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What is the general rule for rounding numbers on PMP exam?

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Dwayne Arnold Buford, Ga, United States
If asked to calculate a 3-point estimate using O=27, ML=33, P=37, Which equates to 97/3= 32.33.

what would be the correct answer? 32 or 33?

I answered 32 when taking a practice exam and the correct answer was provided as 33.

Can someone explain what rule PMI expects for rounding numbers? I'd like to know before I sit the PMP exam.

Thanks!
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
This could be tricky but this is how I would understand the rationale behind choosing 33 instead of 32:

You are doing an estimate being for an activity duration or cost line-item so fractions mean a lot when it comes to important estimates like these so with you chosing 32, you will be under-conservative and exposed to the risk of not finishing on time or within budget so 33 would make more sense from many perspectives.

In the real numbers world, 32.33 would be rounded to 32 but in your case, you need to translate the numbers you are working with and relate them to the purpose.

I might be wrong but this is what makes more sense to me.
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Drew Craig Sr. Agile & Product Coach| Vanguard Philadelphia, Pa, United States
Rami has a very strong point. In real-world math, you would round down with that result, but in business, you would want to round from a conservative point of view.
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Dwayne Arnold Buford, Ga, United States
Great advice. Lesson learned. I will take the conservative approach and round up if presenting with this type of question on the exam. Thanks!
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Good Luck Dwayne.
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Najam Mumtaz Retired Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
I'd agree with Rami too.
As far as mathematics are concerned 32 is the correct answer but let's say that you were asked to calculate number of days or number of people required to do a job than 33 is the choice.
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Anish Abraham Privacy Program Manager| University of Washington Auburn, Wa, United States
I agree with Rami on this.
Good luck with your exam !!
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Manjunath Patil Bangalore, Karnataka, India
I am 100% sure , the actual PMP will never have ambiguous answers like these ones.. The reason is rounding of decimals depends on individual circumstances.. 32 may be suitable for some if you follow rounding off principled from Mathematics.. But, 33 will be more practical
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Regardless of whether it is days or dollars, in real life I'd round up. The rationale being that if I've a large number of activities which have been estimated in such a manner, the aggregation of all the rounded off pieces could actually represent a meaningful variation.

Kiron
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Janice Grier Senior Technical Vendor Manager| ATT Shelby Township, Mi, United States
Agree with colleagues. Good Luck
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Ruth Marina Lopez Perez Responsable TI| INSTITUTO DE PREVISION SOCIAL MILITAR - NICARAGUA Masaya, Los Madrigales, Nindirí, Nicaragua
The real numbers 32.33 would be rounded to 32. You need understand the numbers you are working with and relate them to the question.
This is primordial in intervals of time, Risks and Adquisitions.
In another cases PMI expects rounding numbers after 0.5
Good Luck.
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