The BEST Student Feedback EVER!
Yesterday, I received the following, absolutely incredible feedback from one of my students.This is why I am an instructor:
Now what I am about to tell you is VERY complimentary of you. Are you ready? Two days after our StudyCoach class ended, I attended a 6 day $4500 PMP Bootcamp Class. There were 5 other people in the class besides me. The instructor was very nice. He was definitely not as "current" as you. He works a full time day job but then teaches the course a few times a year. It is nice to have people teach courses who are working in real world experience to provide real world perspective, however for the PMP exam, it is helpful to have someone who has had hundreds of students like you and be able to synthesize all the feedback that is given to you. So for this PMP stuff, I think you and Kevin provided much better info.
For example, the instructor recommended to become a PMI member as the PMP exam would be $100+ cheaper. You said the same thing but you had factored in the price of the PMI membership, so you had already calculated it was only like a $35 difference. So the bootcamp instructor was truthful, but you and Kevin were a bit more "on the mark". And it was this sort of thing the entire 6 days during the class where the instructor said something one way, but then I remembered how you and Kevin had explained it much better, or much more accurately. Like the way you and Kevin really helped me understand the difference between Perform QC and Verify Scope.
But honestly, your PMPrepCast and your StudyCoach was far superior overall. As an instructor, your passion for PM shined through the entire time. The bootcamp instructor was not as sharp at some of the nuances and scenarios you talked about. For example, he said the Delphi Technique was like using SurveyMonkey. And I felt like I was just firehosed with information for 6 days without really having time to put concepts together.
One of the things I initially disliked about your StudyCoach course when it first started was that you approached the material from a standpoint of passing the PMP, rather than to become a better Project Manager. I was trying to integrate both. But now I have completely changed my opinion. What you did was the correct approach. For example, in the 6 day bootcamp class, there wasn't a clear distinction between blue sky and green sky and the concepts got muddled. In retrospect, I like how you and Kevin clearly focused on "what you need to pass the PMP exam". Perhaps you should just explain in your first class why you are taking this approach. I realize now it clearly is the superior approach.
Overall, the 6 day bootcamp was beneficial to hit through all the info again, but I still need more time to really connect the ITTOs. It was helpful to get some hands on time to calculate forward and backward pass, and there were some situational lab exercises that were quite excellent. For example, we had a scenario and each day had lab exercises based on the scenario. So that was definitely helpful to see how the concepts were used in context to a real world situation. One day we filled out a RACI chart based on an IT scenario.
Now I have lately been sinking my teeth into your PMsimulator. It is AMAZING. Seriously. AMAZING. Your questions are far superior to anything I have seen elsewhere. AMAZING. I have provided feedback to many of your questions so far with the feedback button.
The point of all of this is to tell you what a tremendous value StudyCoach program has been. What you said the first day about this being a marathon really sunk in. I really took that advice to heart and it really sobered me up to the seriousness of what I was preparing for. I had no idea this would be so demanding but glad you framed it up with the marathon analogy. It definitely has helped me dedicate the time.
In conclusion, StudyCoach is awesome and if only 5 people sign up then it isn't because the $600 price tag is too high. You are offering a tremendous value as I have just illustrated for you.
[Student Name]
P.S. I got on an airplane last week to Chicago and I didn't have my study materials with me in my bag. Then I remembered I had downloaded your PMFlashCards into my iPhone. Guess what? I spent 3.5 hours on the airplane going through your flashcards. You are awesome!!!
Quite humbling. And it made me laugh out loud in joy, so much in fact that my wife looked up from her desk going "What...? What??!!"