Hi, there!
First of all, what works for me not necessarily will work for everybody in terms of the plan. However, whatever your plan is it will work if you follow it until the end, because you were the one that planned it!
I set a goal to take the exam in a window of 2 months. The first thing I did was to schedule the exam, because then I would have had spent the money and a wall would be placed right in front of me - so no where to run.
Then I bought the Rita Mulcahy book, which for me is the best. I read it fully once (2 hours everyday for 28 days and I was finished!).
After that I bought the PMPrepCast (with the simulator). I did 2x simulator exams and got exactly the same grade on both - 72%. To me, even though it was enough to theoretically pass, I felt I still need some buffer to take the exam more comfortably. So I re-read some of the chapters of the Rita's book (the ones the exam simulators told me I didn't go so well), watched the lessons from the PMPrepCast of those specific subjects and took another exam. Bam! 86% and I felt good. I took this third simulator test on day 35.
I felt good during the exam, didn't suffer. The questions of the PMPrepCast simulators are pretty close to the ones you'll find on the exam. This made me much more confident, because I wasn't in a "strange land". I've seen it before. So, I passed.
My advice is: plan what's best based on your experience (to me 2 months was more than enough), follow the plan to the letter (be committed), use the Rita's book, the PMPrepCast and take at least 3 simulators. If you do well, then go ahead - you'll make it with flying colours.
Best of luck,
Fabio Orsini
