TOPIC: Passed on 1st attempt today, overall score: above target

Am very happy to say that I took the PMP exam this morning and passed with flying colors. Here's what my journey looked like.....

5 months ago I signed up for PM PrepCast and watched about half of the videos. Some of the concepts made sense, but some weren't really "clicking", so I sort of ran out of steam and took a break for a couple months. I realized I needed to stay on track, otherwise I'd never finish, so I finished the videos, took PrepCast's exam to earn the necessary 35 hours, and then applied to take the exam. I was audited and had to submit additional info before it was finally accepted (looking at forums, it seems that such an occurrence isn't uncommon). I then scheduled an exam date and spent about a month and a half REALLY studying. I read the PMBOK once and then revisited PrepCast videos (downloaded in a podcast app) in the car on the way to work, in the gym while working out, etc. With about a month before the exam, I started taking the PrepCast simulated exams. Here and there I would do practice questions from free sites or on free apps, and those were ok. But pretty much all I did was use PM PrepCast, which really is an outstanding product. I didn't use anything of Rita's and I didn't really consistently refer to other material, authors, sites, etc. Just used Cornelius and PrepCast.

WHAT WORKED FOR ME: Simulated exams. Like others who have posted to this forum, I strongly, strongly recommend doing simulated/mock exams. I found PrepCasts's exams to be very similar in length, difficulty, and wordiness as the real exam. I would take a mock PrepCast exam and then study the ones I got wrong. Then I went back and studied ALL of that exams answers, right and wrong (this part was wildly important for me). I then listened to the podcasts that corresponded to the areas that I didn't do very well in. I would also practice dumping the main formulas and would read over the glossary terms in the PMBOK on a regular basis. Then I'd take another mock exam and do those things all over again.

WHAT I DIDN'T DO: I didn't really use anything other than the PMBOK and the PrepCast videos/exams. Once I *really* started studying a month and a half ago, I didn't take much time off from studying., averaging about 3 hours of studying on weekdays and 8-10 hours of studying on weekend days (that's just a guess because taking mock exams and studying all the answers takes a LONG time). I didn't stop studying even though my mock exam results ranged from a low of 69.5% to a high of 79%. Like others in this forum, I never scored above 80%. But I didn't give up.

REMINDERS: It really is important to remind yourself that you can pass the exam if you put in the work. I had mini panic attacks after seeing my results of a few of the mock exams (especially if I thought during the mock exam that I was killing it), and I got crazy nervous at about question #150 of the real exam. But keep going. Keep telling yourself you can do it. Follow your gut, pay attention to what seems to help you learn, and take others' experiences with a grain of salt. What worked for them might not work for you, but if you see consistently repeated pointers, then maybe you want to try that approach, too. But what helped me a LOT was reading about others' experiences and sifting out things that I was pretty sure would help me vs. things that I was fairly certain would not help me. Good luck, everybody.... you got this.

Dear Jason,

Congratulations on passing your exam!

Thank you for sharing your success and lessons learned. We are glad to hear that our products helped you prepare for and pass your exam.

Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Jason,

Congratulations on passing the PMP! I'm sure you are relieved that it is now behind you. Thank you for sharing your lessons learned. I found many of the same studying techniques worked for me. I also found that until my mindset was right and I was focused on studying, I wasn't getting anywhere.

Thank you,
Amy