Passed PMP on 10/27 - Lessons Learned

Submitted by VT2001 on Wed, 10/29/2014 - 19:47

I was successful in passing the PMP this week on Oct. 27th, passing with 1 Proficient and 4 MPs. The first time I took the exam was in May, and failed with 4 MPs and 1 BP.

Lessons Learned:

What helped:
-Books: The most helpful book I read was Rita Mulcahy's, which I read 2x. I did all of the exercises and chapter tests. This book was the very best at covering the areas that are on the exam.
I also read the Andy Crowe book, but felt it was a waste of time and could have been ok just with Rita's.
I read the PMBOK 2x, and I definitely encourage this.

-Practice Exams:
PMStudy– 200 question free test and the 75 and 175 question Oliver Lehmann free tests. These were actually harder than the actual exam for me, so when I got in to take the exam, I was actually smiling and very confident at the ease of questions.

What did not help:
-Bootcamp: I took an expensive, 1 week bootcamp course from The Knowledge Academy. This course gave me a decent base, but no where near what I needed to pass the test.

-Trying to memorize all of the ITTOs. Just stick with Rita's book and the chart she has. Much easier!

Best of luck to you all, and if you are not successful in your first attempt, use it as a learning session and then focus hard on the areas you were unsure of. :)

Forums: 
PMP Exam Tips, Tricks and Lessons Learnt.
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dipti1pmp

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 05:29

Can you let me know how did you plan for last 15 days before exam..that helped you.

VT2001

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 18:29

I studied every night after work (3 hours) and about 6-7 hours on Saturday and again on Sunday for each weekend leading up to the exam. During this time, I re-read the Rita book and went over the chapter questions. On the weekends, I took the practice exams. The weekend before the exam, I re-read all of my notes and practiced my brain dump. My brain dump consisted of all of the forumlas as well as the chart of the processes. Hope this helps!

hkakumanu@gmail.com

Fri, 10/31/2014 - 16:55

How much did you score in these? Also after mock exam did you review all the questions once again? Does the actual exam reflect anything close to these questions?

Please guide.

VT2001

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 16:21

I scored a 75% on the 75 question test and a 71% on the 175 question test. The questions on these tests as well as the PM study test were very similar to the ones you see on the test. After taking the tests, I went over each question I got wrong and looked up why I was wrong and studied up on that area. These questions were much tougher than the actual exam, but great to use for prep and to see where you have knowledge gaps.

hkakumanu@gmail.com

Fri, 10/31/2014 - 17:12

Also today when I took both these exams.. in 75 Questions I score 75% and in 175 I score 73%. How do I improve? I am going through all the wrong questions once again to understand where I am wrong.

Any suggestion?

VT2001

Mon, 11/03/2014 - 16:22

That is exactly what I did! That will help you alot. I received the same scores for those tests. Those questions are much harder than the actual exam, but are great at showing you gaps in your knowledge. For any that you get wrong, spend time reading why and learning more about them. You will do great on the exam!

signor_rk

Sat, 11/01/2014 - 00:12

Congratulations to you !!!

spirit1981

Sat, 12/13/2014 - 03:12

Hello VT2001

I'm quite suprise why you fail with 4MP and 01 BP?

could you explain which BP in? (etc Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring , or Closing),

I always think that 4MP is enough to pass, except the BP is falling in high weight score (etc Planning, or Executing)

Please help to share the lesson learn.

Thanks