this book is very confusing and hard to understand. It is written from a scientific point of view. I used an exam simulation program at pmsimulation.com and passed the PMP exam. This worked so much better than studying from a book.

Andy Crowe's Book lives upto his promise. I did pass on the first try just relying on his book alone. It is an easy read and I managed to read the book twice within two weeks. Appeared for the PMP exam in the third week and passed PMP.

Though it is simple and great, I was not able to answer few questions on topics such as Delegation. If you want to score higher team up this book with some other material.

Again this book is great and less intensive in its content. A thorough reading of this book will assure you a pass in PMP examination.

I highly recommend this book. I also purchased the PMBOK, but only got about halfway through. Crowe's book broke it all down for me. I read the book once, did all of the questions in the book, and did the free trial on the Velociteach website. Additionally I borrowed Rita Mulcahy's book from a co-worker and did all of the end-of-chapter questions. I was kind of freaked out because I didn't do well on her questions, but when I reviewed what I got wrong, I usually didn't agree with her explanations. Anyway, Crowe's book is great and the online content was good too (just know that a lot of the questions are re-used).

I purchased Andy's book as well as the PMBOK in June, 2008 to study for my PMP exam in July, 2008. The book delivered on its title, since I was able to pass on the 1st try. This book does an excellent job of laying out exactly what to expect on the exam. PM can be a "dry" subject, but I felt that this book did a good job of presenting the material in a logical manner that made it easier to understand. Other reviewers suggest purchasing this book and the PMBOK together as a package and I agree. With both, I don't think you will have much trouble prepping for the exam. I was able to get through the book several times and used the PMBOK to shore up the presented subjects as needed. The language used in this book was clear, concise and presented in a welcoming manner. One negative is that there isn't a large question bank to accompany this book. If you are looking to get a lot of practice questions, I would add an additional reference to your purchace. I would have liked to have more practice questions, but I chose to review every question in the book and the practice exam and felt confortable taking the actual exam. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book and the strategy above as a means to get your PMP credential.

The book by itself was worth the money. It gave meaningful, accurate, and succinct descriptions and explanations without skimping. The test questions included are a good prep tool if you use them to evaluate your weak points and focus more effort there.

The online part was a bonus that is worth at least price of the book again. The website offered great online exams, extremely well done "powerpoint videos", and other tools. Don't skip the Simulation Exams just because you did the assessment exams. Each time I took the exams there were a few questions I had not seen before.

You still need to put in the time and effort but this is definitely a good tool to help get the task done.

I passed the PMP on my first try today. I bought Andy's book (The PMP Exam - How to Pass on Your First Try), the PMBOK Guide, and Rita Mulcahy's PMP Examp Prep. I studied in the order of PMP Guide first, Andy's book second, and then Rita's third. Although Rita's book gave a few different perspectives, it wasn't really necessary to buy it. You can pass the PMP with the PMP Guide and Andy's book. It's a wonderful resource. Make flash cards, they work great!

I aced the PMP first time using this material. Most of the other materials avilable try to be too elaborate! The tests are also similar to what u can expect on the exam!
U get free online lessons and tests with this book! Great value for money!
The author also answers e-mails personally re the book or enquiries!

This book is an exceptionally vaubale book for the PMP. I am taking an online course, and this summarizes 24 courses in a very efficient manner and reinforces learning. I would recommend for anyone contemplating the PMP exam.

I passed the PMP exam on my first try thanks largely to this book. It's clear, concise and well-organized. It has some great tables and grids that make for easy memorization. I found Rita Mulcahy's book much too conversational, and I found Paul Sanghera's book too technical. In my opinion, if you purchase this one book along with PMI's PMBOK Guide, you'll do fine on the exam!

This book was excellent. Clearly written, always on point, and the practice tests were very close to what I experienced on the exam. I also found the test taking tips/strategy indispensible. Take it from someone who used it and passed on the first try, this book lives up to its name.

-Sean
Marshfield, MA.

I took my PMP exam last week and I have to say that of all the books and materials that I used, Andy Crowe's book was the most helpful. It was concise yet covered a lot of relevant topics. Other books confused me but Andy's book put everything in perspective and tied up everything neatly. I suggest reading this book thoroughly several times, not just once, and then read the PMBOK several times as well, and I can guarantee that you will find the exam easy, and like what the book promised, pass it on your first try.

This is an awesome study guide. It does a great job explaining the PMBOK in layman's terms, and the exercises and practice questions were very valuable when I studied for the exam. I especially appreciated the special section on Earned Value. I recently passed the PMP exam, and this book by Andy Crowe really helped.

o livro foi muito bem recomendado, por isso escolhi ele e não o famoso da Rita.
Ainda não completei a leitura, mas até onde foi estou gostando da linguagem e da diagramação.
Só demorou bastante para chegar... foram mais de 20 dias.

This is the only book I used to study for the PMP exam and I passed on the first try. Albeit, it doesn't tell you *everything* you need to know exactly for the exam (such as books for the GMAT and GRE exams). It will give you a very good foundation on what to look for in the exam and not be completely shocked by the questions. Andy provides good guidelines and semi-exact formulas that will help you think fast during the exam. This book also helped me to focus on the foundation of the PMBOK and not get so bogged down by all the details/minutia.

After analyzing all the reviews out there, I used the 2 following resources for exam prep & study -

1)The PMP Exam:How to Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep series) - Andy Crowe
2)PM FASTrack: PMP Exam Simulation Software, Version 5 (CD-ROM) - Rita Mulcahy

If you are short on study time, I would strongly recommend Andy's book. It sets a comfortable pace and does an excellent job of reviewing the vast material indicated in the PMBOK guide.Andy's book is easy to understand and explains complex topics with a profound simplicity that enables the subject matter to be permanently etched in the brain :)

I also used Rita's exam simulation CD to fine tune what I had learnt from Andy's book and to improvise on my test timing.I also found that the questions on Rita's CD were very very close to the ones on the actual exam.

I passed the PMP exam on the first try few days ago!

In preparation for the PMP, I selected all three of the books with the best reviews (R. Mulcahy's. Crosswind, A. Crowe). I started with Rita's because of the content and thoroughness (a little too much) but, I found that is was not as readable as Crosswind or Andy Crowe's books. I also found Rita's index weak. I really liked the page layouts on Crosswinds books but for the bottom line when it got down to actual study, I found Crowe's book the most readable (clarity & succinct)and direct. All books follow the PMBOK outline very close and all three could be improved with a summary at the end of the chapters. You can successfully pass with any of these three but, my advice: start with Andy Crowe's PMP review.

I purchased this book after looking over what else was on the market. I used it as my main study guide along with class time and the PMBOK. I just took the test last week, for the first time, and passed with "Proficient" in all areas. I would attribute that to this book alone, as the lessons and sections seemed to be perfect in studying for the actual exam. I would highly recommend this book as your main study guide.

I just recently passed my PMP exams, and my gratitude goes to Andy Crowe and his team at Velociteach. This book was easy to read, and does not try patronize you. The material was easy to assimilate, and the large print make the letters easy on the eyes. Practice the questions after each chapter, I found them very similar to the exams.

The one week training access was a mega bonus, It expired the 2 before my exam, but I paid $99 for a month access, and I can tell you it was well worth it, especially when you have read so much that you are tired of reading. If you gain access to the online training practice as many test questions as possible.

Passed on first try as they promised. I used only this book to prepare for exam. Overall I think it provided good foundation for understanding of PMI processes and their view of project management. However be ready that some terms and definitions in real questions may sound different from how they described in the book. Just don't panic, use what you learned as basis, add some logic and common sense and you'll get through.

The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep series)

After reading the PMBOK, I purchased this exam prep book. I don't think I could have bought a better book! All of the knowledge areas and process groups were put into very understandable chapters and sections. The practice exam in the book was great, and the 5 day free online test scenarios were just what I needed to prepare for the PMP exam during the final week before sitting for the exam. Just reading the PMBOK may be good enough for some, but just as in real life project management, more input is better! No two projects are exactly the same, and with each project, we all learn something new. I would recommend supplementing the PMBOK reading with this PMP Exam prep book.

There is a great deal of preparation material available for this exam, but this is the most comprehensible of them all. It makes the material plain. I would highly recommend this book.

I just passed the PMP a few hours ago, and only used Andy's book along with some online "free" practice exams.

The book does a nice job of organizing the information and trying to make it as easy to understand as possible. The problem is that some of the concepts are not logical and are not consistent. While I feel that the PMI has a worthy mission, it is clear that the documentation and processes are in their infancy.

I read the book three times from cover to cover. I know it by heart. I've taken all of the chapter quizzes and the practice exam a couple of times, and score in the high 90s. But expect there to be plenty of terminology on the exam that is not covered in this book. If you know the book perfectly, that will probably land you a score in the 70s on the exam, which true to the title is a passing score.

In summary, this is a good reference for the tons of memorization required to pass the PMP. Good luck!

Systematic and focused, I liked the approach taken by the author for tackling the ever-crucial ITTO (inputs, tools and techniques, outputs) for each of the 44 processes documented in the PMBOK. But I wouldn't recommend it as a primary study text for the PMP exam. It will make a good revision text before you take the exam though (particularly understanding where all the ITTO pieces come into the picture at every stage of the project management cycle).

The book is definitely an easier read than the PMBOK, but still dry material. I hope this book helps me with the foundation I need to pass the test.

I think the Head First PMP book is better for your first pass as it's more interactive, with exercises--and it's fun. But this is definitely your second pass. It's clear, well written, and contains very good quizzes. Since they're organized the same, you might read the chapter in Head First and then the same chapter in Crowe's book. A very good way to reinforce your understanding and retention.

I would avoid the Rita book, but her exam software and flash cards are pretty good. I don't think the PMBOK guide is needed if you have Crowe's book. The PMBOK is useful as a reference, however.

I passed the PMP and the CAPM with the velociteach books on the first try. I highly recommend them and the online content at thier site is wonderful.

I bought this book after learning that the woman managing our program had not passed the exam on her first try. I had had several interruptions in my learning process, so it extended now 6 mos. before I was able to look at setting another target. This book enabled me to do more understanding than all the online exams, Rita Mulcahey's book, and the PMBok. Feeling good about that, I scheduled and passed the exam. The large print and large illustrations made it an easy read; I felt I really got my money's worth.

I passed the PMP exam on my first try weeks ago. I didn't attend any prep class. The only materials I used to prepare for PMP were three books and 1 CD I got here from Amazon. Besides, English is not my first language. So I guess I read slower than most exam takers.


Here is my comment for them:

- The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try, by Andy Crowe
I think this was the single most useful resource that helped me pass the exam. The content of it is well organized and self contained. It took me about 3 weeks to read it cover to cover. And after that, I felt much comfortable about the system of both PM process groups & knowledge areas. It was a pity that I did't really have time to re-read it before the exam or use the free 1 week online resource it provided. Or it should make my test experience easier.
Bottom line: HIGHLY recommend.

- PMP In Depth: Project Management Professional Study Guide for PMP and CAPM Exams, by Paul Sanghera
I bought this one simply because it got pretty good rating on Amazon, but I have to say it's pretty disappointing. First, the process group oriented approach to organize this book is a good try. It should be easier for most rookies to have a good idea about the big picture of PM. However, I don't think the author did a very good job on mapping processes in different knowledge areas with related process groups. Besides, this may be the first book I've ever read that goes with so many typos and mistakes. I really wonder if it has been edited or proofread before publishing.
Bottom line: NOT recommend.

- PMP Exam Quicklet: Project Management Professional Practice Exams, by Paul Sanghera
The same author as "PMP In Depth", thus it contains a lot of typos, too. In addition, I don't think those questions in this book will get you a good feel of the real exam questions, because at least 30~40% of them will be much more difficult. When I tried those questions in this book before exam at home, I could easily finish 200 questions in about 2 and half hours and got about 85% correctness. However, it took me more than 3 and half hours and a lot of guesses in the real test. Third, quite a few of the 540 questions in this book are repetitive.
Bottom line: Somewhat recommend.

- Hot Topics Flashcards for Passing the PMP and CAPM Exams (Audio CD),
by Rita Mulcahy (Author)
I spend more than one hour on public transportations everyday during weekdays. That's why I bought this CD. It is a nice review and memory enhancement if you don't mind listening to those boring stuff when you walk or drive.
Bottom line: Recommend.

- PMP Exam Prep: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam, by Rita Mulcahy
I did not buy this book, but based on my experience of using the "Hot Topics Flashcards" CD, I believe this should be a pretty good material for the PMP exam.
Bottom line: HIGHLY Recommend.


Overall, my suggestions would be :

1. You should expect to study intensively for 1 to 3 months to pass the exam. (It took me 3) If you plan to spend more than 3 months, you may forget what you study in the first beginning. Better to focus and get it done quickly.

2. Carefully study "The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try" & "PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam".

3. Do enough simulation questions (enough = at least 600 questions = 3 full set exams). Be sure to figure out the correct answers of those questions you got wrong.

4. Don't rely on PMBOK as your only resource for PMP preparation. There are some testing materials not even included in it, ex. organization & motivation theories.

5. Be sure to get enough sleep the night before exam. The real questions will be hard and require a very clear mind.

This book provides a good first reading resource but should be complemented by other resources as I found it to be very basic (leaves out a lot of terms), probably because I read it after reading Mulcahy. The velociteach website has lot of practice exams (again not too difficult) but the interface is good and also keeps history to track scores and weak areas. Although it might be possible to clear the PMP by using just this book, but I would not have taken the chance with so much money at stake.

Please be advised that I have not yet received my purchase .This item was purchased on Nov 16 th 2008 ref no 7386110
Kindly advise me of its location
faizool

What an amazing book! I got this to start studying 2 months out. I did not crack it until 8pm the night before, I had a 9 am exam time. I spent 6 hours that night and 1 more hour the next morning. Exam took me only 2.5 hrs of the total 4 and passed on the first try. Highly recommend this book to anyone taking the exam!

I heard about Andy's Book at a learning tree class. It's amazing. Great examples that you can relate to. I never opened the PMBOK! All the material is in the book. Thank you Andy

This book lives up to its promise. I passed on the first try after using this book almost exclusively as my study guide before the PMP exam.

I like the outline of the book and the way it's written. The explanations about the content covered in the PMBOK are well explained. The chapters are well organized and it gets to the point without a lot of extra content.

This book also features a special section on Critical Path Method and how to calculate all of the other related components; Earl/Late Start/Finish which I found helpful. It also tells you what a lot of the management terms mean and how you should approach them for the exam.

What is also great is the last chapter, which provides you with a strategy for taking the exam and how to manage your time, when to take breaks, etc.

The practice exam was helpful in that not only does the answer key tell you why an answer is right, it also tells you why the other ones are wrong.

All in all a good solid book if you're looking for an alternative to the very popular "Rita" books that are out there!

Excellent resource for preparing for the PMP Exam. The material is organized well and easy to follow, and it also has special sections on key concepts, good practice questions at the end of each chapter, great strategy testing tips, plus a free week of access to online practice tests which was fantastic! I passed today on my first try!
Glenn Small

This is an excellent book. I used the book to prepare for the Project Management Institutes' PmP exam and I passed the exam on my first attempt.

This is a good book to read, it goes through all the material and it focuses on the more important items. I recommend you read the PMBOK and read this book. Do all the exercises. The 1-week online subscription was invaluable, I did many exercises there. I like the fact that I could select questions from any Knowledge Area or any process group, and I could select the number of questions I would like to do. The questions in the book and website might be easier than what you will see on the exam, but that's OK, just aim to get 80+% on these questions and you will be in good shape to pass.

To pass the PMP Exam you need to know the 44 processes and their elements (inputs, t&ts and outputs). This book helps you understand and focus on the critical elements of the each process. Each chapter begins with a diagram showing the processes in that knowledge area and their primary (1 or 2) outputs. I found those diagrams extremely helpful. I just wish he had the primary inputs and T&Ts as well.

Here is my tip for you to pass the exam.
* Read the PMBOK once or twice
* Read this book along with the PMBOK, after you finish each chapter in the PMBOK read the corresponding chapter in this book.
* Do many many many exercises
* Commit the 44 processes and their primary elements to memory - don't let any one fool you this exam is as much about memorization as understanding, if not more.

Good luck.

The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep series) did exactly what it set out to do -- show me how to pass the exam on my 1st try.

I took Velociteach's 3-day course which teaches you what's in the book plus color-coded "mind mapping" for each knowledge area plus network diagramming & earned value exercises. We also received 6 mos online access as part of the course. You do not need the 3-day course if you study the book and use the free online instruction/quizzes.

I didn't take the exam until 6 mos later due to extentuating circumstances. I had to re-prepare. Within 2 weeks -- I read the book cover-to-cover, took the 1 week free online quizzes/exams that come with the book, and went through each of the areas of the online classroom instruction. You can choose a simluated exam, or just do quizzes by knowledge area or process. You are told the reasoning behind the answer -- which was tremendously helpful. I wish that Velociteach's online quizzes were different from the book quizzes because I found that I came to memorize answers as I kept getting the same questions because I did so many quizzes. BTW, you can also dowload mindmaps, etc. from the online access.

I tried going through the PMBOK CD but found that it was very dry, and did little to enhance the exam knowledge that I had already learned.

I also tried the pmstudy online quiz and did OK. My confidence was slightly shaken. I took the real exam anyway and passed even tough I was sick on the day of the exam.

TIPS:
1. Memorize the knowledge area/process crosswalk in the book (you can also get the soft copy with online access)
2. Memorize the formula sheet from the soft copy online (there were about 3 formulas online that weren't in the book)

As the host of the pm411.org Project Management Podcast, I recommend Andy Crowe's study guide as one of the best resources to help you pass the PMP exam. I personally used this very comprehensive guide to pass PMP - and as promised by the author, I passed it on the first try.

Crowe breaks down the PMBOK guide by knowledge area in an easy-to-understand format that will allow you to take the PMP exam with confidence. In addition to the three sets of practice exams, the book provides readers with a free trial subscription to additional tests and resources online.

I took the PMP last week, and passed it on my first try. I found that Andy's book played a significant role in that accomplishment.

In preparing for the exam, I took Eddie Merla's boot camp, and thoroughly read and studied the following books (in sequence):
- The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management by Eric Verzuh
- Head First PMP by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman
- PMP In Depth by Dr. Paul Sanghera
- The PMP Exam - How to Pass on Your First Try by Andy Crowe

I found Eric's book a great introduction to the subject mater, and following that with Head First really helped develop my understanding of the PMBOK material. Dr. Paul's approach by Process Group gave me another perspective on the material, which I also found to be beneficial in terms of being ready for the exam's approach. Ending with Andy's book left me really prepared for the exam.

I found that Andy's presentation of the material was very thorough. I really appreciate the way he detailed the flow of inputs and outputs throughout the processes, and took time to point out some of the things that just do not flow that way that many might expect - which really helped me in terms of being prepared for the exam. One thing in particular that I liked about Andy's book is that I really enjoyed reading and studying it - it was not the type of book that was a chore to read. Andy's style was interesting in the sense that I could almost here him speaking to me as I read the material. I have read many books in my day, and I think that this is the first one that achieved that merit. Job well done Andy!

I've read this and many other PMP study guides and here is my opinion. I passed the PMP exam but NOT due to this book. The main disappointment I have with this book (and a few others) is that it is organized according to the knowledge areas, whereas the PMP exam specifications by PMI are organized according to the process groups. Also it makes more sense to study project management by process groups because this approach is closer to the real life experience: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. If I need to look at the project management body of knowledge organized according to the knowledge areas, I would rather look at the PMBOK Guide. The exam study guides should follow the exam specifications, and should not be a mere re-run of the PMBOK Guide. Also, there is no mention of the exam objectives in any chapter. It reads like more or less a re-run of the PMBOK Guide without any consideration of the exam spec. Other drawbacks of the book are the following:
1.Questions are too easy and not close to the real exam questions
2.For most of the topics the coverage is at very much surface leve, no depth. The adequate explanations and depth are missing.
3.Lots of typos and errors
So, don't use it as a primary source for your preparation. It's ok as a secondary source.

Not sure whether this book was the reason for me passing or the PM PowerTrac CBT tool by Management Concepts (the company I work for has multiple licenses for this). I didn't really do much of the sample questions, I left that to PowerTrac; the content is pretty good though and is readable. I think the key to passing is to understand the structure of the questions and do a few example exams. All in all, my preparation for the exam was about a month, and I wasn't very disciplined either!

Yes I passed the exam at second attempt. One reason the exam has gotten tough do not expect the question to be as easy as those that are in exercise or simulation exam. For every question you really need to know the fundamentals(as per PMI principles!!). That leads to my second reason for failing, I used much popular Rita Mulacahy's PMP exam prep book. The real problem started when I used the even more expensive PMP fast Track by RMC, each simulation test question answer confused me further. I took the PMP exam and I answered most obvious question with wrong answer. My friend suggested me to forget all other material and focus on this book. This book clearly explains the fundamental behind each knowledge area followed by Input - tools & technique - output of process within this knowledge area. If you understand and remember these gudelines thoroughly you are ready for the exam. If you are lucky and get many math questions you can score up to 70% easily. One more book which helped me was Paul Sanghera's PMP in depth, if you are an IT professional then you may find reading paul's book quiet enjoyable. Good luck.

A great resource for explaining why the answers chosen in their sample exercises are correct or incorrect. This book help to solidify the readers understanding of the PMBOK.

I took PMP earlier this week and pass on the first try. This is a great book, easy to understand but it has its own drawbacks. My exam was really tough. I hardly had any math questions and all the exam questions were really lengthy with lengthy answers unlike the practice questions that appear as excercise and final exam. It was like mini reading comprehension on each question. So expect to see much harder questions that what is in the book. Good thing is that with PM experience and reading this book from begin to end, it will not be a problem to pass eventhough there will be many questions outside of this book. I don't know if the exam is getting tougher day by day or it was just my luck to see those kinds of questions.

A well organized book that will indeed prepare you to pass the PMP the first time. I reviewed this book from cover to cover twice. I took each chapter test two times and the 200 question test at the end of the book until I scored a 89%. Worth the money if your serious about being PMP certified.

This book was one of my main study tools for the current version of the PMP, which I passed on Saturday, July 14, 2007. This is a great book and really breaks things down so that they are easy to understand. I cannot say that you will only pass by using this book, as you should have formal PM experience and training prior to taking this exam, but Crowe's book is a great book to use with the PMBOK. All of the Project Managers that I know used this book to pass on their first try. Out of all of the tools that I used to study and pass, I realied most heavily on Andy Crowe's book. I only used Rita Mulcahy's book for certain chapters. My goal was to use both in their entirety, but it never happened.

I also used (but not much):
PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam
PM FASTrack: PMP Exam Simulation Software, Version 5
Hot Topics Flashcards for Passing the PMP and CAPM Exam: Hot Topics Flashcards 5th Edtion (Hot Topics)

As a seasoned IT Project Manager, I wouldn't recommend this book as your primary reference for understanding project management concepts.

However, if your primary goal is to pass the exam, then this is the book you are looking for.

I would recommend "Art of Project Management" if you are serious about learning about IT Project Management.

I passed my PMP exam yesterday, for the first try! Yes, I think this book focuses on the key points you need to know for the exam. The questions in the exercises are about the same level of difficulty as the exam as well. So, I recommend this book to anyone who is pursuing PMP exam.

A very good book, I used this as my primary study guide for the PMP exam and it does just what the title says lets you pass on the first try. I thought the web site access was especially good I used it the last two weeks before the exam after I had already read and reviewed all the questions in the book. I would highly recommend this book if you are preparing for the PMP exam.

I just took my PMP exam today for the first time and passed!

I used this book as my primary resource. I was already familiar with much of the material in here from taking business classes in school and from on-the-job experience, but the material was presented in a manner to maximize your chances of passing this particular exam.

Although it is focused on helping you pass the exam, I think it makes a good reference book as well and gives a good understanding of the PMI approach to Project Management.

He provides plenty of advice in each chapter such as key concepts to know or memorize, the level of difficulty you can expect, and the importance of each chapter (separated by knowledge area) on the exam.

If you are good at learning through books without a teacher, this is the book to get for the PMP exam in my opinion.