This is my "how-to" for passing the PMP exam in less than a month (assuming you already have your PDUs). I was in a hurry because I had a temporary break from work, so you can think of this approach as the "intensive-study method"...
FIRST UP - BEFORE YOU START:
Spend a day or two reading everything you can find online and formulating a study strategy. Order your books, submit your PMI application. Mine was approved in ~5 days.
Buy Books -> I recommend ordering the following books right away: Head First and Andy
Submit Application -> I struggled with how to describe my projects and ended up using the format in #8 on this page. I started with "The objective was to..." and then I tried to provide as many examples from the I,P,E,M,C process groups. If you don't know what that means yet, I strongly suggest digging into it before you apply. Not complicated and could easily make the difference between approval and audit.
Buy Books -> I recommend ordering the following books right away: Head First and Andy
Submit Application -> I struggled with how to describe my projects and ended up using the format in #8 on this page. I started with "The objective was to..." and then I tried to provide as many examples from the I,P,E,M,C process groups. If you don't know what that means yet, I strongly suggest digging into it before you apply. Not complicated and could easily make the difference between approval and audit.
ONCE BOOKS ARE ON WAY:
Take a free practice test cold to establish a baseline. It doesn't really matter what you use, you'll just get a sense for what's to come. I took the free exam on PMTraining and (for reference) my score was 48%. Not pretty, but totally normal and you'll be doing much better in no time. Don't bother looking up answers for now; that will come later.
ONCE BOOKS ARRIVE:
Focus on one chapter at a time. Start with Head First for an overview (it looks juvenile at first glance, but it's brilliant, especially if you are a visual learner) and then immediately go over the same chapter in Andy’s. Skip the practice tests, you don't need them right now. You can do 1-2 chapters a day like this and be done with all the reading in less than two weeks.
Tip: Keep your notes to **one page per chapter**. You are on the "finish in under a month" plan, and there is no time to fill several notebooks. Write small. The real learning and retention happens when you start taking practice tests. Right now you're trying to figure out how things fit together. Keep going.
Tip: Ricardo's YouTube video really helps tie everything together. I watched it multiple times.
Tip: If you don't mind ponying up $10, use video #146 in Joseph's Udemy course instead of trying to figure out network diagrams on your own. You'll also have access to all the other content for reference while you are driving, etc. I went through a lot of the transcripts rather than sitting through the entire video.
Tip: Keep your notes to **one page per chapter**. You are on the "finish in under a month" plan, and there is no time to fill several notebooks. Write small. The real learning and retention happens when you start taking practice tests. Right now you're trying to figure out how things fit together. Keep going.
Tip: Ricardo's YouTube video really helps tie everything together. I watched it multiple times.
Tip: If you don't mind ponying up $10, use video #146 in Joseph's Udemy course instead of trying to figure out network diagrams on your own. You'll also have access to all the other content for reference while you are driving, etc. I went through a lot of the transcripts rather than sitting through the entire video.
ONCE YOU ARE DONE READING:
Take the PrepCast sample test and compare to your baseline. Mine was ~55% and I was horrified. Don't be, that's totally normal too. Take a look at what you got wrong and why. See how you can look up why the right question is right, and why the wrong question is wrong? That's what makes PrepCast so powerful.
Buy Exam Simulator -> At this point you can pay for PrepCast with confidence. They do an amazing job and the extra $60 over PMTraining will pay dividends many times over.
Sign up for Exam -> You should be able to schedule your exam for about two weeks from now, if you are sure you will be able to dedicate the next two weeks to studying. You'll have to weigh your decision given the time you have available to study, how you are progressing so far, and how far in advance the testing center is booked. That time will be dedicated to practice exams and memorizing your braindump.
Buy Exam Simulator -> At this point you can pay for PrepCast with confidence. They do an amazing job and the extra $60 over PMTraining will pay dividends many times over.
Sign up for Exam -> You should be able to schedule your exam for about two weeks from now, if you are sure you will be able to dedicate the next two weeks to studying. You'll have to weigh your decision given the time you have available to study, how you are progressing so far, and how far in advance the testing center is booked. That time will be dedicated to practice exams and memorizing your braindump.
IT'S TIME FOR PRACTICE EXAMS:
Finally! This is when the "fun" part begins. Now that you have PrepCast, do *only* full 200 question exams. Either (1) go over wrong answers every morning, get lunch, then take a full exam every afternoon, or (2) take full exam in the morning, get lunch, and go over answers in the afternoon. Do *not* waste exam questions any other way. You *must* be disciplined about this because taking a full test with questions you have not seen before is the *only* way to know when you are ready. Rinse/repeat every day for a solid week if you can. Yes, it's exhausting, but you'll also start scoring in the 70s and it will all come together.
Important: Be very diligent about looking up every single question you got wrong, and also every single question you are not sure on. Why is the right answer right, why is the wrong answer wrong. I would go back to my one-pager notes and add details here and there. It helped me remember, and gave me something concise to scan over as a refresher on the day of my exam.
For reference, my 200-question exam scores in PrepCast were: 68.5, 64.5*, 70, 72, 75. I never went back over any of my marked questions on any practice exam, so these scores are probably on the low end. You will absolutely need to go back over your marked questions during the real exam.
*This one was low because I kept getting distracted and ran out of time.
Once you are scoring consistently in the 70s, you are ready.
Tip: If on some days you have a bit of time to practice, but you don't have four full hours, take quizzes in Learning Mode but limit them to ONLY questions you missed in the past. You want to make sure you don't waste questions from future exams. Many people use up questions from future test banks in Learning Mode and then when they do take those exams, the questions are not "fresh" and it inflates their score. You want your scores to reflect ONLY questions you have not seen before. That's how you'll judge whether you are ready.
Important: Be very diligent about looking up every single question you got wrong, and also every single question you are not sure on. Why is the right answer right, why is the wrong answer wrong. I would go back to my one-pager notes and add details here and there. It helped me remember, and gave me something concise to scan over as a refresher on the day of my exam.
For reference, my 200-question exam scores in PrepCast were: 68.5, 64.5*, 70, 72, 75. I never went back over any of my marked questions on any practice exam, so these scores are probably on the low end. You will absolutely need to go back over your marked questions during the real exam.
*This one was low because I kept getting distracted and ran out of time.
Once you are scoring consistently in the 70s, you are ready.
Tip: If on some days you have a bit of time to practice, but you don't have four full hours, take quizzes in Learning Mode but limit them to ONLY questions you missed in the past. You want to make sure you don't waste questions from future exams. Many people use up questions from future test banks in Learning Mode and then when they do take those exams, the questions are not "fresh" and it inflates their score. You want your scores to reflect ONLY questions you have not seen before. That's how you'll judge whether you are ready.
BRAIN DUMP:
I suggest memorizing The 5 Process Groups, The 10 Knowledge Areas, ONLY the Planning process and key outputs, and all the formulas. Plan to write these down on your scratch paper at the beginning of the exam. It was helpful to have it for reference and gave me some confidence. I did look at it several times.
DAY OF EXAM:
Eat a really good breakfast (protein), bring food (two hard boiled eggs seems about right, or another source of protein) and a drink.
Ask for a physical calculator before the exam starts. It's much easier to use than the one on the computer.
I recommend doing your braindump at the beginning of the exam. You will get a two-page booklet (4 sides, folded). If you want more paper you have to give up the entire booklet, so make sure you write small so you can keep your braindump. Also, write your braindump on the INSIDE of the booklet (page 2 of 4), so you can use page 3 side-by-side with your braindump without having to flip pages.
The first 50-75 questions seemed really vague to me, and often I could swear there were two right answers and I could not pick between them. Don’t freak out! Cross out the two wrong answers, highlight the important stuff, pick one of the two remaining answers just in case you run out of time later, mark the question and move on.
**Mark all questions you are not sure about.** I actually had two lists: I marked the ones I was really unsure about, and then I kept a second list in my booklet of questions I wanted to come back to if I still had time after going through the marked questions. I managed to get through both lists - barely.
Around question 75-100 you should start getting into a groove. By the time you go back to the marked questions you'll have gotten the hang of how the exam works. Those questions that freaked you out will make sooo much more sense the second time around. Usually there was a word in the exam that made one of the answers more right than the other, and I could not see it the first time around, but it was really obvious the second time around. I changed about a third of the answers (23/65) the second time around, and finished with 3 minutes to spare. I did not have time to take a break.
Ask for a physical calculator before the exam starts. It's much easier to use than the one on the computer.
I recommend doing your braindump at the beginning of the exam. You will get a two-page booklet (4 sides, folded). If you want more paper you have to give up the entire booklet, so make sure you write small so you can keep your braindump. Also, write your braindump on the INSIDE of the booklet (page 2 of 4), so you can use page 3 side-by-side with your braindump without having to flip pages.
The first 50-75 questions seemed really vague to me, and often I could swear there were two right answers and I could not pick between them. Don’t freak out! Cross out the two wrong answers, highlight the important stuff, pick one of the two remaining answers just in case you run out of time later, mark the question and move on.
**Mark all questions you are not sure about.** I actually had two lists: I marked the ones I was really unsure about, and then I kept a second list in my booklet of questions I wanted to come back to if I still had time after going through the marked questions. I managed to get through both lists - barely.
Around question 75-100 you should start getting into a groove. By the time you go back to the marked questions you'll have gotten the hang of how the exam works. Those questions that freaked you out will make sooo much more sense the second time around. Usually there was a word in the exam that made one of the answers more right than the other, and I could not see it the first time around, but it was really obvious the second time around. I changed about a third of the answers (23/65) the second time around, and finished with 3 minutes to spare. I did not have time to take a break.
GOOD LUCK!
This is completely doable in under a month if you treat it like a full time job (8+ hours a day). I passed with AT/AT/AT/AT/T.
