TOPIC: PMP passed on first attempt: lessons learned

Good Day,
While I was studying I refereed to this area of the subscription for information in regards to study tips from others who passed. I wanted to pass along my strategy and lessons learned in passing the PMP on the first attempt.

I essentially broke my preparation into two parts, one (1) going through the lessons in the prep cast and two (2) taking practice quizzes and exams. I began going through the informational portion of the content in late April and completed the curriculum in mid June. Once the curriculum was complete I began the testing portion of my studies. I took all seven (7) of the practice exams but did not take the ITTO exam. I would take an exam every weekend and use the following week to work on areas where I was weak. My first set of practice exam scores were in the mid-60% but by exam 6 & 7 I was scoring in the low 80%.

Here are my lessons learned:
- use all of the practice questions and ITTO questions either on exams or quizes. I answered every questions that was available
- Get comfortable taking two hundred question length exams, by the end of my studies I would get through exams in just over two hours, the same with real exam. this helped as I never felt fatigued in the real exam
- do not focus on the detailed formulas, understand CPI, SPI, EV, CV, SV, if you understand these you can get to the correct answer by reading the language of the question. Remember the correct answer is provided to you
- I did not read the PMBOK guide and used it only as a glossary
- I took notes over all of the lessons, but did not end up using them, up to you how much effort and time you want to put the lessons into your own language
- after each practice exam identify the two domains you scored the lowest and prioritize them in regards to your stronger areas to prepare for your next exam
- utilize the learning quizzes in the early portion of your testing, this takes the pressure off and allows you to focus on your understanding or lack there of, of the material and not the time you are taking
- do not get frustrated at your early results, remember you are supposed to get the practice questions wrong and the real questions correct
- Schedule your test before your exam simulator expires
- take your time to prepare it took me 139 days from subscription to test
- do not study the day of or the day before your exam, be comfortable that you put the work in to get the desired result
- understand at the front that it is a commitment and you need to dedicate yourself to the commitment
- the test is hard yes, but not impossible

Please feel free to respond and I will reply accordingly.

Best of luck

Hello Richard,

Congratulations!
And thank you for sharing your experience in preparing the exam.
As you said, the focus should be made on doing as much practice questions as possible, and for that, the 7 Exam Simulators and the ITTO Exam are excellent tools.

Congratulations.

I was looking for info on the practice exam 8 (ITTO) - how is it different from the rest? Is it just based on ITTOs?

Thank you,
You are correct the 8th test's only content is ITTO's

When I was taking learning quizzes i included the ITTO questions so I could get exposure to the content. I did not feel taking an entire 4hour examine on only ITTOs was applicable.

Best,

Congrats and great summary for others. I would add to stay away from studying on exam day as it can become a significant distraction and can become a frustration than a help.

Regards

Chan

Thank you Chan