam taking tips are really nice and detailed.
Thanks for sharing!

Thank you folks!

Congrats Dhanya on the accomplishment!! Way to go!!
Could you please let me know how many Simulation exams you took before actually attempting the actual exam?
I am planning to take the exam in Feb.
Thanks

Thank you Madhu!

Thank you Sandy!

Thanks Aditi!
I could attempt only 4 full length Simulation exams from Prepcast Exam Simulator. Due to time constraint, I took a lot of quizzes (100 questions each) instead of the 200 question one; this had the same question pool as that of the full length exam, all from Prepcast.
I would advise you to take all 9 full length exams that the Prepcast Simulator offers, to be fully prepared!
Please create an excel sheet and track your percentages scored for the exams that you take and make sure that you attempt atleast 2000 - 2500 questions in total;the more the merrier
Good Luck!