Passed AT/AT/AT thanks to r/PMP! My experiences and recommendations
I took the exam this past Tuesday and obtained AT/AT/AT. When I finished the exam I honestly didn’t know if I had passed!
MY PM BACKGROUND I have managed several projects as a functional manager, but never had a PM title or worked in a PMO. I also wasn’t familiar with several PMI best practices. I wanted to be a better project manager so I registered for and completed a college PM certificate program that consisted of six three credit undergrad PM courses and a 1 credit capstone that I completed in July, 2023. The courses taught practical real world project management and change management practices based upon PMBOK ideals, but did not teach for/to the test. That same month I applied for approval to take the PMP. I needed a break from studying so I didn't start prepping for the PMP until December, 2023.
MY STUDY EXPERIENCE I studied for several months. I like to get into the weeds and really comprehend everything I am learning or working on. I had multiple events caused by life, work, family and being a parent that caused me to not follow my study schedule and created multiple multi-day interruptions. I pushed my scheduled test date out twice. I ended up not being able to study for 2 weeks a couple of times and crammed the last 4 days before my exam this past Tuesday.
MY EXAM EXPERIENCE: Arrived at the Pearson Vue exam center at 7:30 A.M. though I had planned to arrive by 7:15 and beat any crowd checking in for an 8:00 A.M. exam time. There were 4 people in line before me. I wore a hoodie with multiple pockets. The hoodie made the clothes check more difficult and lengthy. Minimize your clothing’s pockets to save everybody’s time and added hassle. I asked for a calculator. They provided and they escorted me into the testing room.
As soon as I sat down the two things I wrote down on my white board was 155 and 85 (my time block finish point goals for questions 1-60 and 61-120). By question 25 I knew I was behind schedule and began to feel panicked. I picked my pace up but was feeling like many of the questions were tough. There were already several questions I wasn't certain I had answered correctly and I’d flagged for review. By question 45 I was thinking I may fail the exam. I had to refocus my brain, take some deep breaths and forge on. I finished question 60 with only 4 1/2 minutes to review my flagged questions. I wasn't able to review half of the questions I’d flagged. My allocated time ran out and I began my 10 minute break, waved to the proctor who came in and whispered instructions for me to take my id and locker key. Upon exiting the testing room he checked my ID and checked me out for break.
I went to the bathroom, opened my locker, ate some apple slices, had a couple bites of a protein bar and gulped some Body Armor sports drink, followed by a couple drinks of water. I went through the process of being checked in again, showing my id, turning all my pockets (including my hood) inside out, patting my pants down, being escorted to my seat and the proctor signing me back in.
Questions 61-120 seemed like a breeze! I only flagged 6 questions. The earmuffs provided were causing my ears to ache. I removed them, rubbed my ears and put them back on several times. Still, I cruised through the 2nd block of questions in approximately 55 minutes and finished my review within 7 minutes before I ended for my second break. I motioned for the proctor and was feeling psyched! During my second break I repeated what I’d done during my first except this time I drank the remainder of the sports drink and much more water. I was feeling dehydrated and my mouth was dry - likely caused by exam stress. I also did some stretching because the sitting and stress was causing my back to tighten. I went through the process of being checked in again, showing my id, turning all my pockets (including my hood) inside out, patting my pants down, being escorted to my seat and the proctor signing me back in.
The last 60 questions started out hard again. There were a couple questions I read, reread and read again because what it asked didn't seem to remotely match to the answer choices. Then I went into another free flow stage I’d experienced during the second block of questions, until the questions turned very difficult again. I finished the last 60 questions with about 18 minutes left on the clock. I had flagged 12 questions for review, and even changed a couple. I finished the exam with about 11 minutes remaining and walked out of the testing room having no idea whether I had passed or not. The person at the desk asked my name, checked my ID and handed me my provisional result. I immediately looked to see if I’d passed. The print was tiny! I struggled to read the small print. Finally I saw that I had preliminarily passed and felt such indescribable relief.
USE THE STRIKE-THROUGH FUNCTION TO REMOVE INCORRECT ANSWERS.
USE HIGHLIGHTER FUNCTION TO CALL OUT KEY INFO FROM THE USELESS OR MISDIRECTING INFO. (this is key because multiple questions will contain info that is there to just throw you off)
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING AND REMEMBER MINDSET. (important because several of the questions’ info thew me off. I was focused on info that wasn't important but that an incorrect answer may address).
FLAG QUESTIONS YOU’RE UNSURE OF FOR REVIEW
PMI STUDY HALL vs THE ACTUAL EXAM
I found many of the actual exam questions to be just as complicated as SH difficult and expert questions. Several people here have said the actual exam questions are shorter and more direct. They are typically shorter, but there is a slight change in wording that caused me great difficulty, and made me less confident in my trained PMI mindset.
DRAG & DROPS, FORMULAS & CHARTS
I had 4 drag & drops, approximately 6 formula related questions, but 5 which didn't require actual math calculation and 3 or 4 charts.
My 4 KEY STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Watch David Mclachlan YouTube videos. Listen to his questions at 2 x speed, stop before he provides the answer, use mindset and select your answer, play - listen to his answer and reason. Do DM videos as much as possible.
https://youtu.be/tNIHysh2ZW4?si=iU_lxF_8xd3otLGZ
https://youtu.be/Zht0-j03NfQ?si=Y_4j72VNgr_4imdY
https://youtu.be/xIH-u81XCxM?si=dJtDDxCQzuBLL3Kl
- Buy and read u/Third3rock PMP notes and cheat sheet. Read through all of it in its entirety and then reference repeatedly when doing Study Hall review. Read, and re-read over and over again the mindset sections.
https://buymeacoffee.com/third3rock/extras
Subscribe to PMI Study Hall and start doing practice questions as soon as possible. Read and review the answer and explanation for each, whether you got the question right or not. Research those topics you don't understand. Look up the wrong answers if they use terms you don't know or understand. Record your scores on a spreadsheet and reset your practice answers and exams and take them again. I scored a 69 the first time I took the 1st full mock exam. Deducting the expert questions, my score was 79. I scored a 79 on the second exam and didn't bother calculating for expert because from everything I read on this subreddit, a 79 was good enough for most people to pass. I scored as low as the 40s on some practice sections, and 100 on others. Most were in the 60-70 range my first time through. Don’t become discouraged by low scores. Read the answer explanations, further research topics you’re struggling to understand, and make notes.
Check in with this Subbreddit regularly, review posts, participate, comment and ask questions. This group is an amazing resource!
I bought AR’s study book on Amazon which came with his 35 hour video course for free. His book is informative but so poorly edited that I could not get through 150 pages before I abandoned it. I did not need the 35 study hours to qualify as I had taken a college PM certificate course consisting of six 3 credit courses and a capstone for 1 credit so I far exceeded the minimum needed. I didn’t bother watching his video. DM was a great tool for me. In addition to u/Third3rock, I did reference the PMI Agile; the PMI Processes and PMI PMBOK 7th Ed books when researching topics I felt I needed to better understand as I reviewed DM and Study Hall questions. I also made copious notes of my own - many of which I never referred back to, but the simple act of writing down and thinking about what I was writing helped me memorize.
Keep grinding Study Hall and researching terms and concepts you don't know.
Know the 5 Process Groups. That’ll help you narrow down questions. Know how to read burn up and burn down charts. Know when to choose Agile, Waterfall or Hybrid. Study Hall to me seemed to focus on when to choose Hybrid and Waterfall. Know when to choose Agile, iterative or incremental too.
You may score very low on some Study Hall mini-quizzes or tests. Don't give up! Keep grinding!
I hope this is helpful to some of you, as I want to pay it forward. I am so thankful for those who have contributed to this subreddit. You were great help. Feel free to ask questions here or direct message me if you have a question you think I may be able to help with.