I used the following resources to begin with.
1. The PMBOK Guide,
2. Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep
3. A Project Manager's Book of Forms by Cynthia Stackpole Snyder ( Web version is available for free for PMI members ).
I went through the entire PMBOK Guide once, read Rita's book and answered all the questions at the end of the book and reviewed the concepts where I had wrong answers. I took some notes as I was reading the texts and referred to the Book of Forms as I was going through each topic. This was helpful as you need to know what Document or Plan you should look up in a given situation.
Once I was a bit comfortable with the Knowledge Areas, I used the PM-PrepCast for the PDUs and the PMP Exam Simulator and I must say that they are well worth the money and I would strongly recommend it. I hurried a bit with the Prep-Cast and earned my PDUs and then I submitted my application and the dreaded thing happened - I was audited. But the process went pretty smooth even though it delayed things a bit as my Manager was away.
Then I took to the Simulator, did the free questions first and I felt I was ok. Then I went into the real questions did a few questions in Quiz mode. I took 2 full length tests and a number of Quizzes reviewing all the wrong answers. In all I answered around 1100 question and my scores were around 80%. After about 800 questions I focused specifically on the weaker side by both Knowledge Areas and Process Groups, reviewed the topics and took more Quizzes by the categories. This was such a great help that could be done using the Exam Simulator tool and helped to improve score in sample tests.
I tried to review every bit of the stuff the day before the exam and said my prayers, and tried to be relaxed on the day of exam but that was the hardest part of it. I went to the center about an hour and half early. They said I could start the test right away. So I jumped right into it. The first few questions threw me off but I told myself to calm down and I was ok. Answered about 130 questions in 2 hours and took a break, freshened myself, drank some water and came back. Then I did the rest of the questions in about 1 hour. After that I reviewed the question I had marked for review but I was convinced of my initial choice for almost all of them. Clicked the final End Exam button and my heart started pounding. Screen came up for the Exam Center Review, quickly finished that and still it was showing the Prometric loading sign and my heart was still beating hard. That was the longest 15 seconds of my life. Then comes the scores with 3 Ps and 2 MPs.
No direct question on ITTOs and so you should know what they are and why they are used. Even some of the calculation questions were so indirect. As mentioned earlier you should know what each of the Project Documents and Plans contain. I read most questions twice and some of them three times and I finished the test in 3.5 hours.
Thanks
Johnson Kooroth
