Hi
I am very happy to share that I passed my PMP on Dec 26th on the first attempt with AT overall score.
If you have your exam coming up in a few days and feel you are unable to improve your performance please see my tips below.
Background:
On Nov 1st I researched about PMP and saw the exam was changing and my husband urged me to appear for the exam. I thought it would be next to
impossible to dedicate the time and effort because as a new mom my baby is still very dependent on me.
Before this I had never considered PMP and I knew very little about it. I also started out in my career in 2016. So till like last year I didn't have the required work experience.
On Nov 5th, I submitted my application and got the approval the following week. The application process was very easy.
Studying and materials used:
BOOKS: PMBOK, ANDY CROWE
I started with Andy crowe and read the whole book with practice exercises in 2 weeks.
Then I jumped to PMBOK and while i was reading PMBOK I found out about Aileen ellis. THIS WAS THE EVERYTHING FOR ME.
ONLINE COURSE: Aileen Ellis Self Study program and fast track program
I recommend this program to everyone even if you are appearing under the new format. I found about Aileen very late and regret that I didn't know about her.
So I eventually signed up for her Fast track program but in her fast track program you get access to self- study program which I ended up doing.
I was tight on time so on weekends I studied for 10-12 hrs straight. During the week I studied only after 8pm till like 12am or till whenever my baby would allow me too.
Being tight on time during the day whenever I could get time while eating I would watch Aileen's output video or pmpwithray videos.
I studied every moment I could. I finished her course in 2 weeks and by then it was dec 6th. i made daily study plans and decided what chapter or how many pages/video
i need to finish based on my focus. some days i was more energetic and could finish more .
First week, of dec I scheduled my exam for the 26th and they were so many slots available back then. i felt confident after Aileen's program. DETERMINATION AND BEING FOCUSSED IS THE KEY
MOCK EXAMS:
EDULOGIQ: 2 exams and practice questions
The first mock ever i took was from Edulogiq and I scored 78%.
I actually was surprised with the quality of questions and after attempting the real exam i must say the quality of questions were good and pmp actual exam had shorter questions than edulogiq.
EDULOGIQ had the longest questions which was good to help you track for time.
Aileen ellis: 2 exams
Then I did Aileens exams and scored 84% and 87%
PMI MOCK:
I did PMI on Dec 9th and I didnt do in proper exam like setting because I didnt have the time and I got 72%.
In my opinion the real PMP exam is easier than Mock. I analyzed the exam and retook the test again and scored 92%.
PREPCAST: 7 exams and 1 free exam
Exam 1 - 81% Exam 4 - 84%
Exam 2 - Skipped Exam 5- 82%
Exam 3- 83% exam 6- 80%
Exam 7- 80% Exam 8 (ITTO)- 86%
Andy crowe exam - 77%
In all I must have done 3500+ questions and analyzed every question. PRACTICE IS THE KEY.
As you can see I consistently scored between 80%- 85% in prepcast simulator.
And at one point no matter what i did and how many strategies I applied i couldnt get it more than this threshold so I just decided to focus on key areas which I will discuss below in my tips section.
Last week/ days before the exam:
Focus on initiating and closing because 40 Questions can easily be in your pocket if you do these areas thoroughly.
Do critical path - I had 4 critical path questions . I had to use the whiteboard 4 times. Whiteboard was super easy to use.
I used to practice on whiteboard using prepcast exams. Just google pearson vue white board.
CPI/SPI - I had about 2 - 3 questions but no math was involved didn't need calculator at all. Understand cpi, spi>1 or less than 1
If you do these things just before your exam thoroughly you have nailed 50 questions approximately.
I had prepared ITTO and flashcards for everything but only used them 30% of the time.
REAL ONLINE PMP EXAM:
The online experience was just the best experience. I didn't even realize my exam had started.
I started ahead of time since i completed my check in quickly. i wasn't even sure the proctor was there or not. But i just went with the flow and followed the prompts on the screen .
The real exam is very similar to prepcast and I'm happy to have made the purchase.
overall real PMP exam had a combination of very easy, medium level difficulty (like prepcast), and tricky questions.
Some of the most easiest questions i actually saw was on the real exam. The questions are tricky only because the way the word it.
While reading the question try to paraphrase the question then you will understand better. Some of the questions were so easy that i didn't even have to look at other options.
Tips to calm your nerves:
From this forum someone suggested to me to take it easy a day before the exam. that's exactly what i did.
I tried to relax myself as much as i could and had a good sleep of 10 hrs the night before the exam.
You will get a break automatically after 89 questions. I took a two minute break only .
I completed the exam in 3 hours and took 30 mins to review the flagged questions at the end 30 mins still left on the clock i went ahead and ended the exam with confidence.
And then the congratulations screen appeared.
Hope this helps . I wish you all the best and be confident.
happy new year to all in advance.
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