TOPIC: Cleared PMP on 9 June 2020

It has been a while I have been trying to get past the PMP preparation mode and today finally passed PMP exam on my first attempt. And it was bonus that I got Above Target in the 5 areas. I used PMPrepCast (both podcast simulator exams ) and , Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep 9th Edition.
The long journey
I had started planning for PMP a few years back with PMBOK Guide 5th edition when I bought the PMPrepcast study materials. Due to my laziness , I did not prepare and I learnt one day that PMI had made changes and new version was released . I had to buy the new PM PrepCast to prepare for the same. This time I decided to submit my application but was selected for audit and failed audit. The reason of failure in audit was I did not use PMI terminologies in my application for my project management experience. Somehow I had some misconception that I cant use the same experience and resubmit the application with the changed wordings (as per PMI terminologies). I did not check this until a year ( or 2 ?)later when last year I called PMI and they confirmed I could just resubmit with same experience but as per PMI lingo:) . I resubmitted the application and cleared the audit. I had planned 3 months to prepare and scheduled my exam early this year in April. While I was prepared and ready to take exam, 2 days before exam it got cancelled as all Pearson Centres got closed indefinitely due to Covid . I had to reschedule the exam for 9th June (hoping things would be better). I went back to my laid-back mode

Last month I started revising again and this last week I did a simulator exam every day till the day before. I was averaging between 82-86% but I was not sure if this could convert in the real exam.

PMP Exam
I did the Centre Based Test. Doing exam with a mask on for 4 hours is somewhat discomforting but I made it. I feel Pearson/ PMI could provide some relaxation in rules by allowing exam takers to have some water but it is what it is. There is a scheduled break at around 90th question or so when it quickly flips to the review screen. You have to finalise this part including anything you have left unanswered after which you can take the 10 minute break or continue. I chose to continue but my second half time management was very bad. At the 3 hour mark I was atleast 12 questions behind the 150 question mark. I had to read each question atleast twice to answer as you know the questions generally have more than 1 correct answer and will trick you and now I was not having enough time. I started racing to complete and was not very confident if I was answering correct. For the last question I literally had only 6 seconds left to answer. I wasnt sure I would make it but I was glad to see the first word 'congratulations' on the next screen

On the study materials
The Prepcast Simulator modules were quite representative of exam questions and if its done in the 77%-above range, I feel there is a good chance to pass the real PMP exam. The Rita Mulcahy book and the PrepCast are 2 different learning process. Its better to follow 1 of them, otherwise could be a bit confusing. The advantage of following 2 is there may be few concepts/ material s missing or not found in one which will be in the other one, but not a deal breaker.
Anyway had been a fun ride overall. Happy to get certified finally on my very first attempt:cheer:

Congratulations, Anil!

Thanks, Yolanda

Congrats! Can you share your experience in starting the exam? where you able to do a data/calculation dump? Is the goal still to answer as fast as you can or do you get 2 hrs to answer the first half questions, 10 min break and then 2 hours for the remaining?

Congrats, Anil! And thank you for sharing your tips and experiences!

Hi Anil,
Congratulations for successfully certified PMP. I have a question on center based test. Are they providing a paper to do math calculations or do we need to rely on the whiteboard in the system. And how long you took to complete the first part of 90 questions.

If you're taking the online PMP proctored exam, you will not have scratch paper but rather a "virtual whiteboard" similar to MS paint. It's pretty useless for the online exam and will not be very helpful for a brain dump before the exam. You'll have a virtual calculator. For my online exam I didn't need the calculator at all. I've not seen much feed back that if you take the exam in a Pearson Vue office if you'll be given the scratch paper. My advise is to practice writing out the 49 processes on scratch paper every day as well as the EVM formulas. Once you can do that, you won't need the scratch paper for the brain dump. There's some good YouTube video that can help with the memorization of the 49 processes via word phrases or acronyms.

As for the question about taking the exam, the 4 hr clock counts down as MINUTES, that can be confusing if you don't practice that way. The 4hr clock counts for the entire test. The only time the clock pauses is if you take the scheduled 10 min break. e.g If you take the first 90 questions in 30 mins, then the 10 min break, you'll have 3:30 mins for the second half (110 questions)
-Bryan

Thanks, Emily. Ans you are welcome

Thanks, Deepan.
Its glossy paper book and a pen. Not a very convenient one, but it will do the job. For the first 90 questions I was more or less on time, if I remember correctly it was 10 minute before the halfway mark (about 130 minutes left in the exam). Good luck.

Hello Mellissa,
Thanks.
The start of the exam is a short tutorial (about 6-7 screens)on how the exam application works (similar to the PrepCast simulator but probably a couple added features). You can start writing only after the tutorial is over and your first question pops up. I actually did not do a data dump and instead continued answering.
After the first 90 or so questions or halfway mark (whichever the application is checking) you are forced to a review screen from where you could select any questions marked earlier to answer later and finalize them and submit. You dont get to review these question later towards the end. Once you submit this 90 questions, you can decide to take a break for 10 minutes or continue, a screen will give you an option to decide that within a minute. If you dont decide within the minute, you will be forced to take the 10 minute break. Later you do the second part. Hope its helps.