TOPIC: Passed on 1st attempt

Took the PMP exam yesterday (2/24) and passed. All I can say is dedicate to studying, block distractions for a short time.... It pays off. The prepcast simulator became my best friend. I would not have passed without it.

Congrats Deborah.

How difficult was the actual PMP exam compared to precast?

Really, after going through almost all of the simulator questions (except 10%), and after spending 81 1/2 hours in the simulator, as well as my other study materials....
I have to say that I thought the real exam was easy. In fact, as i sat there after the first 30 or so questions, i thought, "Something is wrong". The simulator test questions are much harder than the real exam, and also
I thought the simulator questions were much better written... I felt good all through the test. Honestly, at the end when i was waiting for my results, i thought... if i fail, then i know something's wrong.

Oh i forgot to say.... that I failed all of 6 simulator exams (60s). I finally passed the 7th exam last Saturday (2-22) in the simulator with a score of "74".

I managed to pull of the actual PMP exam yesterday scoring overall "Above Target".

But know this required a lot of time. BUT... I have my life back; I am PMP Certified, and I get a 25% salary increase....

Yes -- that is correct!

Below is from my Simulator:

Total questions in Simulator1,610 = 100%
Answered by you1,438 = 90%
Unanswered by you172 = 10%
You have spent a total of 81 hours and 33 minutes 45 seconds answering questions in the simulator.

Deborah

Didn't want to create another thread, so hopefully it is ok to just reply on this existing thread.
First of all, congratulations @Deborah for passing the certification. I actually took the exam on the same day, Feb 24, 2020, which makes us batchmates? hehe.
So yes, I also took the PMP Exam and passed on first attempt, with 3 areas on 'Above Target' rating and 2 areas on 'Target' level, making my overall ranking literally at the boundary of 'Target' - 'Above Target'.

Just to share my experience, I was once a software developer, and to be honest, not that good in concepts or memorization, that's why I was a bit hesitant before to take PMP when I became a Project Manager. But to further improve my PM skills and to somehow get accreditation that I am really indeed a good Project Manager, I decided to proceed in getting PMP. I'll just summarize what I did in bullet forms to not bore the readers, so here it goes:

• - Since I am not good in reading books, I looked for materials that can easily be understood, and being a technical person and being familiar with how good the 'Head First' book series in narrating concepts. I decided to get their 'Head First PMP' book. It explained the concepts in PMBok in a manner that was not that boring or formal, thus, I was able to get the basic concepts.
• - But since the 'Head First PMP' is based only on PMBok 4th Edition, this is when I decided to be a PMI member, mainly to get latest edition during that time, which is the 5th Edition. This is when I started studying based on the PMBok
• - I have completed reading the 5th and 6th Editions of PMBok, but still not that confident in taking the exam, so I decided to take a 4-day course on PMP review in one of a local training centers here in Manila, Philippines. After which, I still can't assess if I am ready to take the certification, so I decided to look for new training materials. I can't recall how I searched, maybe thru Google, but I have found several online course which I am not sure if good, since I am not really a fan of online courses
• - Even if I am still a bit hesitant, I tried one online course. I can't recall how I selected it from a number of available online courses, but it turns out to be the best decision I made in preparing for PMP. I subscribed to PMPrepcast!
• - I completed the lessons twice! The method on how the lessons were discussed is the best that I have seen, and focus was more on the items that is most likely to be included at the actual exam
• - I followed the ideas provided at the PrepCast, such as how to prepare from the registration, scheduling, and the actual exam, and it literally made each step easier.
• - After almost 1.5 years of subscription, I started taking the exam simulator. As suggested, I started to aim for 80% to be more confident i the actual exam. But after taking seven mock exams, my rate ranged from 70% to 75%, so I am still not that 100% confident when I took the exam last Feb 24
• - During the exam, I was very, super, extremely nervous. The format of the simulator is the same with the actual exam, but of course, the contents was a bit different. Upon reaching the final questions, and doing reviews on few marked questions, I reached the point where I was thinking if I am to end the exam already (with still 40mins available) or perform another review. I eventually decided to end the exam. Upon seeing the first word, "Congratulations", I wasn't able to complete reading the rest of the paragraph. I was so happy and can't wait to share the good news to everyone.

So basically, in summary, the PrepCast is the best material that a PM could use in preparing for the PMP Certification. I also plan to subscribe to PMPodcast to be more updated to latest updates and to gain the needed PDUs.

Keep up the good work and thank you so much PM PrepCast!

Congratulations John Ray! And thanks for sharing your journey.

Deborah