PMPA study plan

Distinguish project, program, and portfolio governance, and map each PMPA domain to the lifecycle phase where it carries the most weight.

Build a scope baseline by decomposing a sample deliverable into a WBS three levels deep with a WBS dictionary entry for every work package.

Write scope statements that pass the test of being measurable and exclusive, then rewrite two weak examples to meet that standard.

Explain how requirements traceability links business needs to deliverables and acceptance criteria, using a worked example.

Sequence activities using finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish logic, and justify each dependency as mandatory or discretionary.

Estimate durations with three-point (PERT) analysis and compute the expected duration and standard deviation for at least five activities.

Perform forward and backward pass on a 15-activity network to derive early start, early finish, late start, late finish, and total float.

Identify the critical path and explain how float changes when a predecessor slips by a stated number of days.

Distinguish analogous, parametric, bottom-up, and three-point cost estimating and state when each is defensible.

Compute cost and schedule variances, CPI, SPI, TCPI, and EAC using earned value formulas on a mid-project dataset.

Interpret whether a project is ahead or behind and over or under budget when SPI and CPI disagree, and recommend a corrective action.

Build a risk register with probability and impact ratings, then rank risks using expected monetary value and a probability-impact matrix.

Select a response strategy (avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, escalate for threats; exploit, enhance, share, accept for opportunities) for each of six identified risks.

Explain how contingency and management reserves differ and which one the cost baseline includes.

Draft a stakeholder register and power/interest grid, then assign an engagement strategy to each quadrant.

Write a communications management plan that specifies audience, message, channel, frequency, and owner for at least six stakeholder groups.

Define quality metrics with acceptance thresholds and design a quality control check that would detect a defect before delivery.

Distinguish cost of prevention, appraisal, and failure, and classify five sample quality activities accordingly.

Explain how resource calendars, RACI assignments, and team ground rules reduce conflict before it starts.

Compare fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, and time-and-materials contracts and match each to a scenario with defined or undefined scope.

Identify the procurement documents, selection criteria, and make-or-buy analysis steps that precede a contract award.

Explain how the project charter authorizes the project and how the project manager's authority derives from it and from the organizational structure.

Contrast functional, matrix, and projectized structures by their effect on resource control, reporting lines, and conflict frequency.

Choose the correct control technique (inspection, variance analysis, trend analysis, or earned value) for five monitoring scenarios and justify each choice.

Write change requests and assess their impact on scope, schedule, cost, and quality before approval, including who has authority to approve.

Describe how to run a team performance assessment and a conflict-resolution conversation using a stated model of conflict handling.

Explain configuration management and how it prevents unauthorized changes to baselined deliverables.

Diagnose three project health problems from performance data and propose specific corrective actions.

List the closure activities for scope verification, contract closure, and administrative closure and place them in the correct order.

Draft a lessons-learned structure that captures what worked, what failed, and what changes the organization should adopt.

Explain how benefits are measured after handover and who owns that measurement.

Apply the professional responsibility obligations of accuracy, confidentiality, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and honest reporting to four short scenarios.

Identify the ethical response when asked to compress a schedule in a way that hides a known quality risk.

Complete two full-length timed practice exams and log every missed question by domain and error type (knowledge gap, misread, or calculation error).

Re-study the two weakest domains using the error log, focusing on the specific concepts missed rather than whole domains.

Rehearse the earned value and network-diagram calculations until each is completed accurately under time pressure.

Review formula sheet, key definitions, and process sequences for final recall.