Hi,
I took the test on Aug 6th, 8am-12pm block. I finished all question with 20 mins left to go back to flagged questions.
INITIATING - Below Target
PLANNING - Target
EXECUTING - Target
M & C - Above Target
CLOSING - Above Target
Person VUE - Pretty strict on what you can do @ testing center. I arrived 40 mins early and the only thing I can do was sit and wait (no studying, cellphone, writing is allowed in the waiting room). You can't wear jackets, sweaters etc (ladies if you are prone to cold in the office, wear long sleeve clothing and pants).
I was provided laminated grid booklet with 8 pages & a marker. No eraser is provided. There is an option to get earplugs (GET IT), white noise cancellation ear phones were provided but they hurt my head after wearing them for a while. I think without it I would hear the in and outs of other fellow takers, they don't enter you all at the same time so you hear people coming in and out. You have to silently raise your hands to be escorted out or for anything that you need. (just raise your hands silently and don't look anywhere but your own computer screen).
Difference on the actual exam vs the PrepCast Exam Simulator (in general PrepCast was harder but very good at getting you in the testing environment)
-Timer is in minutes. Starts from 240 and counts down. I like to match my progress with timing so this got me a little unnerved. I simply jot down # of questions I should complete for every 30 mins interval (I find this really helpful).
-Questions are more simple but vague. They don't ask what you should do FIRST for every question even though that's what they meant. I know this because the answer choices seems like I need to do all of them, but only thing that differentiate them is that one choice clearly comes before all other.
-A lot of questions have "Perform Integrated Changes" as answer whereas PrepCast just says Request Change
-Process of elimination is your best friend. A lot of answer choices just didn't make sense. (i.e. Closed the project and request Change)
- A lot of process related questions; i.e. what process are you on, what process did you just perform, etc.
- Schedule related question was NOT nicely demonstrated like the PrepCast. It was all in context. (i.e. the table/chart in PrepCast about activity A to B and duration, that was completely described in words)
- You can't right click to eliminate (strike-through) answer options (I knew this, but in case you don't)
- I read somewhere by another fellow PMP taker on his experience /Lesson Learned that you can highlight in the actual exam, but that was NOT true.
I didn't memorized EVERY ITTOs and I scored about 68-73% on the PrepCast Simulator Exams. But I did know the main/important ITTOS for each process. If you know the pattern, it's there.
I used
3 months to prepare (2 full weekends and weekdays after work for 2-3 hours)
Rita's book (memorize Rita's process chart) IT WAS REALLY helpful, as the sequence of events in planning stage came up in my exam multiple times.
PrepCast Simulator (best purchase ever). TAKE the 4 hours timed exams!
PrepCast Lessons (Listened to PodCast on my way to and back from work)
Andy's "How to pass on your first try" If you are short on time this is GREAT! Careful as some minor info are omitted (see below for example).
I read PMP 6th Guide once - really dry (I would've skip this and instead concentrate on Rita's book). I mainly used Andy's book, used Lessons from PrepCast and Rita's to supplement areas that I don't understand or was lacking explanations. I.e Decentralized purchasing is NOT in Andy's book but in Rita's.
Last tip
-rest up day before
-be confident and know that it's ok if you need to do 2nd, 3rd, 4th time
-answer ALL questions (if stuck, pick answer following your gut, flag it, and come back to it when there is time).
Good luck!
F
