Good day all,

I posted a few days ago about my mock exam scores (below) as I was in doubt of my preparations. Un like most that have posted, my scores were marginal, particularly for PM Study mock tests.

Started studying in October 2010 and postponed the exam several times until today.  I allowed 1 week for each of the readings.  PMBok once, then Head First, Then PMBoK again. Study did not intensify with mock exams until 3 weeks ago.

Note: I have 2yr old and 5yr old and wife is 9months with the 3rd.  Full time job only allows for study at lunch and evenings after kids go to bed.  Occassional weekend.  I did not want to impact my family life for this certification so I worked around that time....Very challenging!

Mock Scores as follows:
 

25 PM Zilla  - 68%

200 Head First - 76% and 88% (2nd)

70 PreparePM - 77%

75 Oliver - 62%

200 Oliver - 69%

200 PM Study 1 - 67%

200 PM Study 2 - 69%

200 PM Study 3 - 67%

100 PM Road Track %82

200 PM Zilla tough 55%

My Preparation tips as follows:

-  Memorize page 43 and plan for the brain dump. (This is the back bone of the exam. You will come to know this as you study)

- Understand what all 42 Processes mean.

- Understand the interactions of the 42 Processes with each other.  i.e. Understand the Inputs and Outputs and how they lead into and out of each Process.  Tools and Tech is essential.  The more you know the more comfort you will have on the exam. Know this and you will achieve higher level of success on exam.

- Mock exams will take you only so far.  You have to study and know the above in order to achieve a higher level of comfort for the exam.

- All mock exams I did, I took up the wrong answers and recorded them in a note book for future reference.  I reviewed this note book on the day of the exam and several other times throughout my studies.

My Exam tips:

- Read and comprehend the Entire question.  Read and comprehend all 4 answeres. 

- It is not the intention of the exam to trick you, but rather test your knowledge.

- The questions are not tough but test your ability to think thru the problem and select the most appropiate answer.

- Use pg 43 as your guide.  There are questions that relate to Processes and the order in which they fall.

MOST OF ALL do not underestimate the time it takes to prepare for this exam.  Particularly if you are studying alone and have other commitments.  The better prepared you are, the more relaxed you will be on exam day.  You cannot wiggle your way thru this exam.  You must have a decent understanding of the PMBoK.

Study aids:

Head First is good for breakdown of Knowlege Areas into easy to understand terminology. Easy read, but there were a few critical error in the text that did not booost my confidence in the guide. Overall, good for study.

PMBoK is a must read and reference it often.  Get to know it well!

Do mock exams.  As you can see, I did allot and always reviewed the wrong answeres.

I passed with

1 Profficient (above average)

4 Mod. Proff (average)

1 Below Proff. (below average)

Good luck to all and special thanks to my wife who supported me thru this effort!

Ciao!