TOPIC: Passed PMP Exam (4 P, 1 MP)

I wanted to share that my passed the PMP Exam on my 1st try! I studied for ~4 months at roughly ~10 hrs per week (not including practice exams) and it was more than enough to pass the exam.

Study Materials
PM Prepcast (5/5 stars): This is extremely useful in ingraining yourself into the concepts of the PMP Exam. I watched all of the lessons and listened to most of the podcasts. Towards the end of my study, I went back and re-watched all of the Executing processes lessons since there are 8 processes for 60+ Questions.
Rita's book (5/5 stars): I thought this book was extremely useful. I know some do not like the "accusatory" tone of the book, but working at an investment bank, it was quite similar to the tone and feedback I see in the corporate culture, so I thought the tone was appropriate. I went through this book twice.
PMBOK (3/5 stars): Dry, useful as a reference. I went through it once to make sure I can I say I went through it but, again, used it more as a reference.

Exam Study Materials (11 exams)
Simplilearn (3/5 stars): 1 free exam. I found the content of the exam here sometimes confusing, but it was also my first exam in which I scored a 70%. I think going through this exam helped me learn more about my pacing. After this exam, I set up a schedule to do the first 125 questions, take a 5 minute break, complete the remaining 75 questions, take a 5 minute break and then complete my review of all 200 questions (not only marked questions). This helped me in my future exams.
Head First PMP (4/5 stars): 1 free exam. I found the content here more in line with PMBOK but not as much as the PM Exam Simulator. I used my pacing schedule and scored 81% on this exam (2nd exam).
PM Exam Simulator (5/5 stars): Absolute must. I took all 9 exams here. The first 7 scores ranged from 83-86% so I was grading in a tight range. By Exam #8 and 9, I was able to get up to 89% with the additional review of the Prepcast Executing processes lessons and other additional review. The questions are great, even though there are 1-2 odd questions per exam. This was definitely the highlight of the whole study process.

Overall, the most important part is taking the practice exams, especially the PM Exam Simulator and going through the answers to all questions. I thought the overall exam was similar in content to the Exam Simulator but with less information which caused me sometimes to have to re-read the question to make sure I understood where in the overall PM process the question was covering. I had started my review of questions with ~1 hour left and ended the exam with ~15 minutes left. I felt pretty confident and was pleased to see PASS. I received a Proficient in Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and a Moderately Proficient in Closing.

I remember there were 2 questions in closing that I went back and forth on. Had I gone with my original instinct, I might have had proficient in Closing as well since there are ~24 questions on the exam on Closing. Oh well, lesson learned (literally!)

I think if you take 9-10 practice exams and you consistently score above 80%, you are in good shape for the PMP Exam. Attack the questions you got wrong so you know exactly where you erred and you should come out ahead in the actual exam. Don't panic at all, stay the course. You will get some easier questions and you will get confidence. Leave about an hour to go back and go through all the questions. You will find yourself much clearer on questions after reading them a 2nd time and here you are just making sure the answer marries to the question so you shouldn't take more than 30 sec unless absolutely necessary, and less than 30 seconds for the ones you are 100% sure about.

Good luck! The exam is definitely beatable.

Dear A Richards,

Congratulations on passing your PMP exam!

Thank you for sharing your success and posting your lessons learned. We appreciate the high marks you gave to our products and are glad to hear that they helped you to prepare and pass your exam.

Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Excellent score

Congratulation