TOPIC: Passed PMP in First Attempt with 5 AT!!!!

I finally have the PMP tag against my name. Gave the exam today early morning from home and was super joyed to see that Congratulations message at the end of the exam!
Even surprised to see mail with my results in the evening itself scoring Above Target in all areas

My Preparation:
I started preparing for PMP last year around the same time attended simplilearn PMP classroom courses for 35 hours PDU. Applied for the exam and was approved without any hassles.
Referred Rita Mulachy, Simplilearn course material and PMBOK and had extensively prepared my own notes then.
But then had to drop the plan for giving actual exam due to work commitment changes.
Picked up the studies again in August end this year and referred to the classroom recordings from Simplilearn, Rita Mulachy, my notes for revision again. This time also prepared flash cards.. must have made around 900 to 1000 of them!
I was studying 4-5 hours every day, longer in the weekend, was getting up at 5 in the morning to study, as work hours it was difficult to find time to study
Also started giving simplilearn tests, then bought Prepcast PM Simulator. I really loved the way answers are explained in Prepcast, also the way you can slice and dice your results to work on the weak areas.
I didn't use quizzes more, because didn't want to bias my full length tests. Initially did around 384 questions using quizzes and started with the full length tests.
My test scores were 88.5, 90.5, 90.5, 89, 90.5, 87, 90.5.
I wasn't focusing much on ITTO's, but gave the ITTO test as part of quizzes.
I also gave the PMI free test, and scored 78%, which kind of shook me considering I was hitting 90's in prepcast.

I also gave the module tests in EduHubspot, they are tough..was hitting 79% in them.

Online exam experience

I logged in half an hour early, uploaded photos and went through the tutorial and started the exam infact 10 mins before actual time. But then the proctor contacted me through chat and call option in exam, asking me to confirm if all other windows were closed.
Which I had, she still asked me to open task mgr. But when I followed her instruction there was an issue, and my test when resumed, started without camera working! I panicked a bit. The clock kept ticking. She then asked me to force restart my laptop. And she called me on my phone.
I then again entered the access code which she gave on the phone and resumed the test, this time everything was working. She told me they will raise a case of this incident and if at the end I need extra time due to this I would get it. I didnt need it though, as I finished my exam with almost 50 mins to spare
I finally took a deep breath and resumed my exam.
After the 90th question, the review screen pops up. I reviewed the questions I had flagged, I even changed some answers and then ended the review to take the break. Ate something, washed my face and started the exam again.
After I had finished answering the 200 questions the review screen popped up again. I reviewed the flagged questions first and then started going through all the remaining questions. I also changed some answers of non flagged ones! But by the time I got to reviewing last 30, I had lost patience , My back was hurting and so were my legs. So decided to submit the exam and Lo the congratulations screen popped up!!!

Phew what a relief it was

Tips:
The real exam questions were short, similar to Prepcast questions, just 3 questions where I had to use calculator, and 1 question where I used whiteboard for network diagram.
There is a comment option in the left hand corner of the test, that I found useful for the EVM Calculation questions, you can save it and when you review it, you will still find it there
The whiteboard once opened, I wasn't able to close it, but good thing is the camera screen and whiteboard both can be moved around, so I dragged it below so that it doesn't distract
While using Prepcast simulator, Please do review the questions you answer wrong, revise the weak areas and give the next exam. I in fact actually went through questions I answered correctly, reading explanation for each of the answers. Trust me it helps a lot.

And lastly many thanks to the Prepcast forum and moderators for answering my queries!

Hello Deepti,

Congratulation for your achievement, and also thank you for sharing your experience and your tips.
I can see that you took your preparation seriously. With such a commitment, and working with the Prepcast, which is actually a great tool to get prepared, you largely deserve that result.
I wish you all the best for your future, as a PMP!

hi Deepti
i was going thru your post , about module tests in EduHubspot did you buy the package or did you get somewhere the free practice test . would you like to share .

Thanks

I am also interesting as I do PrapCast with 84%