TOPIC: Passed the PMP exam on my first attempt

On Monday, November 25th I passed the pmp exam and I am extremely relieved! The following is what I did to prepare and what worked for me.
My application was accepted in June and I immediately scheduled my exam giving myself 5 months to prepare. I spent the first month reading the pmbok and quizzing myself using the pmp exam mentor app. Not a bad app for ittos but proved to be somewhat ineffective when I got to the prepcast simulator. The prepcast simulator was by far the biggest factor in my success. I started taking quizzes in the stimulator back at the beginning of August. I believe on my first 10 question quiz, I scored 30%. I was floored by the results but knew I had work to do. Kept practicing through August by reading a chapter of Rita's book and then quizzing myself in the prepcast simulator. Starting in September I took 1 full exam per week typically on Saturday mornings and would do 4-5 10 question sets per day throughout the week in learning mode and review all the answers that were incorrect. My scores on the first 7 exams were between 68-76% but averaged out to be 71% overall. With 1 month remaining, I extended the stimulator subscription and retook the first seven exams shooting for 2 per week. My scores the second time around improved to 78-85%. The last week before the exam I stopped taking full exams and did 2 sets of 100 per day in learning mode reviewing all answers as I went. The 2nd to last day I dropped it back to 2 sets if 50 and 1 timed 10 question quiz. The last day before the read the last chapter of Rita's book and listened to the last prepcast entitled "Goodbye". I found both these things to be calming, motivating, and got me into the right headspace to take the exam. I ate a good meal and prepared for an early night. Right before going to bed, I took 1 last 10 question quiz just to keep my head in the game.
The exam itself was very similar to the prepcast as others have stated. I walked in the testing center a bundle of nerves but once I started going through the questions I started to feel calm because the questions felt familiar. That calmness ended abruptly when I got to questing 200 with 90 minutes to spare. I took a quick break and then returned to review questions that I had flagged. I changed maybe 3 of my answers and stopped myself from second guessing the questions that I truly was unsure of. I then took a deep breath and finalized the exam. Within a split second I saw the congratulations pop up on the screen. Relieved and shaking, I got my printout and left.
The moral of my story is that the prepcast stimulator was a godsend for me. I have always been a terrible multiple choice test taker. Just awful at it. I knew from the begining that if I had a shot at passing the pmp, the most important thing to do would be to practice taking the exam. And that is mainly what I did. When it was all said and done, I had spent 114 hours in the exam simulator and I'm happy to say that it paid off.
Good luck to all of you who are about to take the exam. I'm sure everyone's experience and preparation is different, but I wanted to share mine and what worked for me. Also, you got this!

Thanks, Thomas, and congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing! The steps that you took to pass the exam are very similar to what I am currently going through. In all honesty, it provides a renewed level of trust and belief in the exam simulator; however, I do have one question for you. When you extended the simulator subscription and took the practice exams again, did you ever think to yourself that it was an unfair advantage? What I mean by that is you’re seeing the same exact questions again. It would make sense to answer the questions correctly the second time after getting it wrong the first time. I know those negative self talk thoughts are current with me, and truthfully, that is one of my biggest challenges as I continue to prepare for the PMP exam. Have you had similar doubts through your PMP journey while preparing for the exam? If so, how did you overcome it?

Yes. I felt the exact same way taking the practice exams a second time and I wasn't really sure if I was just memorizing answers or actually learning. I would try to challenge myself to think of the logic behind the answer even if I recognized the question. I would also review all the questions that were incorrect which I believe helped solidify the knowledge. I was unsure if this would be effective until I actually sat for the exam, but it seemed to work for me at least.