A Few Summary Thoughts from Raj

I found this study group to be invaluable in preparing and studying for the PMP. I passed just yesterday, and Debra passed a couple of weeks ago. I'm a Mom with 2 kids and a full time job, so it was really hard to find quiet study time, and stay motivated :-)

Here are some of my comments, especially if you want to form your own study group:

1. Commitment: Submit your application and schedule exams within a few weeks
   of joining. This makes for a group of committed people.
   
2. Set up a blog/newsgroup to capture action items("homework"), tips (from this
   group for example)
   
3. We started out meeting at the local Starbucks, but a local library with study
   rooms (Santa Clara, Cupertino) worked out great for us.
   
4. Pick the book/s you are going to study from.
   
   • We used Kim Heldman as a base.
     
   • Every week, we individually studied a chapter from Heldman which
     covered a few chapters/section from the PMBOK.
     
   • During the group session, we'd quiz each other on definitions.
     
   • Heldman has 20 review questions at the end of each chapter, which we'd attempt to answer, and go over the material on questions that we got wrong.


5. Other helpful resources
   
• If you've invested in Mulcahy, she has many more questions on each knowledge area/process group.
  
• The PMPCert yahoo group has a Files section with some extremely helpful documentation, review questions.
  
6. After going through all the chapters, we did the bonus exam questions (There are 4 bonus exams on the Heldman CD)
   

I did a lot of the assessment reviews on my own as well, especially in the two weeks leading up to the exam.

Good luck!
Raj