All,
I didn't use this forum throughout my preparation, but I am obligated to share with others my lessons learned as I aced my exam today. 1Proficient, 4 Moderately Proficient (who cares now?) -
What worked for me:
I truly, truly utilized a strategy that focused on understanding why the concept worked the way they did. Rita Mulcahey's text was a life saver in this regard. I used Rita's text for a week and a half to "validate" everything I already learned from Cornelius' PMP Prepcast and Simulation exercises. I am not a great test taker so going into the exam, I had my doubt about "passing" but I continuously took solace of the fact that I understood the concepts enough to be patient with every question. I went into the exam scoring "60-70%s" in all simulation attempts on the PrepCast site. In all attempts, I used all 4-hours for the exam. I wasn't doing great with the time, and I think it was largely due to bad habits that lingered on as I always "second-guess" myself and did not always feel confident of the answer choices I pick. Each practice test I took, I spent at least three days reviewing all the answers and referred to the PMBOK text for gaining more understanding of the knowledge areas. That was how I studied the text. That was the motivation I needed to read the text - I needed an excuse. Well, these simulation exercises or practice tests helped me with understanding the manner in which the questions will be thrown at me. For the most part, there was a similarity between the simulation and the actual test. In fact, the PrepCast may have been too difficult for me, but it was good after all. I used the PMPBOK text, Rita Mulcahey's text, lots of Wikipedia references for concepts not covered in the text, for example, contract types, organization theories, quality management planning theories, etc. Today on the real exam, I was very comfortable at what I knew and was patient with each question. I used up all 4-hours and had no time left. I struggled with at least five math problems on EVM (earned value) and critical path. I struggled with these because they were not the typical direct calculation question type, they were purposely complicated and needed time to work on.
If you are like me that visit the bathroom like ten times in 1-hr, be mindful of liquid intake. I drank too much water going into the test and had to use the restroom like two times. I didn't really like the fact that my clock was winding down while I was out, but I needed to stay hydrated (so plan for this) - Make sure you know your test center enough to anticipate uncertainties. My exam was 8am and I got there at 7:10am. I didn't check in till 7:45am because I wanted to study the dynamic of the staff, understand the building enough to know how far the bathrooms were from the training suites and calm myself down. Also, it was important that I got a good night rest. I got a good 8-hrs sleep and woke up four hours before my test to do a quick review. It was very helpful to me. I wasn't studying to gain new knowledge; I reviewed some concepts that I needed to stick one last time before the test. For example, the conflict resolution types, communication methods, ITTOS and contract types - I realized I always get this mixed up. Rita Mulcahey's Process Chart was my last review before heading to the exam. I liked the way she breaks down this process. There was no way I wasn't going to understand it and her intent for creating that chart worked for me. It was great! Finally, Rita's text on how to address change request helped me a lot in the test. I may have gotten up to 40 question alone on Change Request related questions (No kidding:-), and I couldn't thank her enough for it.
Finally, Cornelius is genius. I heard his voice all through the exam. Those podcast man, those podcasts was everything! I credit the 3 months of listening to Cornelius speak to me everyday. He spoke to me about each knowledge area and the sarcastic way of delivering a very dry concept and making it fun is something I will never forget. I snapshotted some useful slides and reviewed them when I was having dinner or just doing laundry. It was a great way of reminding myself that an exam was around the corner. It kept me on my foot. Finally, having a PDF version of the PMBOK text was super-helpful. I was able to use my cellphone and keyword-search when need be, to land on specific areas that I needed to review. It was money well spent. I hope this was helpful!
Thanks,
Patience Adagba
