Exam in 1 week - am I ready?
Hi all,
I've been reading a lot of posts recently - all the success stories, recommendations, helpful resources, etc - of folks who have passed the PMP. This subreddit has been so helpful during my prep and I'm so happy to see so many people pass and become certified. Congrats!
I started my PMP journey about two years ago, soon after I hit 3 years of PM experience, and bought AR 35 hr prep course and got 30% of the way through after about 3 weeks and stopped. I was and still am working full-time, 10-12 hours a day, and adding study time on top of that was overloading my brain and my personal life.
Cut to this year, end of March, when my company offered to pay for the certification and prep course ahead of the test changing in July. I decided to go for it and took JP 35 hour prep course on Udemy (our company's recommendation, although I wish I went back and re-took ARs from the beginning). I finished the course the second week of April, submitted my application, bought Study Hall, and have been studying ever since about 2-4 hours a day, sometimes more on weekends.
Resources:
JP prep course - for the 35 hours requirement
Study Hall - a must, in my opinion
Third3 Rock study notes - helpful for terms, solid structure and good to refresh on concepts or focus on areas where you need improvement
AR mindset video
AR 200 Ultra Hard questions - watched about 90 questions
DM 110 Drag and Drop - watched about 30
MR 23 PMP principles
Few other AR, DM videos that popped up on YouTube
Study Process:
Highlighting third3 Rock notes and notes in the margins
Watching AR, DM, MR videos and pausing and answering the questions before the answer and explanations
Reviewing and writing down all incorrect study hall questions and understanding why what I chose was wrong and why the correct answer is correct
My Study Hall scores:
Practice Questions - 70% avg
Mini Exams - 70% avg
Mock Exam #1 on 4/25 - 69% ( 73% without expert)
Booked test for 5/15
Mock Exam #2 on 5/2 - 71% (77% without expert)
Practice Questions Round 2 5/7 and 5/8 - 80% avg
Based on the feedback from this subreddit and my scores, I think I'm ready for the exam. However, I've noticed that although my practice question avg improved, I got a few questions wrong that I had gotten right the first time around and I feel I'm second guessing myself and overthinking the questions and answers, even when I'm applying the mindset. I'm trying not to overwhelm myself as I know, like most of us here, I'm nervous going into this test. I'm anxious to begin with and have never been a great test taker. I'd rather write a paper than take a test.
At this stage, I almost wish I took the exam this week, although it may have been too soon. I also don't want to burn myself out with studying but want to keep up the pace ahead of my test next week.
Am I ready for the test?
Any recommendations on time and materials for studying over the next 7 days?