TOPIC: Passed PMP First Try

Recently took and passed the PMP exam and I benefited greatly from the PM Prep Cast that I wanted to pay it forward. I am the Chief Program Officer at my job in healthcare in NYC and was interested in obtaining this certification to enhance my skills managing various company projects. I took the PM Prep Cast course to satisfy the 35 hour requirement Oct/Nov 2018 and then submitted my application in December 2018 and received my acceptance to sit for the exam a couple weeks later. Due to work, family other personal obligations I put my studying on hold until June 2019. Below is my prep schedule for the 4 months that followed:
June 2019 (16 weeks to test day)
Purchased & read the Rita Mulcahy PMP Exam Prep. I found this book to be GREAT. She really wants you to learn the material and has supportive exercises for each topic so that you can really solidify your understanding of the information. She also has quizzes after each knowledge area and provides explanations so you can understand the "why". I read all the explanations after the practice quizzes even the ones for questions I answered correctly.
August 2019 (8 weeks to test day)
I started my PM Prep Cast exam exam simulator which was active for 3 months. I started quizzing myself and took one complete test. I didn't do great (65%) but it gave me an understanding of the structure of the test and what to expect on exam day.
Every day I would take a quiz with approx 10-20 questions. Sometimes I would make them really focused by KA or PG but other times just random topics.
September 2019 (4 weeks to test day)(I uploaded my testing schedule if you're interested...I did enter scores and put notes but I deleted most of those so you can use this tool)
Stepped up the studying but mostly with practice tests/quizzes. Quizzes were approx 25-50 questions each and I spent at least 1-2 hours/day (M-Th) reviewing those, Fridays was test day for me where I would dedicate 4 hours to taking the test (I took 4 a total of practice tests) though I'd usually finish in 3 hours. I would then spend an hour on Saturday reviewing my answers and what I got wrong. Sat/Sun would be reviewing Rita's book, taking more practice quizzes spending approx 4-6 hours on weekends (I did my best studying from 530am-830am on Sat & Sun) I would take quizzes from the Prep Cast, did a couple free Dan Ryan webinars, signed up for one month of the Dan Ryan access to his website - boot camp (approx 6 hours) and exam simulators, researched areas online that were recurring topics that I wasn't fluent in, referred back to Rita M's - I skimmed her book a second time, I also purchased a book book of PMP Practice Tests by Kim Heldman since I wasn't always in front of a computer/had internet access and wanted to take tests on the go.
Oct 18, 2019
Took and passed PMP exam on the first try...I finished the exam after 3 hours and 30 minutes. I reviewed the 20 questions I marked in about 15 minutes and then ended the exam with 15 minutes on the clock.
3 Above Target
1 Target
1 Below Target I wish I knew which questions!

Lessons learned:
- I wasn't allowed to bring a watch into my testing center (Westchester, NY)
- I received a dry erase notebook and wasn't allowed to erase anything from the notebook - this took some time because I made a mistake on the PM table and I had to re-write the entire table
- I found the PM Prep Cast questions to be more difficult than the actual exam - which is exactly what you want when preparing!
- Read all the answers...sometimes two are right but one is more right
- Read every question 2x
- If it's a long question read the question first and then go back and read all the other details leading up to the question
- I know every exam is different but I only had a couple formula questions - I didn't go crazy memorizing all the formulas I just had the basic ones on my mind for CV, SV, CPI and SPI

Hope this helps some of you preparing for the exam. I was so happy when after I submitted my exam I saw that word "congratulations" on the screen and I hope you too experience the same.

Good Luck!

HI Adinah , Congrats on passing Exam!

Where can I find your testing schedule ?

thanks
Julia