I have read from many sources that you need an average of 180 study-hours in order to pass the PMP.
I targeted 200 hours but ended up doing 270 hours. 90 hours of which were for Mock Ups.
Preparation:
Study Course: PrepCast
Study Book: Andy Crowe
I read the PMBOK, then, PrepCast [process by process].
After that, I read Andy’s for the whole chapter.
I highlight the important information and make notes as I go.
After finishing all PMBOK, PrepCast and Andy, I went through them again chapter by chapter [only for the highlighted areas this time].
Mock up questions, exams and simulators:
I have read in several sources that, do mock ups as many as you can.
The same would you hear from successful PMPs. So, I did.
The 90 hours of mock ups including 15 full exam experience (4 hrs, 200 Q) are listed below.
Reviews on the mock up questions, exams and simulators:
PrepCast: high quality questions, very close to real exam, highly recommend it with little reservations
TestUdaan: very smart questions, test your understanding, cons are poor grammar in some questions and lack of proper explanation but I do recommend it as it focuses on your understanding
Scordo: high quality questions but not enough for the PMP, tests essential knowledge and understanding straight from the PMBOK, highly recommend it but not as sole source.
PMStudy: good quality questions
Simplilearn: good quality questions
The rest of the sources: generally are either too easy, too hard, too tricky, poorly written or slightly out of PMP scope, including Oliver and Rita. Nevertheless, they are good practice which really helped a lot tackling difficult questions besides they do have some good quality questions.
Lastly PMP real exam: high quality questions, it does test your knowledge on the PMBOK and project management. I found the questions to be ‘reasonably’ direct to the point. They are not tricky but you got to get the ‘trick’ behind the question. I mean one first needs to know what the question is asking, then, to know what a process is trying to do, what info is stored in a given document, when to do something and why, and of course the PMI mindset as explained in the PMBOK and code of ethics. The only way to get there is obviously be practicing.
The day before the exam:
I did only 1 study-hour.
I had the mindset that the “people” who write the exam questions are other professionals like myself. They have not dropped from the sky neither they bring questions from up there.
Before sleeping, I told myself: “tomorrow is the day you become a PMP”.
On exam:
I had two breaks. The first one is after one hour. The second one is after 2.5 hrs.
If a question is lengthy, I marked it and moved on.
If I cannot answer a question in 15 sec, I marked it and moved on.
By the end of the third hour, I finished all questions and started reviewing.
I changed 6 or 7 answers.
Lesson Learned:
Practice, practice, practice and more practice.
It will help you understand your stamina for the 4-hour marathon.
It will help you navigate questions quickly because it enables you to identify ‘problematic’ questions.
What is enough?
Never enough. You learn things on the way. Nevertheless, I would say 170-200 hours would be reasonably sufficient to pass the PMP.
When is enough?
You can count on the ‘80% rule’ on the new mock ups. However, I believe you can know it too. It is when you quickly (~15 sec) can identify the correct answer on short “quality” questions and a bit longer for medium-length questions. The correct answer stands out and does make sense. My rule is that if I cannot know the answer in 15 sec, I mark it and move on until I finish the 200 questions.
Misleading rule#1:
You have 1.2 min for each questions. This is not correct. You have less than that. Consider the breaks that you really should take. Also, consider your stamina and concentration factors. When you read a sentence (or question) more than one time and you still have no idea what you just read, your brain most likely asking for a break.
Misleading Rule#2:
You do not have to memorize, just understand. This is not correct. You will need to memorize some of the materials. I would say 15% from what you study (you will need to memorize what you understood, right?) It is true that the PMP does not test your memory but memorization helps you ‘inserting’ information into your brain specially in the first 15 % of your PMP study journey.
PrepCast-1, 200 Q, 84% [paid]
PrepCast-2, 200 Q, 88% [paid]
PrepCast-3, 200 Q, 87% [paid]
PrepCast-4, 200 Q, 90% [paid]
PrepCast-5, 200 Q, 91% [paid]
TestUdaan-1, 200 Q, 78% [paid]
TestUdaan-2, 200 Q, 81% [paid]
TestUdaan-3, 200 Q, 78% [paid]
TestUdaan-4, 200 Q, 86% [paid]
Techfaq360, 200 Q, 81% [Free]
HeadFirst, 200 Q, 81% [Free]
Mockexam4u-1, 200 Q, 74% [Free]
Mockexam4u-1, 200 Q, 77% [Free]
Simplilearn, 200 Q, 76% [Free]
PMstudy, 200 Q, 82% [Free]
PrepCastPre, 110 Q, 81% [Paid]
Examcentral, 100 Q, 95% [Free]
Oliver-1, 75 Q, 71% [Free]
Oliver-2, 175 Q, 79% [Free]
Izenbridge, 100 Q, 75% [free]
PMAcademy, 50 Q, 62% [Free]
BrainBok, 50 Q, 76% [Free]
Whizlabs, 50 Q, 70% [Free]
PMTraining, 10 Q, 70% [free]
PreparePM-1, 75 Q, 87% [Free]
PreparePM-2, 28 Q, 93% [Free]
PrepCast-Daily, 120 Q, 86% average [Free]
Scordo, 874 Q, 89% average [questions and answers]
Andy, 200 Q, 86% [End of Book Exam]
PrepCast, ~200 Q, 79% average [end of chapters]
Andy, ~250 Q, 78% average [end of chapters]
Rita, ~350 Q, 75% average [end of chapters]
HeadFirst, ~250 Q, 86% average [end of chapters]
