I took my PMP exam yesterday and passed on the first try thanks to PMP Prepcast and the PMP Exam Simulator. I started the program on December 1 and finished middle January. I started taking the test exams in February and March. I also used the Headfirst PMP book. I would read the corresponding chapter after finishing the PrepCast module. I took 6 full exams and scored as follows:
TEST 1 - 73%
TEST 2 - 75%
TEST 3 - 73.5%
TEST 4 - 77%
TEST 5 - 79%
TEST 6 - 77.5%
I was very worried because I never scored over 80% and only received one (1) "Proficient" rating!!! I started a new job and I had noted on resume that I was taking the exam in February so I could not keep pushing it off. I bit the bullet and stuck with my test date for yesterday.
In my opinion the Prepcast test simulator was very close to the real exam and I felt very comfortable with the layout and "feel" of the real test. The real exam has a feature of being able to highlight words in the question and also strike answers if you know it is not correct. It made my review of marked questions much more efficient as I was usually down to two answers with other two striked out. This would be a great feature to add to the test simulator as it would be helpful to practice this technique.
I found the first 1/4 of test fairly easy but then the middle was pretty difficult and I found myself able to narrow down to to answers but not fully sure of the answer. I went from fully confident to getting very worried.
I finished 200 questions with 13 minutes left and had about 30 questions marked. I finished the review with 2:20 left!!! I put my head on desk and took a couple deep breaths and said a one minute prayer and then hit the end exam button. I did the 9 question survey and hit finish and couldn't look at screen sure I was not going to pass.....but it popped up "CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE PASSED"!!!! I cannot describe the relief!
I ended up with the following:
Initiation - Moderately Proficient
Planning - Moderately Proficient
Executing - Proficient
Monitoring & Controlling - Proficient
Closing - Moderately Proficient
Again thank you to Cornelius and his team for developing a very affordable and effective program for passing the PMP!
Tim M.
