Hi
I am happy to share that I have cleared my PMP with AT on Dec 26th. I started my prep from Mid November and achieved this in 40 days.
I thought it would be impossible to do this since I had limited amount of time.
I would like to share with you some last minute tips that you can do before your exam.
Background:
Prior to Nov 1ST I did not have any intentions of securing PMP. My husband put the idea in my head and I decided to research about it,
only to find out that the exam is changing. My husband urged me to pursue this journey.
I am a new mom and with an infant it was very challenging as I had to plan my studies according to my baby's schedule. I decided to take advantage of the sleepless nights by studying.
I studied 10- 12 hours over the weekends and during weekdays from 8pm to 12am or till my baby woke up .
Study Materials:
Books: PMBOK, Andy Crowe
I started with Andy crowe and took two weeks to finish it. After that I jumped to Pmbok and during this time I found about Aileen Ellis Self study program.
ONLINE COURSES: Aileen Ellis self study and Fast track program
I wish I had found her sooner. Her program was EVERYTHING i needed to succeed.
I stuck to my daily study plan and did not procrastinate even a single bit. Time was a tight constraint for me especially with an infant so i used every opportunity i could take to study.
I used to practice ITTO while making my baby sleep, during diaper changes etc.
I gave 110% and was determined to pass with AT.
If you are really determined no matter what your situation you will be able to clear this exam. The Key is to stay focussed.
Mock Exams and Practice Questions:
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
In all, I must have done 3500+ Questions.
Edulogiq - I was surprised about the quality of the questions. It was comparable to the PMP exam. The questions were long and it helped me track my time.
Exam 1 - 78% (but i had not completed my studies)
Exam 2 - 84%
PMPwithRAY- Good blend of questions , including agile questions
Exam 1 - 75%
Exam 2 - 86%
Aileen Ellis - by the time i took these exams i had done studying completely
Exam 1 - 83%
Exam 2 - 87%
Prepcast mocks -
Exam 1 - 81%
i skipped exam 2
exam 3 - 83%
exam 4 - 84%
exam 5 - 82%
exam 6 - 80%
exam 7 -80%
PMI mock
i took it first try but I made a mistake of not taking it like in an actual exam setting: I got only 72%
second try - 92%
I always analyzed each and every question.
i felt the prepcast was very similar to the real PMP exam and highly recommend it.
Actual exam :
I did it online at home and the pearson vue experience was absolutely flawless. I had heard awful stories and was worried. But please stay positive and everything should be good.
Just follow the prompts on the screen and the exam will start.
The exam had a combination very easy to very difficult questions but i would say more of easy questions than difficult.
Some of the questions were super easy , like you probably didnt even have to look to at the options.
i finished the exam in 3 hours ; spent 30 mins to review flagged questions and had 30 mins on the clock but ended my exam anyway . Finally, the congratulations screen appeared.
My last day/week advice
Be very thorough with IN and CL process groups . These two groups alone constitutes for about 30-40 questions and it is very easy. Try nailing questions in this area.
understand all the ITTO's in this area.
I had 4 CPM diagram questions. Practice CPM. I had to use whiteboard 4 times. Make sure you practice pearson vue whiteboard before appearing. it is very easy to use.
CPI/SPI - I had 3 questions on this topic, they were very easy. No math questions.
A day before the exam dont study much, eat well and sleep well (i slept for 10 hrs).
You will get a set of about 10-20 questions where you will feel its all going downhill. Don't worry just move past it and answer to the best of your ability. I had about 5 agile questions but they were all from PMBOK so it was doable.
Exam level difficulty was the same as prepcast.
i wish you all the very best. Hope this helps.
happy new year to all.
