TOPIC: Passed the PMP exam on 1st attempt (3 proficient, 2 moderately proficient)

Hello everyone!

I have start studying for PMP in October 2016 but mostly during weekends.
I used the following materials for studying: PM Prepcast Video training + PMP Exam Simulator, Rita Mulcahy - PMP Exam Prep book and PMBoK from the PMI site (after purchased the yearly membership).
First I read the PMBoK which is not a document for studying for sure. It is full of facts and the wording makes it boring but it is useful to memorize the main PM concept and the structure of the book. I have not just read but tried to memorize the content.
After reading I watched every videos from PM Prepcast and read Rita Mulcahy PMP Exam Prep book paralell (After finished one knowledge area's video I read the knowledge area in the book and finally solve the tests connected to these areas). I was a really long time because there are lot of videos here to watch. I think Cornelius is a great teacher and created queality learning materials. However the videos are very very long and it can be boring after some time (especially the ITTO parts). During watching videos, I made notes about the topic with the most important messages.
When I finished with the videos (it was around mid of December) I read my notes twice and started to solve the PMP Exam Simulator tests. I got 80% on the first test and got more than 80% for the rest on the first attempt. I think it essential to practice with these exams. I've done exams from other (free) sources but PM Prepcast tests are the best! They covers each topic, you can practice only those questions which are hard for you. You get explanation about the correct and wrong answers. I solved 7 tests before took the PMP exam (there were some days when took 2 test which was about 7-8 hours long). The test statistics shows that which are your weakness points and you can read after these knowledge areas efficiently.

About ITTOs: I think it is not necessary to know all inputs and outputs (but the tools and techniques are recommended because if you know these than you understand the process). There are only few questions in the exam where these are needed. You should understand each PM processes and that should be enough (my opinion). For me it would be very hard to memorize all inputs and outputs, I prefer understanding the things.

About the exam day: I scheduled the test at Budapest where I live and arrived there half hour before the scheduled start. I had to show my IDs, I had to take my things (mobile phones, watch) to a cabinet, there was an introduction with the metal detector also. The start time has no mandatory dependency so I could start the exam at 8:40 am instead 9:00 am which was scheduled. The new rule has applied so I couldn't write draft during the 15 minutes practice time. The test application was like the PM Exam Simulator with some additional features (calculator, strike through function, highlighting). I marked about 25 questions and rechecked them after answering all questions (it took about 3 hours for me to go thorugh the test and additional 30 minutes to recheck the marked ones). When I finished with the questions I clicked to the "end exam" with shaking hands and instead of showing my results it was requested by the application to fill out an evaluation survey (which is very annoying when you are interested about your results).
Finally the result showed the I have passed the exam and I think it worth to study a lot for this feeling.

Good luck,
Krisztian

Dear Krisztian,

Congratulations on passing your PMP exam!

Thank you for sharing your experience and for your warm words about our PMP® Exam Simulator.

Enjoy your brand new PMP credentials and don't forget to start earning your PDU's.

Best of luck in all your future endeavors!