Hi Guys,
I passed the PMP exam this week on my first attempt (everything above target except for the initiating process for which I reached the target). Here is my experience:
I started studying in March 2020: 1 to 3 hours a day. Then COVID came, and my exam was postponed from May to July, and I start studying 1 hour a day because I had more time to study.
I read PMBOK once, and I don't recommend reading it as it takes a lot of time, and Rita's Boon is much better (my opinion).
I read Rita's book three times.
45 days before the exam, I started doing exam simulator with PMP-Exam-Simulator. I did 3 exams: 1 – 70%, 2 – 77% and 3 – 81%. I did them and reviewed all questions, and after reviewing, I studied the knowledge areas with the smallest score (generally around 65 and 70%).
I read some sections of Rita's book many times to remember some theory and improve my exam simulator results.
I haven't done a dump sheet for the exam, but I had my dump sheet at home with a list of definitions that I read at least 3 times a week.
About the Exam Simulator:
The questions on the exam are different from the PMP Simulator. I was expecting large questions with a lot of information. In fact, I had only small questions, but the answers were difficult to identify. When doing the Exam simulator, it was easy for me to identify at least two wrong answers. On the other hand, in the real exam, it was tough to identify the wrong answers. I still recommend the Simulator as it prepares and shows where you have to invest more time in your study.
Resuming, I studied a total of 160 hours distributed in 4 months and on the weekend preceding the exam; I studied 4h hours each day for a total of 8 hours. It's possible you can do it by yourself, just be persistent and use the right tools (Exam simulator and Rita's book)!
Attached is my study plan and definition I used to review!
Good luck
