TOPIC: Passed my PMP Exam 5AT 1st Attempt

Hello All,

I would like to contribute my small part to this forum of prospective PMP candidates, and share my lessons learned from most recent and fresh experience of sitting the PMP exam.

Exam date: 26 Dec, 2020 - 8:10-12:20 (250 min total); Score Report Recieved- 28 Dec, 2020 8:57 AM

My Score: 5AT, about 84% estimated (using 25 unit ruler against the grade tab and the 'You' line )

My Study Plan:

Timeline: Start 15 Nov 2020 - End 25 Dec 2020

1. Rita Mulcahy 9th Edition - Two complete reads + Book Exercises and Tests.
2. PM PrepCast exams, 1-8 respectively: 85%, 77%, 84%, 83%, 83%, 81%, 83%, ITTO - 76%.
3. Udemy, PMP Exam Prep Seminar for 35 contact hours - by Joseph Phillips, Instructing.com
4. PMI Practice Exam (India)

First I had a complete two reads of the Rita Mulcahy 9th edition and Udemy, Did the 1st PrepCast Exam two weeks before the Exam date, then 7 exams every day with one day break in the middle (also did the PMI Practice Exam which was complete waste of time).

Lessons Learned:

1. Please do yourself a favor and DO NOT waste your time on the PMI Practice Exam, it has outdated questions and is not well reflective of your results and your knowledge.
2. A lot, LOT of questions on agile, more than I had expected, but I believe many of them were pilot questions, not counted for score.
3. Manage your time properly - once you had finished the first part (89 questions in my case) wrap up and submit quickly, the clock is ticking, don't do my mistake. Do your review quickly if needed and submit as soon as possible, the more time you spend in the first 89 questions part the less time you'll have for your second part.
4. TAKE 10 MIN BREAK, very important to refresh, relax and reflect before the 2nd part.
5. 1st Part 89 questions - easy going, finished ahead of time, spent 120 min., due to my own lack of time management, lol. 2nd part - A RUN AGAINST THE CLOCK, tougher questions and less time, had to rush and didn't have enough time to review all the flagged questions. Prepare mentally for the second part, after finishing the 1st part I had a feeling of euphoria that this is going to be a 'Walk in the park'. The 2nd part blows this impression right away. 111 harder questions and 120 min (in my case). If you had poor time management as I had DO NOT GET STUCK, MOVE ON, even with the hard feelings of being able to answer the question given more time available.
6. The 'Easy' questions could be solved really quick, about 10-20 sec. Hard questions, even after 2 min spent could be hard to crack. I was usually doubtful between two possible answers, after elimination, so this is 50-50, mark the one that has more wording, positively phrased, or less categorical and exclusive.
7. PM PrepCast predicts your outcome result pretty close - Expect similar/equivalent mark to what you get on your PM PrepCast exams, unless you perform much better/worse on the day of your exam.

Wish good luck to all of you on your exam and a Happy New Year!

Congratulations, Arik! Thanks for coming back and sharing your story.

When you are ready to start earning PDU’s for PMP recertification, check out the PM PrepCast’s offerings, The PM Podcast and the The PDU Podcast which will help you keep up with PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR’s) and maintain your new certification.

Thank you for sharing your Lessons Learned, we appreciate it!