Passed PMP even tho was sure I failed
I took my PMP exam on Thursday (online from home), and I wanted to share my experience because it might help someone else.
I spent about 3 months preparing using Andy Ramdayal's course and PMI Study Hall. On Study Hall, I was consistently scoring around 68–70% on the exams, so I wasn't going into the exam overly confident.
Unfortunately, the technical issues started before the exam even began.
About 30 minutes before my scheduled start time, I was trying to complete the check-in process, but the app kept deleting the photos of my desk/workspace. I spent around 15 minutes trying to upload them before switching to my laptop's webcam (which has terrible quality). Somehow that finally helped.
After that, I was taken to a black screen saying the exam would begin within 30 minutes. I waited for a while but eventually messaged the proctor just to confirm everything was okay. The proctor asked, "You don't see the questions?" I said no, and they quickly relaunched the exam. Thankfully, none of this counted against my exam time, but I was already pretty stressed before answering the first question.
The biggest surprise for me was the length of the questions. I know Study Hall questions can be long, but I thought the real exam questions would be shorter. During the mini exams I never really paid attention to timing, and on the full mock exams I actually felt the questions were shorter (I had 10 or 15 minutes reserve when I was practicing full mock exams, which I did 3) than what I saw on the real exam.
I rememember when I looked at the clock and realized I had about 60 questions left with only 55 minutes remaining. That's when I knew I was in trouble.
To make things worse, I got several formula/calculation questions near the end. I actually knew the formulas, but I simply didn't have enough time to work through them properly, so I had to make educated guesses and move on.
For the last 20–30 questions, I honestly didn't have time to read the full scenarios. I was mostly reading the answer choices and relying on the PMP mindset. Andy Ramdayal's mindset videos probably saved me at that point.
When I finished, I was convinced I had failed.
To my surprise... I passed! 🎉 My results were:
- People: Above Target
- Process: Below Target
- Business Environment: Target
It definitely wasn't the exam I expected, and it was much tougher than I had anticipated.
If you're preparing now, my advice would be:
- Practice managing your time just as much as answering questions correctly.
- Get comfortable making decisions quickly.
- Don't underestimate the value of the PMP mindset—it really can save you when you're running out of time.
Good luck to everyone preparing for the exam! I hope my experience helps someone feel a little more prepared.