TOPIC: Passed the online PMP exam on first attempt with AT in all process groups .

Hi all,

I am a proud PMP certification holder now. Passed with Above Target score in all categories in the online proctored exam. Thanks to intense preparation and a fighters' attitude during second part of the exam.

Preparation : 3.5 months (Easily above 600 hours)

Resources : PMPrepCast podcast, Exam Simulator, PMBOK guide, Rita Mulcahy's book, Eduhub PMP question of the day

I read PMBOK guide and Rita's book 3 times each. Rita's book is great and gives you a solid understanding of the subject. But please be beware that Rita's book has some discrepancies compared to what is mentioned in the PMBOK guide. I loved reading the PMBOK guide.

I consistently scored above 85% in the Simulator exams. Completed all 8 exams and 10 additional questions in the Simulator. That means 1610 questions ; the whole package. It definitely helped. I strongly recommend the Exam Simulator.

I know each ITTO byheart and scored 96% in the ITTO exam in the Simulator. The wrong answers were careless mistakes and/or due to questions other than ITTO. If you spend enough time, you can learn them all.

Completed revision by 8 pm on the night before the exam. Went to bed at 9 pm. But due to tension or excitement, couldn't get sleep till 1:20 am. Woke up at 6 am with a headache for the exam at 8:45 am. Had breakfast by 7:15 am and made sure I don't drink much water just before the check-in time.

Check-in process was smooth and I took the exam from my bedroom, facing away from the wall. I had a hanging tube light on the wall behind me, at a height, facing the screen. I got many confusing questions during the first 89 questions. But remembered the tip that you should not get nervous or frustrated.

After the first session, it took me to the review list. When I went to 2nd question (flagged for review) and clicked next, the review list icon vanished !! I contacted the proctor and he took like 5 minutes to know what happened. The timer was running the whole time. I asked him to pause the timer and he didn't even respond ! He said the exam will have to be relaunched. This glitch consumed precious 9 to 10 minutes from my exam time. When exam was relaunched, I could see the review icon and quickly reviewed the questions and ended the first session. I only had 108 minutes for the remaining 110 questions !

During break, I was angry as you can imagine. But kept reminding myself to calm down. I ate a banana and a few pecans, drank some water, washed my eyes well with a bowl of ice water (strongly recommend), went to the restroom and came back to my chair in 6 minutes. The break timer was running and I asked the second proctor about the 10 minutes I lost due to system glitch. But she said she can't help me. I said fine, told her my break time is about to end and closed the chat. She kept messaging me telling sorry, please use the remaining time wisely, good luck etc. even after my second session started, which was annoying to say the least, since the chat window covers the question every time a new message comes and I was already behind time. Fortunately, my headache went down and I went into beast mode. I was making use of all the tactics I know, to recover time. I attempted 200th question when there was 1 minute left.

I was quite relieved when I saw 'Congratulations' on the next screen and more satisfied when I saw Above Target for all categories in the report from my Pearson VUE account.

I wish good luck to all and I hope the problem that I explained above won't happen to any future test takers. I would recommend studying the concepts well in the PMBOK guide and taking a few simulator exams before taking the real test. Also, sleep on the night before the exam day is so crucial. I was very much dazed during the first 1 hour of the exam due to lack of sleep. Be very careful about this.

Thank you PMPrepCast team for making such a high quality training material and all the members for answering my questions in the forums. God bless.

Congratulations and thanks for letting us know. It sounds like you worked very hard! You deserve your success.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Yes, I worked very hard.

Just want to point out one thing.

In the exam, if you click twice on an option, it gets unselected. Be very careful about this. You might click again on the option when reviewing and in effect you are making the question unanswered, thus wrong !!

In the PMPrepCast Exam Simulator, this won't happen. If you click on a selected option again, it remains selected.

Congrats Rahul!. I am yet to take my test on the 16th and all nerves

Thank you. Good luck for the test.