Hi everyone! I just want to share a career update and hopefully I can provide some guidance to anyone who needs some support during this time trying to find a job.

I’ve spent the majority of my career in public education, about 11 years total. I have been a special education, professional, a teacher, a special education, teacher, special education coordinator, and I rose all the way up to my districts office. I eventually left the public space and went to a private company only to be laid off within five months. My period of unemployment lasted over nine months and it’s the first time I’ve ever been let go from a job in my life. As you can imagine, this was one of the most depressed I’ve ever been and even calls me to start taking medication. I eventually found a job back in a public education space and went on to work for a nonprofit after that role.

As you can imagine, none of these roles were paying me anywhere near six figures. Being in education for the majority of my career also had me insecure about transitioning to a different career path. On top of that I was struggling financially, and living check to check. That’s why I decided to pursue my PMP in October 2025. I took the test in February and passed on my first try ( score wasn’t great but it doesn’t matter). I have been on an intense job hunt since February with multiple ghosting after multiple rounds of interviews, and hundreds, if not thousands, of applications sent.

I secured a lucrative salary with a large private company recently! I just want to let you know that you should stay persistent. You will find what you need. It will be very difficult and I’ve been in your shoes before, but persistence is what will lead to your success!

Feel free to ask me any questions about how I found jobs and got interviews. Thank you to the sub for helping me during my PMP prep.

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you for all the help and support this community provides to PMP exam applicants.

I passed the PMP exam yesterday with 3 ATs. I wanted to share what I did to prepare and hopefully help others who are getting ready for the exam.

My preparation

I started with Andrew Ramdayal's 35-hour Udemy course. After that, I watched—and mostly listened to—his YouTube video on the PMP mindset more than 10 times. I really tried to absorb and understand each of the mindset principles rather than just memorize them.

After completing the 35-hour course and getting my PMI application approved, I purchased Study Hall (SH).

I started with the mini exams and scored anywhere from 50% to 100%, with an average of around 80%.

Then I completed the 240 practice questions:

• First attempt: 64%
• After reviewing all my incorrect answers, I completed all 240 questions again: 77%

After that, I took the three full-length mock exams and scored:

64% → 72% → 81%

I reviewed all three mock exams, including both my correct and incorrect answers. I think this was one of the most useful parts of my preparation because I wanted to understand why an answer was correct, not just whether I got it right.

I also watched some random PMP YouTube videos along the way, but my main resources were AR's course/mindset videos and PMI Study Hall.

My exam day experience

My real exam was much easier compared to the Study Hall mock exams. I would say the difficulty was closest to my third SH mock exam.

I got my first break after the first 40 questions and my second break after question 110.

Questions 2–11 were case studies. I actually didn't even read the cases, not even a single sentence—I jumped straight to the questions.

One thing I noticed during the real exam was that, for probably 80% of the questions, I could easily eliminate two answer choices. That made the decision between the remaining two much easier.

For time management, I tried not to spend more than about 1 minute and 10 seconds per question. Because of this, I had a pretty comfortable and stress-free experience during the last 80 questions. I finished the exam with about 18 minutes remaining.

I flagged several questions for review along the way, but in the end, I didn't review any of them. I trusted my initial answers and kept moving.

Overall, at least in my experience, the real exam was honestly nothing like what I had built it up to be in my head. If you understand the PMP mindset and can work through and understand the Study Hall questions, not expert ones, I think you'll be fine on exam day.

Also, English is my third language, so sometimes it took me a little longer just to understand what was happening in a question. This was especially noticeable toward the end of each section when my brain was tired and wasn't "translating" as quickly anymore. Even with that, I was able to manage the time comfortably.

All in all, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected, and nothing close to what I had imagined before the exam.

Good luck to everyone preparing, and thank you again to everyone in this community for all the help and support!

Long story ahead, but I had to put this out there.
A huge shoutout to u/Thatbidababe for your post (link). When I got that devastating email, your post gave me the exact game plan and sanity check I needed.

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TLDR: I passed my PMP back in February, but out of nowhere, got hit with a score revocation 5 months later in July. After fighting it through a structured appeal, I successfully got my certification fully reinstated. Sharing my story and playbook here so anyone in the same boat knows you CAN get it overturned, don’t just roll over and take it.

Here’s how everything went down and how I got my cert back.

1. The Setup & Exam Day (Mid-Feb 2026)

Prepped for about two weeks since I already had project management experience under my belt (obviously prep time is different for everyone). I wanted to take it as soon as I finished prepping, but physical test centers were booked solid for weeks, so I opted for online from an empty office at my former company.

I took zero chances with the room: LITERALLY just a bare desk, an office chair, and my laptop. Total test time was around 200 minutes. During the 10-minute break, I didn't even leave my seat, just rested my eyes for like 30 to 60 seconds right in front of the webcam. Two days later, boom: Passed with 3A.

I figured that was that. Done deal for the next 3 years.

2. The Shock (Mid-July, 2026 - 5 Months In)

Fast-forward five full months. I get this gut punch from PMI Integrity:

"During that process, irregularities were identified in connection with the administration of your PMP® exam. Irregularities can occur for various reasons, including but not limited to advance exposure to exam content or potential misconduct... Based on the review, we regret to inform you that your exam score has been canceled."

They marked it as a fail, said I could pay out of pocket to retake it, but ONLY in-person. I was furious and confused. I did everything by the book, had zero warnings from the proctor, and they slap me with this? Digging around online, tons of folks had the same case, but almost nobody posted a successful appeal, until I came across Thatbidababe’s post.

3. What I Did

I drew a lot of inspiration from Thatbidababe's post, and they were a huge help throughout the process. Realized I needed to overwhelm PMI with real, tangible proof of my baseline knowledge and legit study path.

Step 1: The Online Appeal Form

The web form doesn't let you attach anything, so I laid out the raw facts:

• Pacing: Spent around 200 minutes total (roughly 1+ min per question), proving I actually read and reasoned through every single prompt.
• Clean Session: Zero proctor flags, totally stripped-down room, and invited them to pull the webcam recording(which I believe they recorded).
• Review Flags: Actively flagged questions and revisited them, showing normal human decision-making instead of mindless clicking.
• Baseline Credentials: Backed up by my Master's degree(not PM related) and my PSPO I certification.
• Legit Prep: TIA 35 contact hours, PMI Study Hall, mentorship from a certified PMP colleague, and David McLachlan’s videos.
• I even tried asking my former company to pull the office CCTV footage to prove I never left the room & no one entered the room, but it had already been wiped.

Step 2: The Direct Email (revocationcerts@pmi.org)

Do not rely just on the web form. I put together a PDF bundle and sent it straight to their inbox:

• Bachelor's, Master's, and full transcript (clean academic integrity record)
• PSPO I certificate
• TIA 35 contact hours certificate
• Official PMI Study Hall purchase invoice
• Pearson VUE exam booking confirmation
• Current PM employment letter and updated resume

I had no idea what they would consider, so I just threw every single document I had at them, not even knowing which ones would be useful, just to prove my case. Sent it off, and silence. Not even an automated reply(Both appeal form and the email).

4. The 6-Week Limbo & The Update (End of August, 2026)

The first couple of weeks were brutal. I even told myself if they rejected it, I was done with PMI for good, couldn't stand the thought of handing over cash just to get burned again months later.

End of Aug, sitting at the 6-week mark, I sent a polite follow-up email asking for a status check.

Literally 15 minutes later, this lands in my inbox:

"Following a thorough review of the information available to us, we have determined that your examination score from the session held in February 2026 is valid. Accordingly, your certification will be reinstated, and your PMI record will reflect continuous certification status from the original date of issuance. Please allow 7 business days for these changes to appear..."

They validated the score, fully reinstated it, and kept my continuous status!

5. Takeaways

• DO NOT TAKE IT AT HOME: Seriously, just book a physical test center. Skip the headache entirely.
• If you're innocent, fight it: Don't just suck it up and pay for a retake.
• Send the proofs: Hit them on both the appeal form AND email with actual proof.

Still waiting on the portal to show valid within the 7 business days, but man, what a relief. Hope this helps anyone stuck in the same nightmare right now. Last but not least, I want to thank Thatbidababe once again. If it weren't for their post, I honestly wouldn't have known what to do. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

Sending a quick thank you to everyone who posted their experiences on this thread. It helped me SO MUCH with my PMP prep and seeing everyone's feedback and congratulations message to each other was so motivating.

I'm a working professional, wife, mom of 2 toddlers, and needless to say I had a goal to get this cert done and I kept pushing it off because life happens. It took me 3 months of on and off studying to get certified.

My post is to motivate any working professional with kids and not a lot of time on their hands! It's possible. So sharing my tips for all the working parents out there who have this cert in their life list and need that extra motivation.

1. First I hope you have a supportive network that can help babysit/entertain the kids so you can take your mock exams. If not, it's okay you can still do it, just need to be creative with your time. :)

2. The exam prep materials are all so expensive (e.g. bootcamps). I used Udemy David Mclachlan and was fortunate to purchase his course when he was giving out discounts. His cliff notes summary of key concepts for 7th and 8th edition was so helpful to simplify key concepts and I read through them before the exam as my final review after reviewing my wrong answers thoroughly. I listened to his videos while doing chores, commuting, and lunch breaks at work.

3. I also borrowed so many PMP prep books from the library, which also provided TONS of mock tests. Although they were on older PMBOK, like 5th or 6th edition, it was still helpful and can be used to supplement your studying if you're on a budget.

4. I did purchase study hall. I downloaded that app on every device in my home: my kids tablets, my husband's phone, my phone, etc. Whenever there was any down time at home, in the car ride, waiting in line, I would quickly do a mini exam or shuffle through the practice exam questions. I would challenge myself to try and finish a mini in 10 min and score well. Everywhere I went, the Study hall app went with me and I squeezed the study hall time where I could in between family and kids life tasks. Taking all the tests was what helped me more than the videos for the actual prep.

5. Not for everyone but I did notecards too because I try not to have too much screentime myself in front of the kids so i made notecards for the areas I was weak in and would pull them out when I couldn't use/didn't want to use my phone or tablet.

6. To avoid procrastinating or pushing off studying the first thing I did after I got my application approved was to book my test! I held myself accountable to that date and made sure my family was aware of it too and they can give me the space. I also set early expectations with my spouse so he could accommodate my study where feasible (aka he drives while I take mini exams in the passenger seat).

Good luck you can do it! ☺️

Just a heads up they announced that they are shutting down.

https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/pm-prepcast-closing-faq

I took the PMP exam on 08/31 at the center, and by the end of the exam, I was presented with a sheet of paper that says: PASS and Above Target for all three domains.

I officially studied for two weeks before my exam. I did it in this order to help me really understand the PMP mindset and apply it over and over again.

1) Looked at the 23 PMP mindset video from Muhammed and the 50 PMP principles from Andrew R. I wrote these PMP mindsets down and made sure to always refer to them when I was working on questions/the mock exams.

2) I studied the difference between Traditional vs Agile vs Hybrid approaches. I made sure I was aware of key terms that would help me differentiate between the two. For example: iterative is used for Agile; WBS is used for Traditional. I really wanted to understand - and grateful I did - because I had a few questions that purposely included Traditional approach answers for an Agile problem.

3) I purchased the Study Hall Essential. I went through the Mock Exam #1 - HOWEVER. I did use my resources (PMP mindset doc) to go through it. It helped me see how the questions were asked, but also allowed me to apply the mindset to the answers. I studied anything I got wrong.

4) I did the mini exams and the practice questions WITHOUT my resources to test my mindset and memory. I would consistently get 80% or higher on those.

5) The day before, in the morning, I took the 2nd Mock Exam (not using my resources) and scored 77%. Not bad, and the only ones I got wrong were expert questions (I had quite a few) , so I made sure to study them. I didn't use AI to help.

6) Day of exam, looked over my notes one last time. Then head off to the center, ate some chick-fil-a, sang in the car, and told myself that "even if I fail, I am grateful to have the opportunity to take the exam!"

THE EXAM:

I won't lie... I thought the exam was kind of challenging for me. I did have some easy questions, but the majority I thought were Moderate/Difficult. I had two drag and drop, some matrix questions, no calculations, and quite a few pick 2 or 3 options. My two breaks - one started after question 50, and the second started after question 95. So that was a great pace!

I thought I had failed, but when I walked out of the testing room, the lady asked for my name and ID and called me a rockstar 🫶. I legit cried driving home because I was incredibly proud of myself!!

IN SHORT:

Study the PMP mindset, review your wrong answers, give yourself grace, and just go for it! You'll do great!

Some of these answers are contradictory

Just passed my PMP exam today with AT/T/AT (Above Target / Target / Above Target), and I wanted to share my experience since this sub helped me a lot along the way — even if some of it also made me more anxious than I needed to be.

My prep resources

I used Andrew Ramdayal's (AR) 35-hour Udemy course as my main prep, plus his mock exam and the separate set of 4 mocks titled "720 Questions" on Udemy. I also used Claude as a study assistant to help me break down and understand how to read tricky charts, and to organize new terminology into clear categories (like diagrams, analysis procedures, sampling techniques, and quality tools).

I finished the main course in 20 days from the beginning of August using exactly the timeline that Andrew suggested. I took the last 11 days of the month doing the 5 mocks (the one at the end of the course and the 4 in his 720 questions). Specifically, I did one mock, then a day off, then a mock and a day off, then took a mock in two full days, then a day off, and a final full mock before scheduling my exam. So ya, all it takes is one month.

That's it — I did not use Study Hall at all. I didn't have the mental capacity or the budget for it, and honestly, I think it's possible to pass without it if you commit to what you do use.

Thoughts on the AR course

The main 35-hour course itself is solid. It's the 4 "720 Questions" mocks you need to watch out for — there are some mistakes in those, so pay attention and don't take every answer at 100% face value.

A lot of the material will also sound ridiculous at first. He'll frame a straightforward project management scenario in a weird way — like instead of just saying "you're the project manager," he'll say you're a chef in a kitchen trying to figure out a new recipe. Some of it genuinely doesn't make logical sense on the surface. But once you actually study and absorb his mindset, you start to understand why he writes questions that way — it's testing whether you can extract the actual PM concept regardless of how it's dressed up. It clicked for me, and honestly his mindset approach is what got me through most of the actual exam questions, even the ambiguous ones.

On Reddit anxiety (a warning)

I'll be real — reading a ton of posts on this sub about needing to prep "the right way" made me incredibly anxious. I was crying almost every day leading up to the exam because I felt like I wasn't doing enough or doing it correctly. Eventually I got fed up with the spiral and just scheduled the exam. That decision alone helped more than any extra studying would have at that point.

Mock scores (and why I stayed skeptical)

My 5 mock scores were: 79%, 83%, 59%, 70%, 75%. That inconsistency made me pretty skeptical of myself going into the real thing — I had no idea what to actually expect from my performance. But at the end of the day, I had been studying for a full month straight without enough sleep or rest, and I was done. I had to take the exam and just push for it.

Mocks vs. the real exam

AR's mocks were harder than the actual exam, in my opinion. His mocks go deep into technical specifics — asking you to recall process orders, or name a specific analysis technique (like sensitivity analysis, or reading a specific diagram). Rarely showed up in my exam, maybe in one question.

That said, I don't think the mocks were wasted effort — they force you to actually understand how each process/tool is used in context, so when the real exam references one indirectly, you already know what's going on and what the right move is. It's prep for the underlying understanding, not necessarily 1:1 question style.

Exam day

The real exam was, for me: not hard, not easy — right in the middle, and definitely easier than AR's mocks.

I was honestly terrible with time management the whole time I was studying — but on exam day itself, I finished 50 minutes early. I used both scheduled breaks. In the 3rd section, I had flagged 11 questions to revisit, and I took about 20 calm minutes at the end to go back through them, and I still finished the whole exam roughly 30 minutes ahead of time.

A few things that helped, and that I'd genuinely recommend:

- Schedule your exam for a time of day when you're mentally most active — don't just pick a slot because it's available.
Sleep well the night before. Don't sacrifice sleep to cram.

- Did not study nor do anything for the two days before the exam, I just rested because I had enough studying the whole month.

- Eat something healthy and a little sugary before you go in — you need the energy.
Use your breaks. Take both of them — don't push through just to save time.

- Expect a slow, nervous start. At the very beginning you might feel shaky and move slower than usual — that's normal. By around question 20, you'll settle back into your needed pace.

- Pace yourself deliberately: go in at full mental capacity for roughly the first 100–120 questions, and consciously save some extra time for the last 40–60, plus a calm review pass for anything you flagged. Your focus and mental energy naturally start dropping by that point, so you'll want the extra buffer there rather than needing it early on.

Final result

I passed with AT/T/AT, and honestly I'm still not 100% sure how. I worked a lot off instinct/gut sense during the exam, but looking back, I think I was applying the AR mindset almost automatically in nearly every question — including the ambiguous ones — without fully realizing it in the moment.

Happy to answer any questions if it helps anyone else going through this right now. It's a hard process, but it's doable without Study Hall and without perfect calm the whole way through.

I am planning to start prepping for PMP soon. Over the last 4 years, my work can easily be considered project management. However, I did not have a good relationship with my manager there due to some misunderstandings, and when I was asked to leave the company due to restructuring, I asked my manager to act as a referee for my future roles, but she kind of replied in a way that communicated she wouldn't give me a good recommendation. Now I am not sure I would like to list her as my manager to endorse my project management work for the PMP. I am a bit lost on how to proceed. I would appreciate any pointers to help me navigate through this.

I'm a Marketing PM who'd been sitting on the PMP for years now. I applied last September, life happened and I decided to take it when I realized my application was about to lapse. I got in touch with Kris, PMP at Third3Rock PMP for support with his study guide. I exclusively used Kris' study guide materials to pass. I found his guide to be very clear and to the point with helpful tips and tricks throughout. He highlights the mindset, methods, terminology etc. in a way that helped me to connect my real world experience with PMI language so that I had confidence in my answers.

Experience + 35hr course + 2.5 day study crunch on Kris' guide got it done. 10/10 would recommend.

Just wanted to share my experience and say thank you to everyone in this community. Reading other people's PMP journeys, study plans, and exam experiences was incredibly helpful and gave me confidence going into the exam.

I passed the PMP exam with AT/AT/AT and studied for about 4 weeks.

I didn't take a PMP prep course because I had already completed project management courses as part of my Master's curriculum back in 2008, and PMI accepted those education hours.

My primary study resources were:

• PMI Study Hall Plus
• Mohammed Rahman - [CRASH COURSE] Full PMP Mindset Training + Workbook
• Andrew Ramdayal - Complete PMP Mindset: 50 Principles and Questions
• Andrew Ramdayal - PMP Ultra Hard Questions (I only made it through about 105 questions)
• 110 PMBOK 8th Edition Questions and Answers - Pass Your PMP and Learn the PMBOK Guide
• The PMP Cheat Sheet (2026 Exam) - Check This to See if You're Ready for the Exam

For Study Hall, I focused mainly on practice questions and mock exams:

• Practice Questions: 69%
• Mock Exam 1: 67%
• Mock Exam 2: 71%
• Mock Exam 3: 86%
• Practice Exams including Mini Exams Overall: 80%

One thing that helped a lot was reviewing every incorrect answer from the mock exams. As suggested by many people in this group, I used Copilot to help me understand why I got questions wrong and to reinforce the PMP mindset.

As for the actual exam, I found it easier than Study Hall. I never felt overwhelmed or like I was going to panic during the test. If you're consistently scoring around the range I was, I'd say you're probably in a good position.

Thanks again to everyone here for sharing your experiences, study strategies, and encouragement. It made a real difference in my preparation.

Good luck to everyone preparing for the exam. You've got this! 💪

Hey everyone, I finished my exam a couple of hours ago and got AT/AT/AT I wanted to share my experience because this subreddit helped me a lot, and I also made one mistake that made the exam way more stressful than it needed to be.

For preparation, I took Andrew Ramdayal’s course, which took me exactly a month. I did his mock exam, around 1.5 other mock exams on Udemy, and watched random PMP videos on YouTube here and there.

So here’s what happened: my first language is Arabic, but all my studies and PMP preparation were in English. I’m completely comfortable doing everything in English, but since it’s not my mother tongue, sometimes I need a second to understand a specific word.
So I was confused about which language to choose for the exam. I read online that if I choose Arabic, I can still switch the questions to English using the translation button. I thought perfect, I’ll choose Arabic and do the whole exam in English and only switch back to Arabic if there’s one word I don’t understand.
Then the exam started and I got the biggest shock 😮
The case studies and graphs couldn’t be translated into English. They only appeared in Arabic. I read them and honestly I didn’t understand a thing because I had never studied PM terminology in Arabic, and the translation itself was bad!.
So basically the first 10–15 questions were a disaster for me. I barely understood some of them and it completely stressed me out from the beginning.
For the rest of the questions it was fine because I could switch them to English, and I barely needed the Arabic after that.

But even then, the exam was honestly BRUTAL. On most questions I wasn’t sure at all. I was constantly stuck between two answers and just trying to figure out which one was slightly more correct.
I finished the exam convinced I failed. Like genuinely. I was already thinking about when I should retake it and what I need to study differently next time.
Then I checked the early results link that people shared here and BOOM…
AT/AT/AT
I swear I still can’t believe it. I felt unsure about probably 90% of the exam and somehow ended up Above Target in all three 😂😭 I still don’t understand how this happened but I’ll gladly take it.

Hi all! I’m starting my PMP prep and wondering how you all handled this. I manage projects for my current employer but am not a project manager by title. I want to pivot to a new industry and get my PMP. Told my boss I want to do project management as part of professional development and use the company funding for it. Told them it will add value to our work, which it will but also give me the certificate to take elsewhere. I’m worried if they see just the exam fee they’ll realize I just want the certificate and probably want to leave. How do you motivate to use your professional development stipend for this if your job doesn’t require you to be certified? Thanks!

I passed the PMP today with AT/AT/AT, and I wanted to share a few things from my experience that might help anyone currently preparing.

I originally took the exam online on July 4. About three hours into the exam, my computer suddenly shut down. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish, and Pearson VUE would not replace the attempt because technical failures when testing online can fall under the candidate's responsibility. I ultimately had to pay again to take the exam.

Because I had experienced several issues with the OnVUE application, I decided not to take the risk again. Even though I have an IT-related background and I'm comfortable with computers and troubleshooting, I took my second attempt in person at a testing center. Based on my experience, I would seriously consider doing the same if you have any concerns about your setup or OnVUE.

How I studied

My main resource was Andrew Ramdayal's Udemy PMP course.

I also used PMI Study Hall and completed the two full-length mock exams that are currently available and are supposed to be updated on September 4.

My Study Hall full-length scores were:

Mock 1: 71%
Mock 2: 60%

I also practiced with Andrew's full-length Udemy exam.

The biggest thing I would emphasize is the mindset. Understanding how PMI expects you to approach a situation was much more useful to me than trying to memorize every possible concept or question.

About Study Hall scores

I would not use your Study Hall score alone to decide whether you're ready.

I scored 71% and then 60%, and I still passed the real exam AT/AT/AT. But I would not interpret that as "60% is enough."

Take your scores seriously. Review your mistakes, identify weak areas, and understand why you got questions wrong.

At the same time, don't panic just because you're not scoring 80%+.

In my case, Study Hall was very useful as a learning tool, but the percentage itself was not a perfect predictor of my final result.

How difficult was the real exam?

I wouldn't call it easy.

There were moments during the exam when I genuinely thought I might not pass. At the same time, I didn't find it as difficult as some of the Study Hall questions.

So I wouldn't go into the exam overconfident, but I also wouldn't let Study Hall destroy your confidence.

What I would recommend

Take your time.

Between my first attempt and my second attempt, I had almost two months. I studied consistently but pretty "chill." I wasn't spending every waking hour studying or trying to memorize the entire PMBOK.

Andrew's course, Study Hall, practice exams, reviewing mistakes, and really understanding the PMP mindset were enough for me.

My biggest advice would be:

Don't underestimate the exam, but don't overcomplicate it either.

Study the material, understand the mindset, review your mistakes, and use Study Hall as a diagnostic and learning tool rather than treating the score as a prediction of whether you'll pass.

My Study Hall scores were 71% and 60%.

My actual result was AT/AT/AT.

Hopefully this gives some perspective to anyone stressing over their Study Hall scores.

Wishing everyone preparing for the PMP the best of luck. Trust your preparation, take your time, and keep learning from your mistakes.

Hi all,

I am in a situation where I would want to pass the PMP just in 2 days (Friday evening- Most likely). I have prepared for project management in general during my time at university and then i have done few online classes in recent times.

I want to prepare and pass pmp exam in 2 days, i think i can do that since i have the basics in place but if you have any structured methods or ways to do this then please let me know. And I would also appreciate if there is a way i can get a feel for the real exam and the types of questions they ask.

Please dont hate me for asking this, there is a reason i am planning to do this.

Thank you in advance!

This is my first ever Reddit post lol I’ve been lurking here for MONTHS trying to gather all the resources and tools to retake the PMP after I failed it in March. I'm so grateful for this subreddit because without the knowledge I gained here, I wouldn't have done so well! Thank you all for engaging with each post and giving tips and tricks for us to follow!

Context on why I failed the first time: I took the CAPM in 2020 and passed easily. I foolishly thought the PMP would be just as easy so I didn't watch any mindset videos, didn't do any practice questions and based my studying solely off the AR 35-hour Udemy course. Big mistake. I failed NI/BT/AT.

Resources I Used/How I Studied

1. Andrew Ramdayal's 35-hour Udemy course
   • I watched all the videos over a 4-week period and made notecards while watching.
   • I did not watch the updated course for the new exam.
   • This course was helpful for giving me a basic understanding of what the PMP exam would entail and building a foundation. That being said, in my personal experience, the course covered a LOT more information than I actually encountered on the exam.
2. Study Hall Plus
   • GAME CHANGER! MUST PURCHASE! This was what I think helped me pass AT/AT/AT.
   • I did all 240 practice questions and all mini exams.
     • Practice questions results: 78% People, 73% Process, 75% Business Environment
     • Practice exam results: 80% average
     • Every single question I got wrong I put into ChatGPT to get an explanation as to why my answer was incorrect. I pay $20 a month for ChatGPT so I didn't hit the limit on the number of questions I could ask it. I definitely got my money's worth.
   • I DID NOT DO A SINGLE FULL-LENGTH MOCK EXAM. I went back and forth on this decision because I constantly saw recommendations to complete at least one (and sometimes several) full mock exams before test day. I have pretty severe ADHD and the thought of voluntarily sitting through a 4-hour practice exam was incredibly overwhelming to me. Instead, I focused heavily on practice questions and shorter exams. This allowed me to study in smaller, more manageable chunks while still getting exposure to a large number of PMP-style questions.
3. Third3Rock Notes
   • https://third3rockpmp.com/
   • u/third3rock
   • These notes are what really took my studying to the next level. I saw many people on this subreddit mention them so I decided to purchase. I am so glad I did!
   • The doc might seem intimidating at first because there's a lot of pages but there are a bunch of visuals, graphics, charts and diagrams throughout the notes. This was especially helpful for me because I retain information much better when I can actually see how concepts relate to each other rather than just reading paragraph after paragraph of information.
   • I scrolled through each page of the notes and looked at the red section titles. If I saw a topic that I knew I struggled with or wanted to understand better, I would stop and read further into that section.
   • You can tell Kris (third3rock) put a ton of time and effort into creating and perfecting these notes. They're incredibly detailed and organized while still making the information feel approachable. It genuinely feels like they were created by someone who understands how overwhelming the amount of PMP material can be and wanted to make it easier for other people to digest.
4. ChatGPT
   • As I mentioned above, I used ChatGPT as a study tool to help me understand every practice question I got wrong. Instead of just reading the Study Hall explanation and moving on, I wanted to understand why I chose the wrong answer, why the correct answer was better and what PMP mindset or principle I was missing.
   • My process was pretty simple: after answering a question in Study Hall, I would copy and paste the full question and all of the answer choices into ChatGPT and ask it to break the question down for me. I found this especially helpful for those questions where two answers seemed correct because ChatGPT could explain the subtle difference between the "good" answer and the best PMI answer.
     • One important note: ChatGPT did occasionally choose a different answer than Study Hall. When that happened, I would copy and paste Study Hall's official answer and explanation into the chat and ask ChatGPT to explain the reasoning behind it.
   • For every question I struggled with, I had ChatGPT boil the lesson down into a short "mindset" takeaway. By the end of my studying, I had about 3–4 pages of these mindset notes. What made them so valuable was that they were completely tailored to my weak spots. Rather than reviewing a generic list of PMP principles, I was reviewing the specific concepts and thought processes that had caused me to miss questions during practice.

Mindset

It took me awhile to finally understand what everyone was saying by "once you get the mindset, it gets easier". I kept repeating these items to myself as I answered each question:

• What is the root cause?
• Assess - Analyze - Act
• Gather - Understand - Do

You've Got This!

I was feeling so discouraged after failing the first time in March but I continued to scroll through this subreddit to feel less alone about my struggles. One of the biggest things I learned during this process was that your study plan has to work for YOU. I stopped worrying so much about checking every box in someone else's study plan and focused on the methods that actually helped me learn and retain the material. For me, that meant lots of shorter practice sessions, reviewing my mistake and saving my one 4-hour marathon for the actual PMP exam.

If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. I fought with myself almost every single day to make time to study. There were entire weeks where I probably studied 2–3 hours total. And you know what? That's okay! You do not have to have the perfect study schedule to pass this exam. What mattered more for me was making the time I did spend studying count. Give yourself some grace throughout this process. This exam is hard! Find what works for you, keep going and trust that those small study sessions add up.

You don't have to study perfectly. You just have to keep coming back.

I have been leading marketing projects for a university for over 50 years. Due to hr complications, my title was not “project manager”. However, my daily duties included leading marketing projects through the marketing department, determining scope, coordinating with appropriate teammates to assure projects were completed on time, within budget and met the needs of the end user. We used an internally created tracking process to assign tasks until completion. Or department has undergone significant changes, I have a new supervisor and have the job title “project manager”. I told my supervisor I was interested in getting my PMP and she stated that since I have no experience, I should start with working toward a CAPM. I have a four year degree and believe I have met the min requirement for leading projects. I’d love to hear feedback!

How to get the 35 hours for qualification? Is there a mandatory using the PMP institute or any other resources applicable? Also are there free resources for the same? Any idea to dive in, please.

My exam is coming up - I've been using PMI Study Hall - here are my stats

practice questions are attached
my practice exams are attached

I'm thinking to take some practice exams as final things - thoughts?

I am so excited and thrilled that I did it!! Thanks to all of y'alls tips and tricks, pass/fail stories, this is FINALLY behind me!!

I took the exam on 6/22/26 and was given a fail. I didnt want to push it and try again ambefore the change on 7/9/26, so I waited it out.

I took the exam this morning 8/31/26 and earn myself that lovely PASS!!

I used Andrew Ramdayal's 30 day PMP Study Plan with the newly integrated information for the updated exam. He might not be for everyone, but it really helped me. He just explained it in a better for me to understand way. I had previously taken a live class through my work that was great prior to the update, but I just didnt learn it quite as well...obviously 😅

I studied hard, wore my blue, and earned my reward! Good luck to everyone out there!!! 🎉🎉🎉

My first SH mock test 64%, I had missed 20 questions in first section, because of the time limit. But later I improved my time and in the second mock test I got 69%
Most of the questions I got wrong were expert level. I’ve reviewed them thoroughly.

The mini tests I’m at 80-90% each.

I’ve been watching AR videos (mindset and ultra hard questions) I’m a little nervous about my readiness.

Do you think I’ll be ok in the real exam?

passed my PMP today

What do you think about new experience? PMI Study Hall

I bought Joseph Philips PMP course a few months ago. It's not for the 2026 updated. Is it work completing this or should I look for an updated course?

Hi all,

I did the PMP application last night. I watched AR video on how to apply. But i have messed up with one thing. In the video AR shows to explicitly give titles of 5 phases and then write duties for them. Also, his duties were written in first person.

What i did in my application was i used the 5 phases but just blend them into paragraphs and not separately showed them. Also I didn’t use “I” in my duties, i said “managed project, led project, collaborated” and all that things.

Should i reopen and change it?

Thank you in advance!