This past weekend 4/8/2016, I passed the PMP on the first Attempt. I made Proficient on (Planning, Executing and Monitoring and Controlling) and Moderately Proficient on (Initiating and Closing).
I took a little over 4 months to study and basically followed the Plan of the PM Prepcast. I studied 1-2 hours a night, we get the kids down by 8pm and I studied between then and bedtime. I took the weekends off at first, but by the end I was putting in a good effort on Saturday as well. I left Chapter 4 integration for last as the prepcast suggested, looking back I think that was the correct way to do it. I gave myself enough time to watch all the Prepcasts and read Rita's book leaving a week and a half to focus on my weak areas before my test date.
In the last few days I went back and made sure I had the Process Chart down cold and basically memorized who was credited with what theory and when they should be applied. Since you can no longer do a brain dump during the tutorial I only wrote down a few formulas (Yeah that is new as of a couple months). I did not bother trying to memorize the process chart until I was almost done with studying, at this point it made more sense and seemed less like pure memorization.
In the last month I took 4 full length sample test. I also did the quizzes at the end of the Chapter. I scored in the high 70's on the last couple full length tests from the prep cast simulator, and around 67% on the first. Your ability to endure 3 - 4 hours of intense focus is like a muscle that needs to be built up. When I did the first full length I found myself wanting to bail out on questions. I was much less fatigued when I finished the last practice test and the actual exam than I was when I did the first exam. I tied up a lot of memorization loose ends after I took my last full length so realistically I would have probably scored in the low 80's if I took one more practice test the day before the exam.
The day before the exam I drove to a friends house 2 hours away (we do not have a local testing center). I had a nice Italian dinner a couple glass of wine and probably did not study a full hour the entire day( flash cards of who did what what, formulas and process chart only). On exam morning I got up early and walked the process chart through verbally while my friend held the chart and verified my answers. Having a good command of what comes next is key.
I hope someone finds this helpful.
PS. Yesterday I washed my boat, I look forward to doing something different with my downtime.
Dusitn H, PMP.
