Laura’s CBAP Journey: Today is the Day! (Week 12, Part 1)

Just a quick post to ask you to send me good vibes. Today is the day I sit for the CBAP. Around 1 pm MST, I’ll be at Red Rocks Community College here in Golden, Colorado, beginning the first of those 150 questions.

Since the middle of last week, I’ve done a lot of last minute prep which is helping me feel more confident. Here’s a quick rundown of my last-minute efforts:

  • Analyze results of the CBAP full exam simulation and re-review relevant sections of the BABOK and my notes to fill in obvious knowledge gaps.
  • Read the Underlying Competencies section, which had not yet been part of my “deep dive” since I’m likely to only get 2-3 questions on the exam in this area.
  • Drew out a model of the inputs and outputs of the first 4 knowledge areas, to visually walk-through for myself how they related.  I only stopped because I ran out of paper and, well, it was time for dinner. 🙂 This was a valuable exercise as it helped me clarify some of the relationships between tasks and it would be great to see if someone could pull this together with no overlapping lines!
  • Did one last review of my notes, focusing on the purpose for each task and technique.
  • Confirmed the exam logistics. Went over my confirmation email with a fine tune comb for instructions. Since I’ll be at a Community College, confirmed the location of the exam place within the college, printed out duplicate directions, and typed up a quick schedule to allow for pre-exam snacks AND extra time in case something unexpected happens.
You’ll notice I did not decide to take a second practice exam. After reading your comments on last Friday’s post, I decided a full exam might consume energy better spent reviewing the materials themselves and perhaps create more doubt when I needed to just trust myself and my knowledge.
I’ll let you know how it goes and I’ll be back on Friday to share my experience with the exam itself!

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

14 thoughts on “Laura’s CBAP Journey: Today is the Day! (Week 12, Part 1)”

  1. Thanks so much everyone for the congrats. It’s been a whirlwind of a few days as yesterday we had a big IIBA Denver meeting too! Now, it’s time to relax a bit and just make sure that Bridging the Gap and My BA Career are ready for my leave!

    Eve, about halfway through the exam, I actually thought I would fail. Most of the questions weren’t making much sense. I was a bit sad about that, but will share more tomorrow. There is still a weight sitting over me as I’m not quite sure why I passed. And that’s unsettling. Still, we did celebrate with a Whole Foods smorgasbord for dinner. Ice cream is just a regular at this point! 🙂

    1. Laura, I had no doubts at all you would pass! Congratulations! Now go eat some well-deserved ice cream or your choice of guilty celebratory food item (if you haven’t already).

      Does it feel like a weight has been lifted?

  2. Hi Laura,

    Wish you all the very best, cant wait to see one more addition to the CBAP group.

    Regards
    Jayesh Jain

  3. Boom, chk, Boom, Boom chk, chk, Boom, chk Boom
    (turn up care stereo loud and repeat)

    Sending out some pounding bass vibes from Orlando, Florida, booming out to you Brandenburg – the baddest blogger and Business Analyst in BABOK land.

    Aprovecha! (español for “Go for it!”)

  4. Laura, all my positive thoughts and vibes are sent to you as I write this. Starting from a blank sheet of paper is always the way to go when studying for a test. Understanding the relationships is important…
    You got this Laura!!!!

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