TOPIC: Passed PMP in first attempt (about 40 days preparation)

Hi Everyone,

I am so glad to announce that today I have made my way through passing the PMP exam in first attempt and I should admit that if I do not have opted for the paid simulator tests from PM PrepCast things could have been different today. Thru' I have significant real world experience in the project management but when it comes to PMP exam we should be very much careful about picking our BEST and NEXT steps during exam questions which may not be ideal in real situations depending on company you work with.

Here is my preparation steps:
1. Head First read almost all the topics in book, author tries to engage readers explanation through lot of graphics but still the book is not concise enough
2. Free Mock tests
a. Head First - 60% first attempt, 80% in second attempt
b . PM Study - 66 % first attempt, 78% second attempt
c. Oliver Lehmann - 60% first attempt
3. It has been nearly 20 days over and with above scores I realized that my study is not sufficient. Then I decided that I need to read Rita book as many suggested. instead going each topic I picked only those where my scores are less.
4. Its almost end of June haven't yet fixed exam date, but I want to appear for exam sometime during July, I opted for below paid tests, during first week of July I fixed the exam date July 12 while after purchasing 8 simulator tests from PM Prepcast.
5. Paid Tests
a. PMP Exam Bank by Fahad Usmani comes with downloadable 400 tests in word doc, these questions are short & little tricky there are few repeated but I think its work what I paid for (4 USD). In these exams I scored 66%
b. 8 Simulator tests by PM Prepcast which is a turning point. The scores were between 60% - 78%, and 70% in ITTO I know that I didn't reach the benchmark 85% but the confidence level boosted since the last 3 exams where the scores where consistent 75 I know I am right in there. What I liked about these tests is that the difficulty level , the situational questions are superb! there has been many ambiguous, where more than 1 answer seems to be right, which got me wrong I was little concerned about these. Thank God! didn't come across many such during the real exam. I appeared for 1 test each day except one particular day I did 2 tests as I am not happy with the first test score, where as the second test score even worst. I have spent significant time in reassessing each tests what went wrong this learning helped me lot. July 10th I am done with all 8 tests the aggregate was 72% still below the standard. However as per PM Prepcast stats there were about 75% passed candidates whose scores between 70% & 75% . These stats helped me gain confidence. July 11th I attempted ITTO ( 70%) & Quiz (74%)
6. While doing the tests I have covered few topics of PMBOK 5th Edition
7. 50 secrets pdf seems worth as last minute preparation

And finally a day July 12 has arrived woke up little early than other days, before leaving for exam just glanced through some of main pages in PMBOK as suggested in 50-Secrets-of-the-PMP-Exam-White-Paper.pdf , I appeared for the test just like the way I appeared for simulator exams. Unlike many people said that the exam center allow to write the formula during first 15 mins training, but the exam center where I wrote did not allow me instead I wrote after I begin the test, and hence the pace was little slow many are about 1 paragraph followed by question, first 100 questions answered just over 2 hrs, then I increased the pace in next 100 concentrating the last sentence then going back as needed. I completed the test with 10 mins remaining. Last 10 mins I reviewed and changed my mind in answering 1 or 2 during the review. That's it! time up message, then a wait cursor, then asking for exam center feedback and then the final message Congratulations!! It feels so great in seeing such message. I know a little more preparation could have ended up with more Ps however I am now PMP Certified

P.S the percentages mentioned above may not be exact but very close as much I remember.


Ram

Dear Ram,

Congratulations on passing your exam!

Thank you for sharing your success and lessons learned. I remember your valuable inputs that you submitted through our simulator Live Feedback™ support feature. We are glad to hear that our products helped you prepare and pass your exam.

Now it’s time to celebrate your success. Don't forget to start earning your PDU’s.

Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Dear Ram,
My mock exam percentages (free and paid) are close to your results, but i am afraid to re schedule my second test as i think i am not ready yet. Your message give me hope that i can pass also.
Thanks

Dear Lhito,

Glad to hear that, you could practice little more to ease your confidence level, if you are consistent on 75 at least a few tests I think you are good to go, but I would recommend more practice if you have time

Wish you all the best!

Best Regards,
Ram

Hi Ram,

Congratulations!

I have a question: how close the real exam to the PM Prepcast PMP Exam Simulator that you mentioned you use for your preparations?

BTW, I see people say that most of the questions are situational and that the questions ask what should you do first/next/etc? Do the questions really ask "What should YOU do?" or are they worded in 3rd person, like "What should the PROJECT MANAGER do?" Also, I see many questions in the PM Prepcast simulator have main characters with names, like "Mary is a project manager of the construction project. Blah-blah-blah. ... What should SHE do next?" I'm just trying to see how to better prepare myself mentally to the questions. Shall I impersonalize myself with the main character of the question and answer the question as if I was the project manager? Or, shall I treat the questions as a sort of an "outsider" who watches the situation from above, like a PMI, and then recommends the best course of action based on the PMBOK?

Thanks in advance!
Alex

Hi Alex,

Most situational questions I came across is quite similar to questions in PrepCast simulator and in fact I found the real exam is must easy than simulator where the answers are less ambiguous than in the simulator.

Not sure about how others can answer better, but I have answered situational questions by imagining myself to that particular situation as Project Manager even thru' there is no YOU in question as I am comfortable answering such way.

Wish you best of luck!

Regards,
Ram

Thank you Ram!

Hi Ram,
Your post has given me more hope, since my scores have been around what yours were prior to the exam. Hopefully I have the same outcome you had after the exam in 2 days.

Thanks back to prepping I go.
Jolene

Dear Ram,
I passed last Augus8, thanks

Lito

Congratulations Rose, good to hear that.

Congratulation Lhito

Ram - I'm glad you cleared the PMP test in the 40 days and appreciate you sharing your methodology in detail.

I too wish to benefit from it as I've scheduled the exam in another 39 days.

I did start off a little rusty with below 60% in the free tests. Now that's come to around hover around 75% in the timed versions (90 questions each). My initial strategy is to re-visit the questions that I get wrong and also go through the ones I'm not a hundred percent sure about.

Although elimination technique does help reach a calculated guess but what would you suggest as I've still got a full month's preparation to go. Can put in a dedicated 1-2 hours of study a day (including weekends).

Hope to hear from the community at large

Cheers
-Atif

Hi Atif,

I think you have enough time to deal with, revisit the wrong answers will certainly help reassess situations, as recommended by other experts if possible try to benchmark 80% in mock tests this would help you gain more P's .

Wish you all the best.

- Ram