I would like to Thank all the members of this group and especially Mr. Cornelius Fichtner for designing this PM prepcast which really helped me in getting PMP certified on 28th August with this rating -> "Initiation – Proficient; Planning – Proficient; Executing – Proficient; Monitoring and Controlling – Proficient; Closing – Moderately Proficient". One important point to note is that PMP exam is not close to PM prepcast as most (80% plus) of the questions were indirect and not ITTO or definitions based. In order to ace the exam you need two important things -> persistence and not to loose track while preparing for the exam and during the 4 hours of exam time. Prepcast really helped in second point and I took all 9 mock tests and scored 73% to 81%. In my first mock test it was 60.5% but as it was in early stages to gauge my preparation so I wouldn't count that score.
Nevertheless, who ever says you need to get 80% and above during the mock tests then only you are considered to be fully prepared I dont think its true. Just ensure you go through the mistakes and focus on explanations which are very nicely provided by prepcast. Important point to note is making your personal notes. I have stared with Headstart few months back which took 2.5 months to completed as I was not geared up for the exam at that time. Then gone through Rita 6th Edition which I consider as best book for passing PMP in 1st attempt. In my second run through Rita I have taken the exercises at the back of book. In my third run I have gone in different fashion of going through the chapters in which I was not getting good score in Prepcast mock exams. Finally 2 weeks before the exam came PMBOK 5th edition. I think PMBOK is important but don't go through and spend too much time on ITTO (big mistake I did). Only the important ITTO's in Stakeholder and HR and Quality would be sufficient and dont expect any ITTO questions in PMP final exam (as compared with questions in prep-cast). PMI is checking your understanding of the Knowledge area instead of checking your memory.
You can skip 75-Q of Oliver Lehmann - questions are really difficult and dont get upset if you get low score (I got 52.5% - 3 days before the exam and I really got demotivated) and the questions are "not at all" like real PMP exam. I would also recommend this site -> Google "edward designer pmp" and you will get the URL (for some reasons Prepcast is not letting me put the URL in comment section) where Edward has very nicely explained the topics and covered almost all the areas. Please ensure to go through his notes of all the "Knowledge areas" which are really crisp and top-notch.
Biggest tip I can share from my experience during yesterday exam is that dont waste too much time if you get stuck on one question (most of the questions were 2-3 lines top) and after reading through multiple times you are unable to tick the final choice. Mark it and continue to next question. Time yourself during mock tests to complete the exam in 3:30 hours so that next 30 minutes you can concentrate on marked questions. You wont imagine that after I completed my 200th question with 26 minutes remaining in my second run I have changed almost 70% of my responses of around 25 marked questions. Few of them were really stupid mistakes which got skipped in first run. Trust me this really helped me in acing the exam.
On the final note I can say that if I can do it you can too. Just dont loose focus - and learn from the best practices of others and earn the prestigious PMP title. Wishing all the best to fellow PMP aspirants.
Cheers
Vivek Gupta, PMP
