TOPIC: Questions on PMP Exam and PM Prepcast Simulator

Hi All,

1) PMP Exam - heard many people suggest taking breaks during exam (go bathroom, eat something, etc...). Does taking breaks during test count against your time (4 hours), or does clock stop for your break?

Prepast Simulator
2) Are the Prepcast Exam Simulator questions APPROXIMATELY the same difficulty level as the actual PMP Certication exam?
3) Are the quiz questions in the simulator just as realistic? I'm finding I like taking the simulator quizes rather than the full blown exams, because I can tailor the # of questions I can practice on initially. But do want to ensure again this is a realistic representation in terms of difficulty level.

Thanks!

Hi Timothy,

As soon as you start the exam, there is no stopping the clock. So if you take a break, it'll count against your test time. That said, I highly recommend taking a few full length practice exams just to get a feel for when and how often you may need a quick break. I took a quick break about halfway through my real exam and was confident that I'd finish in time, only because that was exactly how I'd practiced it.

As for the PrepCast Exam simulator questions, I found them to be pretty similar in difficulty to those on the exam. I'm not too sure about the quiz questions though (perhaps someone with experience with those questions can chime in here).

Hope this helps!

Timothy,

I just passed yesterday and I feel the simulator close to the same level of difficulty. I agree that taking a few practice exams helps. I also bought the PMP Prep-Cast Formulas and cheat sheet. That helped for my data dump and I would have failed without it. I took the entire exam in about 2 hours and 50 minutes. Then I took a 5 minute break to splash some water on my face and head back in. The clock is still ticking but it gave me time to rest my eyes which I needed. I then went over all the questions I marked for review.

-Derek

Hi Timothy:

I agree that the practise exams are about the same difficulty as the exam. Perhaps a tad harder. One thing to add....the practise exams also teach you how to sit and concentrate for the duration of the exam. This can be invaluable going into the real exam. You have a good sense if you can sit through the entire exam or if you will need a break or two.

Tracey

How does everyone feel about questions on the open web? I have finished taking Exam 5 on the Exam Simulator, and have finally started scoring in the 75% range, first attempt(thank goodness!). I decided to branch out a little and see if other exams matched. I tried the Oliver Lehman online exam, and felt like I was hit by a train, with only 57%. How valid are these open web tests? I have a lot of confidence in the Exam Simulator, just wanted to see if there were any other opinions. Thank you!

I tried all sorts of questions online. The PMP Simulator was, by far, the closest to the real thing. The look, wording, and content were all "spot on" to the real exam. I found it to be a bit harder than the real thing. My scores on the simulator were in the 70-80 range. Which, with an already scheduled exam day caused me undo stress. I started to doubt myself based on those scores. Which is why I feel it was harder than the real thing.

Hi Timothy, If you do enough questions on the PM Prepcast Simulator, you will see that the Quiz questions are taken from the same pool of questions as the Exam questions. There are over 1500 questions so eventually you see some over again, depending on how many quizzes or exams you take.
I've taken quite a few exams and quizzes. My exam was cancelled by Prometric on the night before so I'm back to studying....again...