Today 28th of September 2017, I passed the PMP exam on my first try with 5 above target.
Preparation.
I've started the preparation at the end of June 2017 with the goal of completing the exam before the change in structure. I've used a combination of reading materials, video tutorials and simulators.
Reading materials: Rita's exam prep for me was a must. I started reading the PMBOK and it was absolutely too dry because the information is just listed while Rita's explains everything like a story. I've read it 4 times start to finish and I mixed it with some simulated tests in between each time I read it. Then in the last few weeks before the exam I went back to the PMBOK to look specific concepts individually.
Simulators: I used Rita's fastrack and the PM prepcast. I found the questions on the simulators thougher than the ones in the exam which looking back now is a good thing. Scores were around 70s initially and at the end I was getting mid 80s on both simulators.
Videos: bought a course from Joseph Phillips on udemy and I found it good for revision but I don't think it would be sufficient to pass the exam.
Regarding the exam.
Answered the whole exam in 3 hours without taking a break, then i took a 10 minutes break and went back to tackle about 20 questions which I had marked. I actually had some time to skim through most of the other questions just to make sure. Questions were mostly on risks and changes, a few calculations like ETC, CPI, communication channels but nothing too complicated and a few on procurement. A few critical path questions and I was absolutely convinced that 1 of these questions had something wrong as none of the 4 answers made any sense. I actually spent about 15 minutes just looking at this question towards the end and just couldn't figure it out (I hoped it was one of the questions which are not marked). No Direct ITTOs questions but there were questions that needed you to know which ITTOs were part of the process discussed so you do need to know them.
My advice to anyone else is do many simulated tests and go back to look at the wrong answers. Look for "key words" for example a question which contains the words "high level information" is pointing me already towards the charter or focusing on factors which cause the majority of quality issues is pointing me towards a Pareto chart.
Overall, it was a great learning curve and the PM Prepcast simulator is a must for anyone who wants to tackle the exam with the right tools.
