Very happy to have passed the PMP exam on the first attempt, with a satisfactory score.
Just as a sharing, I have all three books PMBOK, Rita and Head First. I tried to read all three books, but I could not manage it, so I focused only on PMBOK. My personal advice is if you only have time for one book, you should read the PMBOK guide. Head First language is more casual, easier to understand but it doesn't get you into the PMBOK lingo. Rita is more in depth to help you to understand, but it kind of places the information a little differently from PMBOK. The Rita questions are good too. I only attempt four chapters questions, as I realise i have too much material and not enough time.
I have attempted questions by PrepCast and ExamPrep by topics first (Rita and Head First only first four chapters), before I went on to attempt PrepCast Mock Exams. I did 7 out of 8 mock exams by Prepcast, 100 Oliver Lehman questions and the PMI practice exams. my scores were ranging between 71 to 78%. PMI practice exam actually gave me a big red fail for hitting 75%, on Saturday, two days before my exam. that really gave me a bad hit. fortunately it has turned out well.
I feel that doing the mock exams makes a huge difference. it shortens the learning curve and helps to understand better how questions are being asked, and how answers shoudl be selected. the thought process is not something that can be learned by mugging the books alone.
Prepcast Exam Simulator stood out from all the other mock exams, because of the detailed explanations for each question. not just on what is the correct answer, but also why each other answer choice is not the best answer (not necessarily incorrect, but not the best among the four choices). this helped me to really understand the question, and why i have gotten the answer wrong. it is also a good practice to mark the question for review when yo are unsure of your answer, AND to review it, even if you GOT IT RIGHT. this helped me to understand why i was right, and reinforce it.
I also benefitted from PMI Singapore Chapter's "Coaching for PMP" sessions which was conducted by the Singapore volunteers and past exam candidates to help members with advice on exam preparation.
