TOPIC: Lessons Learned - PMI ACP - 6/7/19

Hello,
Started studying on 3/15/19 and passed the exam today. Here is a rundown of my approach and what worked for me.

1. Read Agile Practice Guide
2. Read Mike Griffiths, 2nd edition - Did not do any exercises or tests
3. Read Agile Practice Guide again
4. Read Mike Griffiths, 2nd edition, again - Once I got through it again I combined all the chapter end questions together as a single practice exam. When I reviewed my results I looked at each question and answer regardless if I answered it right or wrong. If I got the question correct, I wanted to know why it was correct so I could reaffirm the logic I used to answer the question.
5. Leaned heavily on Edward Designer PMI ACP website for supplemental notes and general knowledge.
6. Purchased the exam simulator here and decided that I would take tests 1, 2, 3 and reviewed each test the same way I did above.
Exam 1 - 65%
Exam 2 - 70%
Exam 3 - 67%
7. Some domains were solid but others not so much. As a result, I did a targeted reread of the corresponding domain chapter in Mike Griffith's book and retook the first 3 exams.
Exam 1 - 80%
Exam 2 - 78%
Exam 3 - 76%
Also I should mention that the first time I took the exams, I did so in the late afternoon and this may have impacted my initial scores. The second time through, I took them in the morning when I had more energy and to simulate when I would be taking the actual exam.
8. Took the last exam three days before the actual exam and scored 75%. My overall test results from the ALL simulators are as follows:

First Attempt at Q vs. All Attempts
Domain I: Agile Principles and Mindset 79% / 80%
Domain II: Value-Driven Delivery 65% / 66%
Domain III: Stakeholder Engagement 69% / 73%
Domain IV: Team Performance 68% / 76%
Domain V: Adaptive Planning 61% / 67%
Domain VI: Problem Detection 71% / 73%
Domain VII: Continuous Improvement 75% / 79%

9. Used the day before the pmi acp exam to relax.
10. Today I reviewed study notes in a very general way for about two hours before the test.

Actual Results
Domain I: Agile Principles and Mindset - Above Target
Domain II: Value-Driven Delivery - Above Target
Domain III: Stakeholder Engagement - Target
Domain IV: Team Performance - Above Target
Domain V: Adaptive Planning - Above Target
Domain VI: Problem Detection - Above Target
Domain VII: Continuous Improvement - Above Target

I have a complaint about the new Pearson Vue locations. The testing software is not as good as the previous company that was contracted with PMI. The Pearson Vue software doesn't allow you to strike through wrong or disqualifying answers. That was a surprise and EXCEPTIONALLY annoying. I finished the exam in about 2 hours, 20 minutes and spent 30 minutes to review flagged questions.

I didn't see many questions about co-location, lean, or ROI, IRR, etc. I was also surprised by how the questions were worded. I was expecting worse. Most questions were only 2 sentences long. There were a couple of "alien" questions that I came across but nothing horrible. I did flag about 20 questions but I only changed the answer on 4 or 5 of them.

I took one break at the 60 question mark.

@John-Paul Johns, Did you take the exam at a prometric center or did you do the online proctored exam? Just to confirm, your experience was that the strike out feature is no longer available? What about the highlight feature?

Hi John-Paul,

Congratulations on passing the PMI-ACP Exam! Thank you for sharing with us your study approach and your experience taking the exam. I'm sure those who are aspiring to take the PMI-ACP Exam will find it helpful. We wish you all the best in your career. Have a good day!

Prometric was no longer available when I scheduled the test. I could only choose from a Pearson Vue center OR an online proctored exam. I chose to go to the Pearson Vue center instead of the online proctoring. To confirm there was no highlight or strike through option with the Pearson Vue testing software.

Hi John-Paul,

Congratulations and thank you for the write-up. I have a few questions for you.

I was curious about your brain dump for the exam as I didn't see it mentioned. Did you do a brain dump? If so, what topics did you document down (or felt the weakest on?)

During the exam, did you have questions that required some calculations? (e.g. # of iterations remaining or # of weeks remaining based upon story points completed or by velocity)

Thank you!

Good morning, Steven!

While I absolutely needed a brain dump for the PMP (processes, formulas, etc.), something like that is completely unnecessary for the PMI ACP exam. There are many types of situational questions that require you to find the best next step based on plain vanilla agile. My best test tip....Keep in mind that answers that use terms like "always" or "escalate to senior management" are rarely the right answer given the very nature of agile.

I only had one question that required me to do any calculations prior to selecting the best answer and it was similar to the scenarios that you mentioned.