A very surprising AT/AT/AT 🎉 with one-hour sleep!
I honestly didn't expect this result, especially AT in all 3 domains. Huge thanks to everyone in this subreddit for sharing your experiences and advice—it genuinely helped me throughout this journey with 2 months of study with work and family commitments.
So here is me paying back to the community with my experience.
Exam Day
One thing AR always says is "Exam anxiety is real." I didn't think it would affect me... until it did.
The day before the exam, I kept things light:
- Reviewed my notes
- Did a few Study Hall mini quizzes
- Stopped studying before dinner
- Relaxed with some Netflix
- Went to bed at 10 PM (exam was at 12 PM the next day)
...and then I barely slept. 😅 I think I managed about an hour before my alarm went off at 9 AM. At that point, all the negative thoughts started creeping in.
I got ready, had a heavy breakfast (and lots of caffeine ☕), arrived at the Pearson test center an hour early, splashed some cold water on my face, had one more coffee, and went in.
Thankfully, the adrenaline (and probably the caffeine) kept me focused for the entire exam.
My Exam Experience
- Agile and Hybrid were heavily tested
- 3 SPI/CPI questions - no calculations
- 1 Agile Burn-up chart question
- About 7–8 multiple-select questions
- No drag-and-drop questions
I finished with barely less than 2 minutes left at the last question.
Difficulty
Honestly... if you've built the PMP mindset, the exam is very manageable.
The questions were similar in style to Study Hall but generally shorter and more straightforward. The mindset alone helped me eliminate at least two (sometimes three!) wrong answers on many questions.
The multi-select questions took the most time.
I also followed the 230 / 155 / 80 countdown rule, which kept me on pace throughout the exam.
Around question 120**+**, fatigue kicked in, but I just kept reminding myself that i was almost done.
When I walked out of the room, the proctor handed me the result immediately... AT / AT / AT!
Needless to say, I was shocked (in the best way possible!).
Study Resources
- Study Hall Essentials (71% and 73% on Full Mock 1 & 2)
- Reviewed wrong answers with ChatGPT, prompting until I finally understood the logic.
- Andrew Ramdayal's 35 PDU Udemy course
- AR's YouTube videos (Mindset + Ultra Hard Questions)
- David McLachlan's YouTube (200 Agile, 150 PMBOK, Fast Track)
- Mohammed Rahman's 28 PMP Mindset Principles
- PMI PMP Podcast by BareMetalCyber (great for commutes)
My biggest advice?
For the exam don't spend all your time memorizing ITTOs or obscure definitions. Instead, master the PMP mindset.
Before choosing an answer, pause and think at which stage the scenario is currently at (Assess? Analyze? Evaluate?) and you will find the answer. Learn to differentiate at which stage does the scenario in the stem ends, and what action you should take next.
Assess → Analyze → Evaluate → Act
That simple sequence helped me avoid jumping to conclusions and made a huge difference in both Study Hall and the actual exam.
Good luck to everyone taking the exam before July 9th — you've got this! 💪