PMP Provider’s Review

By Rohit On February 14, 2010 · 37 Comments

Here is a side by side comparison of few of the PMP training providers. I have gathered data from their respective sites today. This is solely my review please use your own brain to find which one is suited and best for you!

Provider	PMT	Cheetah	PM Study	Global Knowledge
Cost	2395 $	2999 $	1800 $	2895 $
Money Back Gurantee	YES	YES	YES	YES
Recommended	Exam next day	Exam next day	Exam next day
First Take Deadline	14 days	7 days	1 month	1 month
First Attempt Fail	$ 275	$ 275	$ 275	Retake refund
Second Take Deadline	21 days	30 days	30 days	6 months
Second Attempt Fail	$ 275	$ 275	$275	Retake Refund
Third Attempt Fail	Fees – (Retake refund + 200$) or Retake the course	Full refund and retake of course	Retake refund and thenCourse fee refund	Full Refund
Website	4pmti	cheetahlearning	pmstudy	globalknowledge
My comments		No Tension Deal	Value for Money

NOTE: Please use comments section to reach me out for any questions regarding PMP. I receive many emails daily asking almost similar questions. If you can leave a comment, I will surely reply and this will help many others who have a similar questions. Thanks for your interest!

If you are looking to get some tips on preparing for PMP and passing it please go to

http://www.rohitprabhakar.com/2010/08/05/journey-to-be-a-pmp-was-10-days-long

Disclosure: I donot have any personal or financial relation with any of these companies.

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Chris

Hello,
I just beginning the process of building a business case to my employer to sponsor me becoming certified. I have done hours of research and think I have decided on Cheetah. Can you please explain what you mean by “no tension deal” in the “my comments section”?

If you have any other information about the Cheetah course, please let me know.

Thank you in advance.
Chris

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Chris

The reason I rate it as “No tension deal” as it offers the following that no other vendor is able to :
1. Highest Audited Continuous Pass Rate For 9 Years
2. Full refund and retake of course if the candidate fails on 3rd attempt.

Hope this helps.

-Rohit

Chris

Hello,
I just beginning the process of building a business case to my employer to sponsor me becoming certified. I have done hours of research and think I have decided on Cheetah. Can you please explain what you mean by “no tension deal” in the “my comments section”?

If you have any other information about the Cheetah course, please let me know.

Thank you in advance.
Chris

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Chris

The reason I rate it as “No tension deal” as it offers the following that no other vendor is able to :
1. Highest Audited Continuous Pass Rate For 9 Years
2. Full refund and retake of course if the candidate fails on 3rd attempt.

Hope this helps.

-Rohit

Chris

Rohit,
Thank you for taking the time to respond and put the above list together. I was apprehensive at first about some of the sites I found. I am still confused on how much of a difference on online course would be compared to an instructor led course? If my company does not sponsor, the online is thousands less. Any thoughts?

Thanks again,
Chris

Rohit Prabhakar

Chris

I have taken both online and classroom course and as per me there is only 1 difference and that is is commitment. In a classroom we have committed our time to the PMP process and we do it with undivided attention while in an online class we don’t have anything like that.

You need to talk to yourself and find if you are a person of commitment and you can follow your plan for preparing for PMP without any distractions go ahead with the online class else settle for the classroom one.

I know most of the candidates (my friend just cleared PMP) recommend to study 2 hrs everyday for 2-3 months, enroll in online class, take tests and finally take the exam.

Hope I was able to help you!

-Rohit

Chris

Rohit,
Thank you for taking the time to respond and put the above list together. I was apprehensive at first about some of the sites I found. I am still confused on how much of a difference on online course would be compared to an instructor led course? If my company does not sponsor, the online is thousands less. Any thoughts?

Thanks again,
Chris

Rohit Prabhakar

Chris

I have taken both online and classroom course and as per me there is only 1 difference and that is is commitment. In a classroom we have committed our time to the PMP process and we do it with undivided attention while in an online class we don’t have anything like that.

You need to talk to yourself and find if you are a person of commitment and you can follow your plan for preparing for PMP without any distractions go ahead with the online class else settle for the classroom one.

I know most of the candidates (my friend just cleared PMP) recommend to study 2 hrs everyday for 2-3 months, enroll in online class, take tests and finally take the exam.

Hope I was able to help you!

-Rohit

Lauri

I have attempted taking the exam twice and I have failed. I’m about to give up on this but at the same time I really want the certification. Which course do you think it would benefit someone like me that has already failed twice?

Any input would be appreciated.

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi

Please help me answer your question by replying to a query I have )

In past have you taken a PMP class or you were doing it yourself (self practice)?

Thanks
Rohit

Lauri

I’ve done everything myself!

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Lauri
Please keep in mind that all these courses are just 3-5 day crash courses where you spend 6-8 hrs everyday to prepare for the exam. You already know PMP certification has been designed in a way that only the people with good knowledge are able to pass out. Most probably you already have lot of Project Management experience and knowledge. What most of the candidates do is that they think of PMP exam as a place where they can answer the questions based on their vast experience but this is not true. Please note that most of the questions in the PMP exam are based on best practices. It is not what you learn during these 4 days that clears that helps to clear the exam but the 2 months disciplined preparation done before the exam. These classroom help you be aware of all the topics that will be covered in exam, format etc.

As per my personal recommendation one should follow the following schedule for PMP exam:
1. Fix a test date 2-3 months from today
2. Spend 2 hours every working day and 5-6 hrs every weekend preparing for PMP
3. Start with reading and understanding book titled “The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try” by Andy Crowe
4. Go through PMBOK 2 times
5. Take some good online test to check for your preparedness.
6. If your score is more than 90%, take a PMP test
7. If score less than 90% take a classroom coaching and take the test within 1 week of the class.
Personally I will surely go for PMSTUDY as it seems to be easy on pocket and it also provides 100% money back Guarantee.
Hope this helps.

Best
Rohit

Lauri

Thank you very much for your input Rohit!

-Lauri

Lauri

I have attempted taking the exam twice and I have failed. I’m about to give up on this but at the same time I really want the certification. Which course do you think it would benefit someone like me that has already failed twice?

Any input would be appreciated.

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi

Please help me answer your question by replying to a query I have )

In past have you taken a PMP class or you were doing it yourself (self practice)?

Thanks
Rohit

Lauri

I’ve done everything myself!

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Lauri
Please keep in mind that all these courses are just 3-5 day crash courses where you spend 6-8 hrs everyday to prepare for the exam. You already know PMP certification has been designed in a way that only the people with good knowledge are able to pass out. Most probably you already have lot of Project Management experience and knowledge. What most of the candidates do is that they think of PMP exam as a place where they can answer the questions based on their vast experience but this is not true. Please note that most of the questions in the PMP exam are based on best practices. It is not what you learn during these 4 days that clears that helps to clear the exam but the 2 months disciplined preparation done before the exam. These classroom help you be aware of all the topics that will be covered in exam, format etc.

As per my personal recommendation one should follow the following schedule for PMP exam:
1. Fix a test date 2-3 months from today
2. Spend 2 hours every working day and 5-6 hrs every weekend preparing for PMP
3. Start with reading and understanding book titled “The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try” by Andy Crowe
4. Go through PMBOK 2 times
5. Take some good online test to check for your preparedness.
6. If your score is more than 90%, take a PMP test
7. If score less than 90% take a classroom coaching and take the test within 1 week of the class.
Personally I will surely go for PMSTUDY as it seems to be easy on pocket and it also provides 100% money back Guarantee.
Hope this helps.

Best
Rohit

Lauri

Thank you very much for your input Rohit!

-Lauri

Sreejit

Hi Rohit,

Thanks first for providing all these exhaustive details. I had couple of questions, if you could help answer those.
1. How much of a recognition/value does the PMP certification holds in one’s C.V.

2. Is there a good author for PMBOK if you can suggest.

Thanks for your help in advance.

- Sreejit

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Sreejit

I appreciate your good feedback on the post. Please see my personal opinion for all your queries as below:

Recognition/Value PMP adds to CV:
As PMP is just not an exam of a book knowledge but actually a test of your real time practices. It is not the test of what exactly you have been doing as PM but the test of the best practices.

The certification provide couple of benefits specifically in regard to the CV:
a. Completes the eligibility for positions that strictly require the PMP cert.
b. For all other positions you are surely placed above the competition as you have already proven your skills by getting certified.
c. The certification will surely help you in the next opportunity and probably not at the current organization.
d. I don’t have real world data but I have experimented this on couple of salary survey sites and have seen a small amount of increase in the salary just because of PMP.

BOOK:
For sure I will strongly advise you start with “The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try” by Andy Crowe and no other book. Once you are done with this read and understand the PMBOK at least 2 times.

Hope I was able to help you.

Best of wishes
Rohit

Sreejit

Hi Rohit,

Thanks first for providing all these exhaustive details. I had couple of questions, if you could help answer those.
1. How much of a recognition/value does the PMP certification holds in one’s C.V.

2. Is there a good author for PMBOK if you can suggest.

Thanks for your help in advance.

- Sreejit

Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Sreejit

I appreciate your good feedback on the post. Please see my personal opinion for all your queries as below:

Recognition/Value PMP adds to CV:
As PMP is just not an exam of a book knowledge but actually a test of your real time practices. It is not the test of what exactly you have been doing as PM but the test of the best practices.

The certification provide couple of benefits specifically in regard to the CV:
a. Completes the eligibility for positions that strictly require the PMP cert.
b. For all other positions you are surely placed above the competition as you have already proven your skills by getting certified.
c. The certification will surely help you in the next opportunity and probably not at the current organization.
d. I don’t have real world data but I have experimented this on couple of salary survey sites and have seen a small amount of increase in the salary just because of PMP.

BOOK:
For sure I will strongly advise you start with “The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try” by Andy Crowe and no other book. Once you are done with this read and understand the PMBOK at least 2 times.

Hope I was able to help you.

Best of wishes
Rohit

Daniel

Rohit, Thanks for the awesome post. Good points..Personally I will be taking a PMP prep boot camp in June..Ofcourse, I am going ahead with PMstudy. Their tests are awesome and many of my PMP colleagues have taken their boot camp and they passed. I will definitely try this one..Others, i feel are too costly…

Rohit Prabhakar

Thanks Daniel for the wonderful words. Best of luck!

Daniel

Rohit, Thanks for the awesome post. Good points..Personally I will be taking a PMP prep boot camp in June..Ofcourse, I am going ahead with PMstudy. Their tests are awesome and many of my PMP colleagues have taken their boot camp and they passed. I will definitely try this one..Others, i feel are too costly…

Rohit Prabhakar

Thanks Daniel for the wonderful words. Best of luck!

CJ

Hi Rohit,

Is the schedule recommeded for Laurie the same for someone doing the bootcamp class? Just wondering how much self prep I would need to do prior to bootcamp in order to pass. Thanks.
http://rohitprabhakar.com Rohit Prabhakar

This is something I asked a person who is a PMP coach for PMSTUDY and told me that as soon as you signup for there classroom coaching they send you online lessons link and other online materials. As per him there are student who have gone through the material over a weekend or a week or more and the attended the class and cleared the PMP. I will personally recommend at least 2 weeks as I have read about some lessons learnt on PMHUB about candidates who have done something similar. Hope I was able to answer your question.
Bernard

Hi Rohit,

I found this PM boot camp and was wondering if you knew anything about them, or how I might go about verifying that it is a good option. It is much cheaper than either of the camps you outline above.

http://www.pmcertschool.com/PMP-Boot-Camp-4-Day-Mon-Thur-in-San-Jose-4-Day-Classroom.htm
http://rohitprabhakar.com Rohit Prabhakar

Hi friends, I also decided finally to be a PMP and I used PMStudy as my education provider.
Here is my schedule of action with exact dates:
( I have been a PMI member for some nice long time now.)
August 19 2010:::: Enrolled for the PMStudy class in Milwaukee, WI, USA
August 20 2010:::: Not yet started the online study material
August 21 2010:::: Started with the online study material. The only thing I did that day was to memorize the process chart and the formulas provided by PMStudy. (Excellent chart from PMStudy)
August 22, 2010:::: Practiced the process chart only once
August 23, 2010: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM (I had an excellent coach, Mr.Mike Tomaszewski , PMP. Learning was fun!), followed by 3 hrs of study at home (same as taught in class and few practice tests provided in the course)
August 24, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM, followed by 3 hrs of study at home (same as taught in class and few practice tests provided in the course)
August 25, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM
August 26, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 3 PM, followed by 5 hrs of study at home (all processes and few practice tests provided in the course)
August 27, 2010:::: Reread all the important as marked as instructed by Mike in the PMStudy book. Took 2 practice test ( 200 question, provided by PMStudy). Practiced the Process Chart and formulas 2 times. Checked ITTOs for Risk, Procurement and Quality. Watched a movie.
August 28, 2010:::: Took 1 practice test ( 200 question, provided by PMStudy). Practiced the Process Chart and formulas 1 time. Checked ITTOs for Risk, Procurement and Quality once again. Watched a 2 movies (1 in noon and 1 evening!@home). Got to bed at 10 (As advised by Mike and PMStudy, 12 hrs rest and no study before the exam)
August 29, 2010: Reached the Prometric testing center @ 8:45 AM. Test started at 9:30, completed 1st round with 75 marked for review in 2:15. Then took 1:15 to review all 75 and finally the rest of the time to re-review the marked ones that I was super confused about. System had to force time out for me ) and then the blank screen came………It was the worst thing that could have happened to me..I was shivering…and then instead of the result come a survey….I start shivering more…Once I was done with the survey……it published….Congratulations! Passed…blah….blah…blah…

Lessons Learnt:
• 12 hrs of no-study and good rest before the exam is highly important.
• Positive thinking is must.. All these days I was saying to myself that I am getting it done ( I have read all the LL and everyone suggested 2-4 months of disciplined preparation. I knew I was not going that route and I was going to pass. I have been practicing Project Management for such a long and I was confident I could do it in 10 days)
• Forget about what you do or have done in Project Management in your job. Think the PMI way only. Majority of the processes that we follow in our jobs are not what PMI teaches. Remember PMI teaches the best project management principles as per their standards and not yours.
• Memorize process chart
• Memorize ITTO (at least Risk, Quality and procurement)
• Memorize formulas
• Read and understand the “Professional Conduct and Ethics” chapter.
• Take breaks to cool off your brain during the exam. (Take some energy drinks. I took 1 at the start and 1 in the break)
• Don’t spend more than 60 seconds on every question. If very long/confusing/unknown mark it for review and come later BUT choose one of the options that seems to be close to right (so that if u have no time to review at least you have 25% probability of getting it right. 25% is better than 0%)
• Take the ear plugs given by the center and plug your ears.
• Used PMBOK 4th edition for reference only in case of confusion (I only and only read the material provided by PMStudy)
• Hang loose and take the test…the worst that can happen is you can fail but u can reappear too (in my case I had a money back guarantee ;o)

My humble opinion about the test: “Questions were very easy but options for answer were extremely confusing! If you don’t know the processes for sure you cannot guess the right one.”

Please feel free to reach me at rohit@rohitprabhakar.com for any queries. I will be glad if I could be of any help in your journey to be a PMP.

Wish you the best of luck!
Rohit Prabhakar, PMP, Certified Six Sigma Green Belt
http://rohitprabhakar.com
USA
Pk 2010

PMTI is offering a $405 discount (towards exam fee) effectively reducing their fee to $1,990. It may expire soon.
Meharaj

Hi Rohit,

Iam planning to sit for the PMP exam soon…You had mentioned that you memorised the process chart. Could you share the same…

Thanks in advance…
Meharaj

http://rohitprabhakar.com Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Meharaj

As this was a proprietary course material of PMStudy I am not allowed to share it with anyone. If I share it with you it will be breach of the PMI principles and guidelines. Please contact PMStudy and probably they may provide you the same.

I really apologize for not being of help to you on this issue. Best of luck for your exam!

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raj gupta

i also want to add to your list of PMP Provider that KnowledgeWoods is a PMI’s R.E.P and Provide
PMP Certification Training in less than $300 and they also have money back grantee too.

http://rohitprabhakar.com Rohit Prabhakar

Hi Raj

Are you a provider or related to the provider. If not can you please share the informaiton for all the columns.

Thanks
Rohit