finally scheduled my PMP!

universalfrost

well, i put in my package for pmp eligibility back in December and got the thumbs up at the same time... been studying on and off not so seriously since late march and only recently really got motivated.

here is the big wrench in my plans. I recently got picked up for a 6 month deployment to afghanistan that will run past my original 1 year deadline for taking the cert (would have been perfect to have the deployment end a month or two before the end of the 1 year period for taking the cert).

anyway I quickly read through RITA's book and have the "pass the pmp on your fist try" collection as well (comes with cd's book, flash cards, access to onsite website, and a quick reference card)... i also picked up the head first book, but it was worthless to me...

my big hurdle is getting used to some of the PMI'ism's and also memorizing RITA's processes as i have not always done all of them and especially in the right order.

the test is set of 16 July and I am going to finish cramming the last month... so far i have been barely passing RITA's practice exams, but i know what I need to study.

any info or input from past test takers is a plus..... i am working on getting the EV down pat and memorizing all the inputs/outputs for each process.....

powerfool

Wow! Best wishes on it. I need to take my exam by the end of July. I have a progress thread in the new Project Management forum that seems to be getting very little progress. I am trying to study while also going to school part-time... not a good combination, but I don't have much of a choice if I don't want to waste the money I have already invested. Let me know how it goes.

N2IT

Best of luck!

demonfurbie

may the force be with you ....*grumbles* n2it said what i was gonna say

N2IT

Hehe I like "May the force be with you"!

Trade you

Hypntick

My understanding of this was PMPin' ain't easy...

jlhct

"memorizing all the inputs/outputs for each process..... "

This is what helped me out a lot!

It sounds like you have a good study plan going - good luck!

universalfrost

i actually found RITA's processes game to be annoying and way too many.... I found some slides on slideshare that had all the processes laid out in a logical order and I have been studying that. also on PMZILLA i found a link to another site that has inputs/outputs/tools for each process and you have to determine whether they are Input, output or tools and for which process... really addictive and after i went through it a few times failing miserabbly I had the "light bulb" moment and started getting perfect scores....

for EV i found RITA's book to be confusing as all get out and the crowe book actually helped me out... I ended pu creating an earned value sheet with all the areas (BAC, EV, CV, VAC, etc...) and grouped them in orders that made sense to me and then created one master sheet that had the calculations and then another without the calculations... i printed out a few dozen copies of the one without the calculations and i have been going over that each day and filling in the calculation formulas.. so far it is working.. next is to mix it up a little and remove some of the abbreviations and see if I can remember which goes in what order. finally I will just create the EV list from scratch and attempt to get it done in a few minutes, so that during the 15 minute "free time" before the test while they are rambling about what the test format is , i can quickly jot down all the formulas and also the 42 processes plus the different charts/diagrams and what they are for....

on my second/3rd browse through RITS'a book and hitting the "tricks of the trade' sections plsu all my highlighted stuff and also areas I didn't do that well on in some of the knowledge area exams (only been hitting 25-35 ?'s per knowledge area at a time, eventually I will take the time to sit for a full 200 ? real exam)...

the crowe book puts me to sleep really quickly if read word for word, but if I just glance over areas I get more value out of it... only areas I read word for word without getting sleepy were the first couple chapters and the chapter on procurements as it had more "value" to me than the RITA book for that section.

i can't wait to sit for the exam and get it over with.... i have to read the rita at least 2 more times and memorize the processes and ITTO's for each process and get the EV's and charts/graphs memorized and I feel I will be able to pass easily. right now I could probably pass, but would be close and I don't like that feeling..... luckily i have adjusted my PM mindset to that of PMI, but i admit I will still get a few questions wrong just because I will most likely rush through them and knee jerk answer based upon my previous experience....

N2IT

Awesome keep grinding!

universalfrost

just passed!!!!!!

posted a new thread in the project section with lessons learned