I'm not sure what online course you're talking about, but I'll give you my study plan - I just passed on the 1st attempt, with no prior knowledge of PMP after studying for a month. I went through a PMP boot camp course in June and did the following to prepare for my exam:
1. Took notes on each knowledge area from Rita's guide which was offered through the course.
2. Re-read each knowledge area one by one in Rita's guide, and took multiple 20 question learning quizzes from this site until I scored 75% on each knowledge area (making sure to use questions that were previously asked each time). This was HUGE in getting me in the right mindset for the exam. I found that I needed to disqualify most of the answers in order to find the "most right' response, which was a big help on the actual exam.
3. Read the PMBOK, taking notes on areas that I was not strong in.
4. Started taking full exams from this site - Another big help. I did 4 exams prior to taking my test, and scored between 80-85% on each. These were another big help in prepping me for the test.
5. Re-read the PMBOK and Rita's guide the day prior and day of exam to refresh any weak areas.
I ended up scoring above target on 4/5 areas and at target on 1. The tests on this site and reading the PMBOK helped me the most in my studying. I found that many of the free test question sites were too simple, and really enjoyed having the instant feedback from the questions here. I also feel that reading through the PMBOK and taking notes is a must - my scores on the practice test really improved after doing that.
