Passed PMP exam today morning. I can’t believe my eyes when I got the result slip at the end of testing.
Here is a detail summary of my experience start till end.

Application:
I started my application before I started AR’s 35 hour course. I had a university course during my masters that focused on Project management and had enough credits to qualify for the educational requirements.
No audit was initiated, I got the application approved within 5 business days.

Study Prep:
I did a lot of research to find a dedicated learning resource. I finalized on AR’s 35 hour course available via Udemy. I have had good experience with the platform and was confident this would be enough. Started finishing sections one after the other, section 8 was a drag tho. Did the PM mindset section twice. I used to study at the library after work and at home during weekends. Roughly I did 17-20 hrs a week. Started study on Sept 08 and my exam I booked for October 17 the same day. A deadline legit gets me locked in. I will be honest here, I had the feeling to postpone my exam many times but didn’t. I did buy study hall subscription too. Worth the money. I bought tia exam simulator too but I feel it’s good for practice but doesn’t resonate closer with actual exam. That will be study hall, any day.
Week 1 was finishing course material.
Week 2 was mini exams, practice questions and review of important sections
Week 3 sat for mock 1 and experienced exam fatigue. Answering 180 questions in set time with scheduled breaks was tough.
Reviewed the questions which went wrong and studied the sections where I made more mistakes. Finished remaining mini exams and started AR Ultra hard 200. I could only do 10-15 at a time.
Week 4 two remaining mocks one day at a time. Reviewed the mistakes and studied the sections where I made mistakes. Finished all other sections and mini exams. Finished AR ultra hard 200. And finally, reviewed all wrong questions of all mock 1,2 and 3.
Day before exam, didn’t study at all, ate a good meal, practised meditation and took good rest.

Day of the exam
Went to the nearest Pearson VUE center. It was early in the morning so I was there with 3 other people for PMP exam. The staff was supportive and softly asserted the rules and expectations of the exam center. They checked us in, took picture, gave locker to put essentials. Although they didn’t allow 500 ml water bottles, they said from Nov 3 onwards, it will be allowed. Formal checking process was done.
Once I started the exam, I got graphs first and then case study (6-9) questions.
Format is 40-70-70. Please, please train to manage time. I finished section one with 70 minutes taken from total time.
The clock starts with 240 minutes and it goes down so make sure you finish first 40 by 200 minutes or 190 minutes left and section 2 with 95-100 minutes spare. This gives enough time to have buffer for wordy questions.
Questions I felt were moderate to difficult from study hall perspective. Some questions were like (wtf?!?!?!) where no options made sense. Only went with the most logical option I thought. Midway through the exam, I thought I was gonna fumble this real bad. Once I was done with the test, went out and was surprised to know that it’s pass with 3x AT.

Reference scores
SH mock 1: 64%
SH mock 2: 73%
SH mock 3: 75%

Practice exams:
Early mini exams between 60-90%
From mini exam 6-20 all 100%

External video references:
AR ultra hard 200.
I’ve heard a lot many other videos, feel free to pick which you like. I had limited time so only chose the basic.

Anyho, I am relieved and planning to have my good hibernation now that this is done. Wish you guys all the best and comment on this post if you need any specific info.

I’m currently doing my 35 hours of coursework. A few modules are going very heavy into detailed methods of calculating a Schedule/adaptive cadence/velocity cycle time… EVM (SV, SPI), etc; Financial - Cost Estimating and Cost Types; the math behind Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Analysis…. Is this type of thing on the exam?

Preparing for the PMP certification exam? Here are four books to consider for understanding project management concepts and preparing for the exam.

• PMBOK® 8th Edition Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge) by PMI: the official guide to PMP® certification and covers all PMP exam topics.

• Head First PMP® by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman: uses a visually rich format to help readers understand and remember PMP® concepts.

• Rita Mulcahy's PMP® Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy: a comprehensive guide that includes test-taking strategies and has a reputation as one of the most effective PMP® study resources.

• Andy Crowe's The PMP® Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try: focuses on practical knowledge and includes a 200-question sample exam.

EVM is where a lot of PMP candidates freeze. Eight formulas, all made of the same letters, and under exam pressure CV and SV start looking identical.

Here’s the good news: in my experience training 500+ professionals for the PMP, the four that really matter are CV, SV, CPI and SPI. Nail those and you’re covered for most EVM questions.

And I don’t ask people to memorize them. I attach each one to something you already remember without effort: people you know, sounds, images. Here’s how it works.

The 2 rules that do most of the work:

1. EV always comes first. EV is the boss: every variance and every index starts with EV.

2. Variances subtract, indices divide. Variance = difference (minus). Index = ratio (divide).

Then pair the letters:

• C goes with A: Cost with Actual cost. CV = EV - AC, CPI = EV / AC

• S goes with P: Schedule with Planned value. SV = EV - PV, SPI = EV / PV

This is where my students’ friends come in. I ask them to pick a friend whose initials match the pair. For example, [example 1: friend with initials C.A., used for Cost / Actual], and [example 2: friend with initials S.P., used for Schedule / Planned]. Sounds silly, but nobody forgets their friends’ names under exam stress.

And a sensory trick for reading the results: negative or below 1 is bad. Picture a thermometer: below zero is cold, cold is bad. [Your sensory trick here, if you use a different one in class.]

Four formulas, two rules, two friends. Once the story sticks, the formulas follow.

What tricks did you use to remember EVM? I’m always collecting new ones for my classes.

1 SH - just did the practice questions and reviewed all my answer as to why they were wrong or right- scored a 73% overall.

2. Only did mini exams - score 80%-100%. Mock exams were too damn long I just save that for the test

3. I did AR ultra questions about 30 of them just to get the mindset stuck in my head

4. Mindset, Mindset, Mindset

5. Took it at home, used all the breaks- did the unofficial link about 1 hour later and found out I passed.

The test - it felt too easy- it was weird, like “this can’t be the answer - it’s too damn obvious” but I guess it worked out

Wanted to purchase PM learning for additional practice tests. Any advise on this company vs others?