I passed the exam this weekend (above target in all three domain areas) and am happy to share my lessons learned to help others.
1. Use the simulator! A LOT! It was the most useful tool I could possibly recommend. If I had it to do over again, I'd purchase access sooner and use it as my primary study tool all throughout my prep.
2. Review your answers to the practice tests carefully. The answers are reviewed in great detail - not only the correct answer but why the others are incorrect. This is really important for the PMP!!! Trying to memorize everything won't work, you have to really internalize the concepts. Practicing the exam questions is the ONLY way to properly prepare for this kind of exam, in my opinion.
3. Related to #2, I suggest marking questions to which you think you know the answer but you're on the fence. Even if you get it right, it's helpful to read through the second-most-right answer and see why it was "incorrect" by PMI standards.
4. Five full-length exams is the PERFECT amount for practicing. For me, this worked very well - I did one apiece on Saturday and Sunday in the weekends leading up to my test. On the weekdays in between, I did shorter practice tests focusing on my weaker areas. I saved the last full length one for the weekend before my test.
5. Don't let the ITTO questions/exam scare you too much. They're great to practice but not the most important thing. You'll want to focus more on the non-ITTO questions in the simulator, and your results there tell a lot more of the story about how prepared you are for the exam.
6. Related to #5, don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to memorize ITTO. This is not a test on how well you can memorize stuff! It's about how you reason. That's why it's so important to practice questions.
7. I found the exam far more difficult than the practice exams, so don't panic if the questions seem impossibly difficult! It's a hard test! You're probably doing better than you think you are. Relax and try not to let yourself get distracted by the results. Keep your focus on the question before you and block everything else out.
8. You'll get discouraged, especially in the early stages, but don't give up! I started out feeling extremely frustrated and like I would never learn all this stuff. It can be done, but it's a process. Trust the process and trust yourself.
Good luck!
