TOPIC: Passed PMI-ACP Lessons Learned and Thoughts

I wrote the exam yesterday, and passed it with flying ATs. My preparations were really shady until I came across AgilePrepCast. Here is the breakdown of how I studied.

1. McGraw-Hill Education ACP Agile Certified Practitioner Exam by Klaus Nielsen. It was available to me for free at Safari Books Online. This book will cover most of the topics for the exam. However, it is not very well organized. I realized this until I got my hands on the so-called Holy Grail by Mike Griffiths.
2. Mid-way through the Klaus Nielsen’s book, I realized I was heading nowhere. At this time, I was also looking for 21 PDU required by PMI-ACP. Then I came across AgilePrepCast. After reading some rave reviews, I decided to enrol for this. Not to forget the additional incentive - 37 PDU for PMP.
3. Enrolled the course on 19th July. I watched most of the content via podcasts while travelling to work. Things were clearer now, and I attempted the first mock exam. I was stumped by the questions and really disappointed by the result - 58%
4. Next, I read some lessons learned on this forum and came to know that most of the PMI-ACP aspirants diligently read Scrum guide. I downloaded the guide from Scrum.org and delved into it. It was really helpful and gave many new insights. I re-read it multiple times.
5. Following weekend, I attempted second mock on simulator and got 65%. Well..., still not there yet.
6. Received my copy of PMI-ACP Exam Prep. Sadly, I had to order it from Amazon US, as the book is unavailable in local stores in Singapore.
7. I have to admit I read the book half-heartedly - in just 3 days - and attempted my 3rd mock. 59% - what the...!
8. I analysed my 3rd exam so much that it took me six hours to read explanation of all the questions. Now I knew where I need to put my energy - what I know, and what I do not know. I focused on the concepts where I was weak and re-read the book again.
10. Reviewed the incorrect answers of 2nd mock exam and attempted the 4h exam on 20th July and got 70%. I was hoping for more but was happy to see the "Pass" text in green Especially, I was more confident when I read some stats on Exam Feedback tab- 70% of aspirants who answer 50-60% Simulator questions correctly at first attempt pass the exam in first try.
11. Retrospect 4th mock like the 3rd, and booked the PMI-ACP on next available date.
12. It was a while since I gave the 1st mock. So two days before the final exam, I attempted it a second time. I knew I would score more because I remembered some of the answers. It was still okay, as I had not analysed this one so studiously. Got 90%
13. Enjoyed the day before exam. Went out with friends and watched long due Spider-man Homecoming and Dunkirk back to back. By the way, both movies are awesome 
14. Pass the exam on 25th July.


Regarding the exam, everything went fine. I was familiar with the conditions, as I gave my PMP in the same centre some time back. Questions were relatively easier than AgilePrepCast Simulator. One thing to notice – There were no “NOT”/”LEAST”/”EXCEPT” questions in the exam. I saw a lot of these in AgilePrepCast Simulator - These are often tricky and harder. For example, “Which of the following is least appropriate?” Or “An agile practitioner would recommend steps except”

Lastly, I would also like to thank people of this forum, especially who had posted their lessons learned, and of course Stan for his humble and professional replies to my queries through feedback, some of which were not written in right tone out of frustration. Your replies helped clear my doubts and more importantly set my mind that PMI-ACP questions can be very vague and there will be very thin line between two correct answers.

Good luck to all future aspirants.

Regards,
Mukesh Gulia, PMP, PMI-ACP, PSM I

Dear Mukesh,

Congratulations on passing your exam!

Thank you for sharing your success and lessons learned.

Thank you for your warm words. 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.

I appreciate your suggestions of how to improve our products for all our customers. We will definitely consider them in our process of continuous improvement.

Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Hello Mukesh,

Great lessons learned and huge congratulations for passing your PMI-ACP exam. Wow, all Above Target!! Very impressive. You sound like you planned well and executed your plan well too.

We know our PMI-ACP exam questions are difficult and yes, if you are scoring in the 60's and above you are likely ready for the exam. 70% or more and one should have no problem. We have been and are continuously improving our questions to be more like the PMI-ACP exam questions and will continue to take feedback and do the same.

I really appreciate the feedback regarding the negatively worded questions like “NOT”/”LEAST”/”EXCEPT” . We are updating several questions, and we will look for those that fall into this category and modify them, so they are more exam-like. We all appreciate the feedback, which is how we all continuously improve.

Let me say that I think you were very wise to use our Live Feedback feature, and lucky Stan was on while your feedback/questions were coming in. He is very knowledgeable and very helpful in clarifying a question or why the BEST answer is better than another possible correct answer.

As Stan said, we really appreciate your suggestions and sharing with us your great news.
Now put the books and mock exams aside, rest your brain cells, and celebrate what is truly an important milestone in your career!!

All the best to you sir.

Congratulation Mukesh on passing the PMP! Thank you for your lessons learned. Best wishes for your future endeavors!

- Gail