Started a study plan on April 15th and passed PMP Exam on May 13th. It was kind of difficult to fit in all the prep time needed in that timeframe, so I would suggest spreading it out over 2-3 months, at least.
Plan:
1. 3 weeks of watching PM PrepCast. I did skip over the interviews (Due to time contraint), but all the other episodes were very helpful.
2. Did some Fas Tracking, after about 1 week into The PrepCasts I began reading the PMBOK guide. Since it was the first pass, I did read through it fairly quickly. It took about 2-1/2 weeks.
3. After I had completed both the PM PrepCast and the PMBOK guide, I took the 2 free exams provided in the PMP Project Management Professional Bundle. I reviewed the study guide answers that were provided on the exam questions that I had got wrong (Exam 1 - 91%, Exam 2 - 90%). If I needed more clarification I referred back to the PMBOK guide.
4. The week leading up until the exam, I reviewed the PrepCasts in the Executing and Monitoring/Control sections again (Largest percentage of questions on exam). I also went over Chapters 4-12 in the PMBOK guide again.
Lessons Learned:
I did memorize all the Earned Value equations and that was the first thing that I wrote down when I sat down for the actual exam. Also, wrote down the process groups and knowledge groups matrix for a reference to the order of processes as I thought about scenarios laid out in the exam questions.
There were many instances in the exam where I would see a couple of answers that may be correct, but had to decide which one was the "most" correct (According to the PMBOK). That is where doing the 2 full practice exams helped prepare me for that thought process.
When reading the PMBOK Guide focus on understanding the inputs and outputs of each process. Also, need to have a clear understanding of the tool/techniques and where and how they are applied.
The four hour exam is long, but you have to keep moving to complete it and leave a few minutes to go back to questions that you may have marked for review.
I found that listening to the PrepsCasts provided me with insights I needed to thoroughly understand what I was reading in the PMBOK. A straight reading of just the PMBOK guide would not have prepared me for the exam quesitons.
