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PMI-ACP exam difficulty?

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Christopher Healy SR IT Program Manager| General Motors Berkley, Mi, United States
I am thinking about taking the PMI-ACP exam and I am looking for feedback on level of difficulty, so I can plan out the right time to take the test. For those who have taken the test, how much time did you put into preparation? How would you compare the test to other PMI exams (like PMP)
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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Apr 11, 2018 9:20 AM
Replying to Najam Mumtaz
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I prepared from only one source and that was Mike Griffith's book BUT it was before the exam change. You might have to check if a newer version is available.
Najam, Mike's book is up to date for the 2018 exam change.
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Apr 11, 2018 6:37 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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No - I just breathe agile :-)
This means that you will always keep breathing :D
They will start making Agile Oxygen Tanks for under water.
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1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Apr 11, 2018 12:25 PM
Kiron Bondale
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True agility would mean I'd grow gills :-)

Kiron
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Apr 11, 2018 12:06 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
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This means that you will always keep breathing :D
They will start making Agile Oxygen Tanks for under water.
True agility would mean I'd grow gills :-)

Kiron
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1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Apr 11, 2018 12:29 PM
Rami Kaibni
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Can't argue that :-)
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Apr 11, 2018 12:25 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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True agility would mean I'd grow gills :-)

Kiron
Can't argue that :-)
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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
lol
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Boon Siang Tay Project Manager | PMP, PMI-ACP, PRINCE2 Agile, Project+, CSM, CSPO, PSM, PSPO| ST Engineering Urban Solutions Singapore, Singapore
Apr 11, 2018 9:12 AM
Replying to Christopher Healy
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If you were to buy 1 book for studying would you recommend:
1) Andy Crowe's book
2) Mike Griffith's book
3) something different
I bought the Sybex textbook by J Ashley Hunt of Stormwind Studios. It's a 2018 first edition as I wanted to be different from the crowd. Good prep book.
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Mahdi Alami Hamedane Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Apr 10, 2018 7:44 PM
Replying to Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Yes I found the exam harder than the PMP, so who knows if the level of difficult went up after the March 26 date. The content itself wasn't difficult, it was the wording of the questions, which 1/3 had what I thought was 3 correct answers. I have two other colleagues who failed the exam since the cut-off date (one of which has been working in Agile for years), so how I got above targets in all domains I will never know.
I totally agree that exam is harder than PMP. Cleared it today and it indeed was one of the most confusing exams I ever took. Everything is situational where memorization with no firm grip of the agile mindset will be of no value.
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3 replies by Rami Kaibni, Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD, and Stéphane Parent
Jun 18, 2019 2:56 AM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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That's great that you passed. Congrats. That was one exam I came out of with absolutely no idea how I went.
Jun 18, 2019 11:04 AM
Rami Kaibni
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Agreed, it is not an easy exam at all.
Jun 20, 2019 3:06 PM
Stéphane Parent
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Congratulations Mahdi. I'm looking forward to taking the exam this year.
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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jun 11, 2019 5:35 PM
Replying to Mahdi Alami Hamedane
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I totally agree that exam is harder than PMP. Cleared it today and it indeed was one of the most confusing exams I ever took. Everything is situational where memorization with no firm grip of the agile mindset will be of no value.
That's great that you passed. Congrats. That was one exam I came out of with absolutely no idea how I went.
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1 reply by Shrinath Iyengar
Jun 20, 2019 5:41 AM
Shrinath Iyengar
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Completely agree with you Sante. I passed the PMI-ACP exam on June 18, 2019 with an 'above target' in all asessment areas. However, throughout the exam I wasn't really confident of my answers and was half prepared to get a fail result. Was more nervous during the PMI-ACP exam than the PMP certification exam. Overall, I found PMI-ACP more difficult than PMP.

Regards,

Shrinath
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Wade Harshman Scrum Master| GDIT Indianapolis, In, United States
Apr 10, 2018 3:05 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Christopher -

Really depends on how much your mindset is aligned with the Manifesto's values & principles. If you are already being agile, it's a fairly simple exam to pass as it does not challenge you with advanced scenarios for any specific agile framework or methodology although you will want to be comfortable with basic Scrum concepts and (to a lesser degree) XP, Lean & Kanban.

I probably studied no more than a day or two of effort over a period of two weeks (elapsed time) using Andy Crowe's prep book and wrote and passed the exam in under an hour.

Kiron
This is good to know. I don't mean to sound cynical, but I wondered if the ACP was in agreement with actual Agile values and principles. I always feared that the ACP represented a PMI-flavored version of agility that favored management and planning over empowerment and adaptation. Knowing that the ACP is aligned to generally accepted agility principles makes me want to take the exam.
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Jun 11, 2019 5:35 PM
Replying to Mahdi Alami Hamedane
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I totally agree that exam is harder than PMP. Cleared it today and it indeed was one of the most confusing exams I ever took. Everything is situational where memorization with no firm grip of the agile mindset will be of no value.
Agreed, it is not an easy exam at all.
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