TOPIC: Passed the exam on the first attempt

Hello,
I passed my PMP exam last week with first attempt (3ATs, 2 Target). Business slowdown during March- April 2020, gave me an opportunity to spend some time and pursue my dream of having PMP credential. While selecting option for the institute for 35 contact hours, initially I was inclined to go with other cost effective options available in the market, however based on online reviews and feedback, it became pretty evident that PM PrepCast (along with the simulator) would be the best option to choose, which I did. My effort slowed down in month of July to Sep due to increased travel and work load, and with exam format being changed next year, I was committed to apply for the exam prior to thanksgiving.
Exam Preparation Approach:
Prior to purchasing PM PrepCast, I started reading PMBOK. I like hard copies and hence, I printed several of the chapters for easy reading, however, later I refined my with the hybrid approach (digital and hard copies for selected). I was taking notes in OneNote for the key points highlighted by Cornelius as well as from PMBOK. I would like to thank PM PrepCast team for creating great videos with nice background and great explanations. It was very helpful. After completing ~90% of the lessons, I attempted first exam in the simulator and I got 78%. I followed the approach suggested by Cornelius to spend sufficient time analyzing the questions answered incorrectly. My approach was to deep dive into the specific concept, where my answer was incorrect and have clear understanding of the concept and questions. Other three simulator exam results remained ~75%, and I decided to emphasize more on the weak areas / question understanding. I started exploring other online material too. I like free videos from Aileen Ellis, for various concepts, as well as processes explained by Ricardo Vargas (), as well was helpful for better understanding, which was recommended earlier as well in this forum. I made list of the formulas and started writing them down every day. Later I started focusing on the ITTOs, focusing on key knowledge areas, referencing back to PMBOK guide. At this point in time, I started discovering very helpful dataflow diagrams, tables and summary in PMBOK guide. For example, Glossary, Appendix X6 (tools & Techniques), etc. This helped to refine my concepts further. I took last simulator exam, one week prior to my PMP exam and I got 83%, which gave me a good confidence. I kept revising notes and concepts and took quizzes from the simulator for a selected knowledge area.
Exam Experience:
I had scheduled online proctored exam. I did run the software check to ensure it meets the requirement. I have a touch screen laptop and was worried, if it can be an issue as it is not permitted. Online search, I figured out a way to disable touch screen, which I did prior to the exam. On the day of the exam, I checked in 20 min prior to the scheduled time (you need to take 4 photos at the time of check-in- It did not work through my phone, so I had to use my laptop's webcam), however my exam did not started 10 min after the scheduled time. That was little frustrating, as screen says you cannot move from the sight of the camera and even look away. This added little anxiety at the beginning of the exam and I became little nervous. Additionally, my exam got interrupted abruptly during first half. I was really scared, if I had to reschedule or reattempt the whole exam. Fortunately it started back in 5 min or so. Exam questions did not seem different than, what I had experienced in the simulator exam, which was very comforting. Break at around 90th question really helped me a lot with all the issues that I had encountered. Second half went really smooth with 20 min remaining to go over marked questions. I would like to note that the simulator has option to add a comment as well for a specific question (where you can save a formula or write a note if you decide to come back). At the end of the exam, I got a congratulations message, which I was waiting for!. Detailed results became available after 24 hours of the exam.

It was a great learning experience and satisfying experience to go through this journey, which would not have been easy without PM PrepCast support. I am thankful for the team as well as the PMP professionals, who posted their learnings earlier. Hoping to keep going with the learnings.. (still need to complete listening to the expert interviews )
Best Regards and good luck!

Congratulations! Thanks for coming back and telling us about your exam prep journey.