Happy to share with the community here that I passed the PMP yesterday with above target in all areas. The Exam Simulator was easily the most important factor in my preparation.
My journey has been on-and-off for the last couple years -- I had previously ordered and read through the PMBOK and Rita's book but then got distracted by being a new parent for a while. It was hard for me to master the material with simply those read-throughs. At my job, I had a full PMP curriculum of SkillSoft courses available. Plowing through those last summer helped finally set a solid foundation of the PMI framework. The upcoming exam change in March is what finally motivated me to go full-force in pursuit of this goal and I began intensive study in October.
My study was centered around the practice exams in the simulator. I'd aim to take a practice exam each Sunday, and then spend the following week remediating my incorrect answers. I'd first visit the PMBOK reference provided in the exam simulator. If I needed further clarification, I'd reference the Rita book and then Google and YouTube. If I got <85% on a knowledge area on an individual exam or in my cumulative exam statistics, I'd reread that chapter and take the test at the end of the chapter. If I felt like I needed further clarification, I'd start searching Google and YouTube.
My results in the simulator:
Exam 1: 82%
Exam 2: 88%
Exam 3: 88%
Exam 4: 89%
Exam 5: 91%
Exam 6: 88%
Exam 7: 89%
Exam 8: 92%
Exam 9 (ITTO): 93%
The actual test was similar to the simulator, though the questions were more ambiguous. Nonetheless, the simulator was my x-factor and certainly punches above its price point. I am pleased to join the ranks of the PMPs!
