TOPIC: Passed PMP & PMI-ACP (Above Target in all domains in both - 3 month preparation)

Hello All,

I was able to pass both PMP(in June 2020) & PMI-ACP(in December 2020) securing 'Above Target' in all domains in both with 3 months preparation for each just following similar approach for both exams (nothing more than below mentioned) which worked well.

Sharing my story in brief, hope it may help

PMI-ACP
Month 1 => Completed Udemy Course offered by Joseph Phillips (mainly to earn contact hours and have basic understanding). I would recommend take any course based on your personal preference.
Month 2 => Did complete end to end reading of PMI-ACP Prep Guide (Mike Griffiths) twice (spent 20 days for first reading , 10 days for second reading, 1 day for practice quiz).
Month 3 => Took one Prepcast Simulator PMI-ACP Sample Exam every Sunday (4 weeks) with real exam mindset, meanwhile during weekdays will have one glance through of PMI-ACP Prep Guide (Mike Griffiths) & questions which I got incorrect and marked for review during previous week simulator sample exam to bridge knowledge gap.
Day Before Exam => I was very confident with my preparation (big thanks for Prepcast simulator for boosting my confidence), just had a glance of all mentioned above one's, that's it.

My prepcast simulator sample exam scores averaged around 82% (85%, 82.5%, 77.5%, 84.2%) and my real PMI-ACP score closely resembled it around 85% (from my manual interpretation of scoring scale in exam report).

Similarly earlier for PMP (mostly same as above)
Month 1 => Completed Udemy Course offered by Joseph Phillips (mainly to earn contact hours and have basic understanding). I would recommend the same as above, take any course based on your personal preference.
Month 2 => Again the same way, did complete end to end reading of PMP Exam Prep (Rita Mulcahy) twice (spent 20 days for first reading , 10 days for second reading, 1 day for practice quiz).
Month 3 => Took one Prepcast Simulator PMP Sample Exam every 4th day (in total 7 exams excluding ITTO exam which I took next day after 7th exam) with real exam mindset, meanwhile during 3 days in-between will have one glance through of PMP Exam Prep (Rita Mulcahy) & questions which I got incorrect and marked for review during previous attempt of simulator sample exam to bridge knowledge gap.
Day Before Exam => I was very confident with my preparation (big thanks for Prepcast simulator again for boosting my confidence), just had a glance of all mentioned one's above, that's it.

My prepcast simulator sample exam scores averaged around 85% (86%, 82.5%, 88%, 84%, 82.5%, 86%, 83.5%, 90%) and my real PMP score closely resembled it around 80-85 % (from my manual interpretation of scoring scale in exam report).

Concluding my story with two useful tips from my own experience.

- Plan your schedule accordingly based on your individual preference, try to commit yourself as much you can and never spend overtime with preparation, just maintain consistent pace (In my case during 1st Month I spent average around 1 - 2 hours everyday, during 2nd Month around 2 - 3 hours everyday and during 3rd Month around 2-4 hours everyday). Trust me, it should work well.

- Take Prepcast Simulator exams with real exam mindset (including environment setup). Make sure you don't get distracted by anything while taking exams. Personally I used to be nervous test taker, however experience with Prepcast simulator exams boosted my confidence level to great extent in real exam. In my case I took both PMI-ACP & PMP in Testing Center, again it's preference based on individual comfort level.

Hope I summarized all info as much as I can, let me know in comments if any additional info required. I'm happy to assist

Best wishes for all aspiring test takers.

Thanks,
Nishanth

Well done, Nishanth! It's great you've updated your profile name to show your achievements

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 certifications.

Thank you for sharing your Lessons Learned in so much detail and best wishes for the new year.