First of all let me tell you that I really thought this was going to be tougher than it turned out. I followed the instructions from the PM PrepCast and succeeded! Over a 4 month period period I did the following:
1. Took an PM Fundamentals course 1 week.
2. Read the PMBok Guide 2x.
3. Listened and watched the PrepCast 2x a day.
4. Took a PMP Exam Prep course using Rita Mulcahy's Book.
5. Studied 3 hours a day the last week before the exam.
As I am in Okinawa Japan we had to have a paper based exam proctored by Prometric. This was a very smooth process. We were notified of the location a month in advance and a week before. The sponsoring organization - Spearpoint called the day before to reconfirm. They day of the test we arrived at 0730 to sign in and take an assigned seat. At 0800 they gave us a 10 minute brief, explained the rules and testing process. At 0815 the test began. I used the whole 4 hours. I did the last 100 question first in case the tougher questions were last. I took a 5 minute bathroom and snack break after the 1st 100 questions. Then completed the last 200 questions. I used the last half hour to review troublesome questions.
One week after completing the questions I received my results via email from PMI.
Of course there was the issue of the audit. But if you follow the guidelines in the PrepCast and from PMI it is easy.
Good luck to fellow students and thanks Cornelius
