I just passed the PMP on my first try on Jan. 27th! Here are my preparation plans and other insights:
Preparation (3 months):
• Rita book: Read through 2 -3 times. 1st time was a quick run through, 2nd time was an in-depth dive, 3rd time was to review sections from the PMBOK that didn’t seem clear. Took the chapter test questions all at once after the second reading.
• PMBOK: I read through 2 times and studied the glossary. My recommendation for this would be to read through Rita (or other study guide) first, get a good handle on the material that way, and then the PMBOK info will “click” and not seem so dry and technical. I think the test would have seemed much harder if I had not read it through.
• Simulation exams: Purchased the PM Exam Simulator and took other free exams. This is SO important and really helped with the exam. Take as many exams as you can to get the flow down and understand how to think in PMBOK terms. I think the thing that helped the most in my preparation was to carefully review the wrong answers, (along with any questions that I struggled with, but answered correctly) and research them in the study guides/PMBOK.
• My scores:
• PM Exam Simulator:
o 1st test – 76%
o 2nd test – 84%
o 3rd test – 85%
• PM Study – took the one free test available
o 79%
• Oliver Lehman
o 62 out of 75 questions. This is the hardest by far and I really felt demoralized after taking it, so don’t let it rattle you if you don’t score very high.
Other insights:
• Visit the test site beforehand if possible. This will help you plan your breaks during the exam, i.e. the distance to the restrooms, how busy the attendants are, etc.
• I did not memorize the ITTOs, but I spent a lot of time understanding them and the flow of each one. I’m glad I spent this time as this was a frequent topic on my exam.
• The highlight and strikeout features were helpful, but make sure you don’t spend too much time with these tools. This is not available on the practice tests, so I found myself carefully picking out relevant words to highlight, which increased the time spent on questions.
• Don’t wait until late in your studies to take practice exams. If I could do it over, I would have started the mock exams much earlier in the process.
Hope this helps others plan their studies!
