TOPIC: Passed online proctored PMP exam on 1st attempt

I started studying the Rita's book in January, with a goal to finish it in the middle of February, which I did. I took notes and did well in all the tests. I was going to follow that up with a company sponsored boot-camp, but my new colleague swore by the PrepCast as a major reason why she passed her PMP test. I decided to save my company a couple of thousand dollars by opting for the PrepCast instead.

Out of the gate, I scored a 75.5% in my first test and scheduled the exam for the end of March. I took a couple more tests and focused on reviewing the questions I got wrong and the ones I marked to get more understanding; I didn't even bother to watch a video COVID-19 caused the exam to be cancelled, until I was able to reschedule online last Wednesday. I took the last 4 PrepCast exams in the past 7 days, as I have abandoned studying since the exam cancellation and been extremely busy at work with COVID-19 related projects.

The online proctored exams rules are kind of crazy. They could cancel your exam if they hear background noise, and you can't use a pencil/paper to dump memorized items like the formulas and processes. Calculator and whiteboard are available on the GUI, which weren't fun to use.

I started my exam at 12:15am, to ensure a very quiet house The proctor messaged me once to be quiet as I was mumbling questions to myself and recalling processes sequence. That spooked me. About 20 minutes before the half-time break, she asked me to get up and scan the room; that threw me off big time, and I spent about 3 minutes on the question I was on before I could calm my nerves. I was shaken, like “why did she make me do that?” I felt like she was about to end my exam or something. Needless to say, I passed the exam with an overall "above target" grade.

The PrepCast was definitely the best thing I could have bought and used to supplement my studying. The key, for me, was paying close attention to the questions I got wrong and reading the explanations to really understand why the right answers were indeed the correct answers. If you do that and pass the test, you should have no problem passing the PMI exam. ...Thank you, PrepCast team.

Cheers,
'Kunle

Congratulations on passing the exam! And in such difficult circumstances at the moment, too.

Hi Tayo, could you please advice about the use of the whiteboard in your experience? It is time consuming or not?

Is the whiteboard erased after the break?

Congrats!
To continue the theme of the whiteboard...how do you use it? Did you have a stylus and write on a touchpad/screen? The examples I've seen on Pearson's website make it seem like it's done with the mouse. I cannot write with a mouse!
So any info about using the whiteboard tool would be appreciated!
Jessica

As far as I can see on the website fromPerson view the Whiteboard is a kind of painting programm.

you can make circles, sqares and so on. Also there is a text function, which I think you can use with the keyboard...

Not sure if I ever responded to this. Thank you, Elizabeth.
Cheers,
Kay

I'm so sorry this is coming rather late, haven't logged in here for a while and just saw your message.
I used it to dump some processes and formula when I got the first questions where I needed them. It was rather time consuming to draw text boxes and type correctly with time ticking away and my proctor cautioning me to not mumble as I was trying to recollect what I've memorized.

Cheers,
Kay

No, it wasn't. Not 100% sure now, but I doubt it was. I only took a few minutes to ease myself and stretch. I was afraid I was going to start getting sleepy (I chose midnight to 4am to ensure I had a quiet house), plus I must have only answered between 90-94 questions before the break, at the 2-hours mark. I was under pressure because I was behind. It all worked out excellently at the end.
Thanks,
Kay

Thanks, Jessica. The whiteboard was horrible. You had to draw text boxes with a mouse and then type, or so it felt because time was ticking, so I just didn't start off dumping my processes and EVM formula like I would have loved to. I only typed some EVM formulas once I got the first question on it, just like I typed a few processes once I got the first question on that too. I basically muttered the rest to myself because I got tired of the whiteboard. Muttering what I would have written down got me 2 yellow cards (soccer lingo for a warning) and a command to scan the room with the camera on my laptop. That threw me off some.
It's possible you might be able to use a stylus if your laptop has a touchscreen monitor, but please check with your exam center before doing so.
Cheers,
Kay

That's correct, Frank. Not the most user friendly tool, especially with time against you.

Cheers,
Kay