Well, finally PMI did the inevitable, the one loophole they had in their rather robust examination rules, has also been plugged. Read more on “BANNED! No Brain-Dumps during THE 15 min TUTORIAL TIME”.

Having a ready reckoner “dump sheet” created and accessible at the beginning of the PMP exam helped one to be independent of raw memory power during the exam’s potential stressful situation. Ready reckoner information i.e. dump sheet eliminates the dreaded scenario wherein you know the particular formula / concept but are unable to recollect exactly when you need it to solve the question.

The experience that many share is that scribbling away things that one already knows just at the beginning of the exam has a calming effect and helps gain back self-confidence to banish away those exam jitters!

Unfortunately, as per the new guideline, you cannot write anything during the 15 min tutorial time. Well, you can and must still make your dump sheet within the framework of the revised rules. The only drawback is that creating the dump sheet shall now eat into a small part of the 4 hours of your exam time (Just like the photo is eating into the paragraph).  Hence your goal is to write down as much of it as possible in the shortest time before you start sprinting to solve the questions.

To make your brain-dump, start with writing down the formulae first. Next comes concepts and jargon that you may have realized you had difficulty in remembering during your gruelling study period! It is important to practice the brain-dump daily during the last couple of weeks before your PMP exam. The more you practice, the easier it is to write on paper in shortest time, and more confident you will feel during the exam! Hence, you need to start each study session by practicing your “dump sheet”.

Another tip, be sure that your dump sheet occupies a small portion of the paper provided; The exam center provides ample rough sheets to scribble on but the catch is they take away the used sheets and replace with the blank ones. (For more tips like these read: 5 things you should know about the PMP exam center) Be careful, in case you ask for additional blank paper, your first one (along with your precious dump sheet) will be taken away!

Do share this with your PMP aspirant peers…and post comments as well!