I passed my PMP on September 30th and very happy that i have cleared my exam. I started exploring in Dec 2012 about the exam and was not in a hurry as I am currently not working. After looking all the tools available and resources to study I decided I will stick with Rita and PMBOK guide. I needed the 35 contact hours and went ahead and bought the prepcast which was definitely a good purchase. I had an overview of all the lessons. Around October 2013 my application got accepted. I also delivered my first baby and knew it will take some time to study now and i was preparing for the exam whenever i was getting time. It was in June 2014 that i decided i needed a hard deadline. I was thinking may be i must go for a boot camp since i was totally depending on self study, but after looking at various online resources I thought i will take the help of mock exams and bought the simulator to test my self. I finally blocked my date for september. As everyone has experienced thats when the real exam fever came in. By then i had 2-3 revisions for rita. I completed atleast 1 round of reading in PMBOK and some chapters like risk, quality etc - may be 2.
I did lot of sample questions, but the simulator was good as it not only simulates the 4 hour test periods but also is very systematic. I can review and answers are right below the questions. It was more convenient tool. I was trying to get above 80% but either i get 75% or 79%. Last 2 weeks before the exam I tried few more questions from oliver Lehmann175, PMstudy (hoping to get above 80%), but was still in the same 70%(Lehman) and 75%(PMStudy) range. Tried frew questions from Christopher Scordo book as well.
I was a little bit tensed as the exam was getting closer so i just revised as much as i can and started wrapping up my preparation. Wanted to get good rest as with my first baby i still have interrupted night sleeps. so wanted to sleep well and limited to 2-4 hours of preparation during the last week and was praying for my success. The day before my exam i definitely could not sleep well but I am glad i went through the exam.
I finally got through the exam with 4MP and 1P.
My plan was little longer as i knew my study hours wouldnt be consistent, but i wanted to get through this exam so I did lot of ground work before i scheduled my exam to make sure I am confident for the exam.
With 4-6 hours of atleast 3 months focus and consistent study is definitely required for this exam. And lot of practice of sample questions is a must.
I sincerely thank Cornelius Fichtner and his team for such valuable products.
Thanks
Vijaya
