Summary: The exam and the studying process was by far the most robust and difficult I've ever completed in regards to testing for any subject. With that being said, and just like with anything else, It is absolutely passable if you put the time and effort into it. One of the most important elements with this endeavor is knowing your style of learning and studying methodologies before you knock your head against the books - What worked for you during high-school, college, etc ? my style is through brute force. In the end I passed with AT's in all subjects along with 60 minutes to spare. In the end, I logged 200 hours of studying with 105 of those in the last two weeks. I was lucky enough to be quarantined in a hotel for those 2 weeks before heading to an offshore job site, and on the last day I took the exam. By the time I took the test, I was getting high 70's and low 80's on the ExamSimulator - those numbers are nothing to write home about.
My Learning Material:
PMBOK 6th Edition - I used this primarily as a reference only , the book is very dry and repetitive and I knew i personally wouldn't gain anything reading it from front to back and would of been a waste of studying hours.
PMP Success Sheet by Reed Integration, Inc : Excellent pamphlet for a quick reference that shows all the ITTO's for each knowledge are under each process group along with key terminologies. Again, great for a reference.
PrepCast Exam Simulator : THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL i had in the arsenal, out of all the practice questions I took from books and the web , the questions on the Exam Simulator are by far the closest you will get to the exam - if anything, Exam Sim. was a little bit harder which helped for the exam. Save these questions for the last phase of your studying and review every single question after each exam and take notes - this was INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
Brain Sensei: Didn't help much it to be a waste of money. Allot of their focus was purely on agile and scrum - which was rarely brought up on the exam (maybe 4-5 questions) . Just stick with PrepCast for everything.
PMP Exam Prep: Over 600 Practice Questions (Hard copy from Amazon): Another great set of questions that are very difficult - if you can do well on these, then you're in good shape.
PMP Practice Questions (Digital Copy From PMI Website): An easier set of questions that are not like the exam. However, they're great to start out with and I would start with these questions with an open book concept first to help build confidence and get a grasp on the fundamentals. Open book practice tests is a critical part in my studying methodologies -> Read the question -> Unknown -> use your study material and find the answer . It truly is a great way of having your mind think about the problem while reviewing the concepts.
THE EXAM:
As mentioned, it is difficult and almost entirely situational based. By the last hour, I realized this was the first exam In my life that I studied for and went into it not feeling confident that I was going to do well. I started out strong and then in the middle I hit a rough patch before I felt confident again during the last 50 questions. 200 questions is ALOT and I tried not to look at the count of questions left because it only distracted and frustrated me - my brain was fried by the end. The number one process that I found to be questioned the most is CHANGE REQUESTS and the process of how you go through the change requests and whether or not a change request is needed. Remember , not everything needs change requests (understand the concept of artifacts and configuration management , and change management plan ). The second is STAKEHOLDERS and when and how to ENGAGE THEM. COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT followed suit on HOW TO INFORM THE SH and PROJECT TEAM. Know the difference between MANAGE QUALITY AND CONTROL QUALITY. COST and SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT was the easiest subject for me, and is the money maker for the exam. Understanding EVM and understanding some very simple BAC, EAC, CPI and SPI questions will help you achieve about 20 correct answers. The same can be said for Network Analysis, PDM, and CPM - that's another 10 correct questions you can nail.
Pearson Vue Online - Make sure you take this on a stable computer, the Pearson Vue program can crash and actually did after I submitted my results and got the " Congratulations " screen ( THANK GOD! ) . You do not have direct contact with the proctor other than a chat screen - I had my hand over my mouth (force of habit) and he asked me politely to remove it. They will also ask you to scan your room after your 10 minute break. Other than that it was fairly simple and straight forward - just make sure your head/face doesn't leave the recording screen.
In summary, If I can do it, anyone can do it and good luck ! Just keep hitting the practice questions until it finally clicks !
