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Brain Sensei PMP Review [2022]: Features, Plan & Our Experience [Save 10%]

March 31, 2022

Studying for and completing the PMP® exam can be a tedious process. There’s a ton of information to take in, educational contact hour requirements to meet and a multiple-hour long exam to pass. Between the sheer volume of material to study and the need to perform on exam day, it stands to reason that one’s exam results are directly related to how one prepares. Covering all the material beforehand is certainly important, as is taking practice exams, but how well this information is absorbed and retained is ultimately what matters most. Enter Brain Sensei. Founded and created by two Certified PMPs, Brain Sensei’s courses are designed to break the mold of standardized, boring study material by presenting it in an engaging, enjoyable and effective manner, while also achieving a 99.6% pass rate for their students! Based on the uniqueness of Brain Sensei’s approach, I had to try it out myself! If you’re looking to become PMP®-certified and need an accredited online exam prep course with a unique approach to learning, continue onward and check out my Brain Sensei review!

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Brain Sensei's Story-Based Learning Approach

Brain Sensei was originally created by John and Chris – two successful entrepreneurs and Certified Project Managers who found themselves feeling bored while going through the PMP® training programs available to them. Between bland material and overly “corporate” tonality of these training courses, John and Chris knew that there must be a more interesting and exciting way to study for the PMP® exam. After all, project management is an exciting, dynamic field…why should exam preparation be any different?

Described as “eLearning with a punch”, Brain Sensei relies on one of the oldest and most fundamental ways in which humans exchange information – story-telling.

Set during Feudal Japan, Brain Sensei’s course draws parallels between the trials and tribulations of a young samurai and her village with the concepts, principles and challenges we encounter as project managers, along with how to utilize them as PMPs.

Brian Sensei’s learning modules stay interesting and engaging as you’re introduced to new story-lines throughout the course. These visual metaphors and comparisons are quite helpful in actually understanding the concepts and retaining the information presented, too.

Many training programs and prep courses are solid conceptually, but don’t relate to the real world. This lack of ‘reality’ can make it hard to fully understand the concepts being taught. Brain Sensei solves this problem by making constant comparisons between required topics and concepts to situations many of us PMs face in real life.

Throughout the entire course, course members will complete thirteen different story lines across nine learning modules, each of which is focused on a core subject that the PMP® exam curriculum covers, including both predictive (traditional / waterfall) and adaptive (agile and hybrid) project management practices.

If you’d like to hear more from Brain Sensei about the science behind story-based learning, click below!

What Does Brain Sensei's PMP Course Include?

Before I discuss my experience of actually trying Brain Sensei’s online PMP® course, let’s talk about what you should expect to receive after purchasing the course and becoming a course member.

Is Brain Sensei Approved By PMI?

As you probably know already, PMI requires that you receive 35 contact hours of formal project management education before you can sit for the PMP® exam. These required hours of education are often referred to as Professional Development Units (PDUs).

Both Brain Sensei’s PMP® Exam Prep Self-Paced Course and their PMP® Exam Prep Complete Course With Live Virtual Instructors will provide you with all of the required education and contact hours you’ll need to sit for the exam once you complete the course.

Learning Modules & Assessment Quizzes

Brain Sensei’s online PMP® course features nine learning modules in total, each of which is presented in an easy-to-navigate format. All modules include video explanations, interactive learning and self-assessment quizzes.

Each topic is covered in ‘bite-sized’ pieces – there’s never a wall of text or lack of guidance. Course materials are presented in a very manageable format. The frequent quizzes and engaging modules keep the user constantly engaged and paying attention each step of the way.

Note: to completely pass Brain Sensei’s PMP® course, you must receive an 80% or better on each module’s practice exam.

Video Walkthroughs Of Learning Modules (New!)

Are you the type that enjoys video guidance and instruction? Brain Sensei has you covered. As a course member, you’ll gain access to Brain Sensei’s video walkthroughs of learning modules in the course.

Videos can be streamed though Brain Sensei’s podcast on either Apple or Spotify, and can be downloaded for offline on-the-go viewing from Apple, too!

Practice Exams & Material Updates

When you sign up for Brain Sensei, you gain access to an abundance of practice exam materials.

This includes three full-length, 180-question practice exams – complete with a timer – to simulate the exam as closely as possible. You’ll also gain access to a fourth practice exam: new PMP® Exam Simulator – more on that in the next section.

Exam questions are based on PMI’s Role Delineation Study (RDS). Practice exams incorporate the Agile practice guide, PMP® exam content outline, and PMI’s code of ethics & professional conduct.

Brain Sensei’s practice exams are constantly updated and optimized, too. Each question in their exam is psychometrically validated to ensure the questions are both efficient and effective – if a question is too easy or too difficult, the question is updated.

Said another way, Brain Sensei’s questions are constantly being evaluated and updated to give you the best quality exam prep material as possible.

You’ll be able to take these three standard practice tests until you achieve at least an 80% grade, which you will need on all three of these practice tests to completely pass Brain Sensei’s PMP® course.

Unlimited PMP Exam Simulator (New!)

After finishing a practice exam, do you find yourself wondering whether or not you’re fully prepared for the real exam? What if the practice questions didn’t cover everything on the official test?

Brain Sensei has the solution.

Not only does their PMP® prep course offer three full-length, 180-question practice exams, but Brain Sensei also provides you with an Unlimited PMP® Exam Simulator.

Their PMP® Exam Simulator randomly draws 180 practice questions from a bank of 1,500 exam questions to create a completely new practice test. Given that it’s unlimited, you get to take an entirely new practice exam every time you generate one in the simulator!

This allows for a much more comprehensive learning experience that provides you with exposure to a ton of practice exam questions ahead of taking the actual test.

The PMP® Exam Simulator also provides you with practice tests that consist of essential PMP® Acronyms and a Glossary of terms. You may utilize these practice tools as many times as you like, too.

Spaced Recognition System (SRS): Proprietary Memorization Tool

In addition to course access, Brain Sensei also offers a memorization tool that helps you memorize over 200 frequently-used terms and definitions. Using the free Anki flashcard app, you’ll be able to practice memorizing these terms on the go, which only helps you solidify your knowledge base even further. This tool is included with your course subscription and is completely unique to Brain Sensei!

Alignment With PMP & PMBOK

By enrolling in Brain Sensei’s online PMP® training course, you know you’re always studying the latest materials. Brain Sensei’s course aligns and is updated with the latest PMP® Certification Exam and PMBOK® Guide. As the time of writing, this includes the PMBOK® Guide, 7th edition.

How Long Does It Take To Complete Brain Sensei?

As we stated earlier, a subscription to Brain Sensei’s PMP® course grants you one (1) full year of 24/7 access to their online training materials. While Brain Sensei is structured to comply with PMI’s requirement of 35 contact training hours (PDUs) before sitting for the exam, Brain Sensei allows you to go through their training modules and practice exams as many times as you want!

100% PMP Exam Pass Guarantee¹

Many people who plan on taking a PMP® exam prep course ask the same question – what happens if I don’t pass the first time around?

I can’t speak for all course providers out there but with Brain Sensei, this is not a concern – they offer a 100% pass guarantee for their Self-Paced and Live Instructor PMP® Exam Prep Courses.

In fact, Brain Sensei’s students are already achieving a 99.6% first-try pass rate on PMP® and CAPM® exams!

If you have more questions on this, I highly recommend reading the full and transparent policy on Brain Sensei’s website if you’d like to understand all of their 100% guarantee conditions. In summary – you can gain additional free access to their Exam Prep modules should you not pass on your first or second attempt.

If you fail the PMP® exam three times after completing Brain Sensei’s course, you are eligible to receive a full refund (in accordance with their policy terms).

Pricing, Plans & Refunds

Brain Sensei offers three (3) PMP® prep course options, which we’ll go through in detail in the following sections. Regardless of which plan you choose, all prep materials are based on the PMBOK® Guide, 7th edition:

1.) PMP® Exam Simulator

2.) PMP® Exam Prep Self-Paced Course

3.) PMP® Exam Prep Complete Course With Live Virtual Instructors

A quick note: both the Self-Paced and Live Instructor courses come with a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee and a 100% pass guarantee¹ too.

Each of these courses offers something a little different, so one may be a better fit for your specific needs than the others. Let’s go through a breakdown of what’s included in each of these three course memberships to help you decide what’s right for you!

Feature & Price Comparison Table

$ 119

For 6 Months

24/7 Access For 6 Months
Three (3) Full 180-Question Practice Exams
Unlimited Access To Exam Simulator (Over 1,500 Questions)
Acronym Review
Glossary Review
Access To Facebook Group
Best-In-Class Customer Support
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

$ 499

For 12 Months

24/7 Access For 12 Months
Three (3) Full 180-Question Practice Exams
Unlimited Access To Exam Simulator (Over 1,500 Questions)
Earn 35 PDUs / Contact Hours At Your Own Pace
9 Story-Based Learning Modules
13 Story-Line Challenges
Acronym Review
Glossary Review
Access To Facebook Group
Best-In-Class Customer Support
100% Exam Pass Guarantee
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

$ 1,199

World-Class, Live Virtual Instructors
Earn 35 PDUs / Contact Hours With Instructed Classes
Structured, Accelerated Class Schedules
5-day Bootcamp, Weeknight & Weekend Options Available
24/7, 12-Month Access To PMP Self-Guided Course ($499.99 Val.)
Includes 3 Practice Exams + 1,500-Qu. Exam Simulator Pkg.
Includes All Online Course Modules
Includes Acronym & Glossary Review
Access To Facebook Group
Best-In-Class Customer Support
100% Exam Pass Guarantee
100% Refund Guarantee

Scroll below for a bit mre detail about what each of these course options include!

Option #1: PMP Exam Simulator (New!)

Enrolling in Brain Sensei’s PMP® Exam Simulator Course will cost $119.99. This subscription grants you all of the following:

Six (6) months of 24/7 access.
Access to three full 180-question practice exams
Unlimited access to Brain Sensei’s PMP® Exam Simulator, which will generate a randomized 180-question practice exam from their 1,500 question bank. A different exam every time!
Acronym review.
Glossary review.
Access to Brain Sensei’s Facebook group, where you can discuss what you’re learning with staff and other enrollees.
Best-in-class customer support: hear back from their team within an hour of your request.
30-day, 100% money-back guarantee

Best For: Those who plan to get their 35 PDUs / Contact Hours elsewhere but still want access to practice exam materials (and more).

Save $11.99 (10%) Using Promo Code ‘PMPROBLEMS’!

Option #2: PMP Exam Prep Self-Paced Course

Enrolling in Brain Sensei’s Self-Paced PMP® Course will cost $499.99. This subscription grants you all of the following, including everything that’s included in the PMP® Exam Simulator described above:

One (1) full year of 24/7 access to their online course, in which you can run through 9 story-based modules and 13 storyline challenges.
Access to three full 180-question practice exams
Unlimited access to Brain Sensei’s PMP® Exam Simulator, which will generate a randomized 180-question practice exam from their 1,500 question bank. A different exam every time!
Acronym review.
Glossary review.
Spaced Repetition System for retaining key project management terminologies and concepts.
Access to Brain Sensei’s Facebook group, where you can discuss what you’re learning with staff and other enrollees.
Receive insightful emails from Brain Sensei about studying, exam prep and reminders to help you stay on track.
Downloadable templates, documents and vital information that is helpful to look at while completing modules.
Best-in-class customer support: hear back from their team within an hour of your request.
Stream video walkthroughs of modules on both Apple and Android (via Spotify) and view offline with Apple.
100% pass guarantee
30-day, 100% money-back guarantee (if you don’t start any practice exams)

Best For: Those who want to obtain 35 PDUs / Contact Hours and gain access to practice exam materials + more, while learning on your own time and schedule.

Save $49.99 (10%) Using Promo Code ‘PMPROBLEMS’!

Option #3: PMP Exam Prep Complete Course With Live Virtual Instructors (New!)

Enrolling in Brain Sensei’s Complete PMP® Course with Live Virtual Instructors will cost $1,199.99. This subscription grants you all of the following, including the PMP® Exam Simulator AND Self-Paced Course described above:

Attend virtual classes with world-class, live instructors on an accelerated, structured schedule.
Multiple schedule configurations to choose from, including 5-day bootcamp, weeknight and weekend options.
One (1) full year of 24/7 access to their Self-Paced Online Course (option #2 above), including learning modules, four (4) full practice exams, free downloads and more (a $499.99 value).
Self-Paced Online Course fulfills 35 PDU / contact hour requirement.
Spaced Repetition System for retaining key project management terminologies and concepts.
Access to Brain Sensei’s Facebook group, where you can discuss what you’re learning with staff and other enrollees.
Best-in-class customer support: hear back from their team within an hour of your request.
100% pass guarantee
30-day, 100% money-back guarantee (if you don’t start any practice exams)

Best For: Those who want to obtain 35 PDUs / Contact Hours from high-quality, live (virtual) instructors on an accelerated, set schedule, while also gaining access to practice exams, learning modules + more to practice on your own time.

Save $119.99 (10%) Using Promo Code ‘PMPROBLEMS’!

Notable Organizations Who've Enrolled In Brain Sensei

It’s worth noting that PMPs from many well-established and competitive organizations have utilized Brain Sensei‘s online PMP® course to prep for the exam. This includes organizations like Apple, Microsoft, Johns Hopkins, Uber, MIT, HP, Disney, U.S. Army and more!

Trying It Out: My Brain Sensei PMP Review

Now that we’ve covered some key info about Brain Sensei‘s accreditations, course benefits and purchase details, it’s time for the fun stuff. Let’s get into my Brain Sensei review – my impressions, opinions and verdict!

My First Impression

After receiving my login credentials in an email, it was time to dive in. I’ll be honest – given that Brain Sensei‘s approach is so unique, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, various exam prep courses I’ve taken over the years have been pretty much the same – lecturers, textbooks and standardized practice exams. How will these methods compare to a story-based course set in feudal Japan? Is this course going to feel like a video game? Strategy game? Cartoon?

It’s not a video game or cartoon in a traditional sense, but it’s a lot more than just reading slides and hitting ‘next’, or listening to a lecture.

This may sound a bit odd but it’s meant in the most complimentary way possible – Brain Sensei’s course has a similar essence to a mystery dinner performance.

Many mystery dinners restaurant experiences include all of the aspects you’d expect from dining at a normal fine restaurant – attentive waitstaff, a several course meal, atmosphere, the ability to socialize with others in your party and everything else that makes fine dining so fun. As a complement to all of the dinner fare, you also get to be immersed in an entertaining and engaging performance happening in tandem.

The mystery performance doesn’t take away from your dining experience – it adds to it.

Out of all the times we go to a restaurant in our lives, we typically only remember a small percentage of them. A mystery dinner show will likely be on that list.

Why? I believe it ties into Brain Sensei‘s philosophy that we learn and retain more information when it’s presented in an interesting manner.

Balance Between Story-Telling & Exam Prep

Make no mistake about it – Brain Sensei is a comprehensive and informative online PMP® exam prep course. While it’s made to be interesting, it’s still a proper prep course – this is a good thing!

Each learning module kicks off with a video clips that combines narrated information that’ll be covered in that module with a new story from our main samurai protagonist and the situations her and her village are facing.

Naturally, storylines draw parallels between the Japan-set environment with the project management principles being taught inside that particular module.

Schedules and milestones are analogous to saving her village as quickly as possible. Building and fortifying a castle to protect the villagers is a metaphor for a timely and satisfactory completion of a project.

Metaphors, imagery and comparisons are a cornerstone of Brain Sensei‘s course. After watching the animated videos that start each module, though, it’s time to get to work. After the initial video, the balance of the module is focused on covering key topics and completing self-assessment quizzes.

Modules are not overwhelming – information is covered slide-by-slide, so you’re never drowning in any one particular section. There are still many comparisons and metaphors interwoven with course topics in these sections too.

Even within sections that are purely informational (i.e. not quizzes), Brain Sensei‘s course will keep you engaged with brief true/false questions, Mad Lib-esq click/drag puzzles and other activities that keep you engaged. These intermediate ‘challenges’ provide just enough stimulation that make you think a bit more about what you learned in the previous slides, and the cumulative effect of these engaging interludes is often a deeper, ‘I get it’ type of understanding.

In summary, I feel that Brain Sensei strikes the balance very well between interesting storylines and engaging teaching with the level of content you’d expect from a Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) of the Project Management Institute (PMI)®.

Learn At Your Own Pace

The great thing about online course prep courses in comparison to attending a class is the ability to stop, start and cycle through material whenever you want. Brain Sensei allows users to essentially access whichever parts of the course they want – as often as they want – for the duration of their subscription.

When you log in to Brain Sensei via their website, you’ll be greeted with a simple, yet well-organized menu containing all nine learning modules and four practice exams. As you can see in the screenshot above, each module is neatly organized and navigable via a numbered sidebar menu, too. Other built-in resources include a glossary of terms being discussed as well. It’s generally very easy to navigate from module-to-module and within any particular module, too.

As we said earlier, enrolling in Brain Sensei‘s course also grants you access to their Facebook group, where you can ask questions and chat with other users.

Performance Requirements

We’ve covered it already but it’s worth mentioning here too – in order to pass Brain Sensei‘s course, you must score 80% or better on all module quizzes and all four practice exams. Personally, I think this is exactly what should be required, as the ultimate intent of taking a PMP® course is having the ability to pass the exam!

Given that I don’t know how every course out there operates, I just want to make the performance requirements of Brain Sensei clear for prospective course buyers. That said, I’m sure a large percentage of you reading this will be more than OK with a thorough comprehension requirement for completing a course like this.

My Final Verdict...

Now for the final verdict of my Brain Sensei PMP® course review. If you already want the convenience, autonomy and flexibility of an online PMP® prep course, I definitely recommend trying Brain Sensei and I truly believe you’ll be happy that you did!

Between regularly updated PMP® and PMBOK® content, four full-length practice exams, easy-to-navigate modules, 24/7 access, responsive support and a 100% pass guarantee¹, there’s not much more you can ask for from a PMP® course. The interesting storylines and engaging presentation is the icing on the cake.

That said, some people simply prefer in-person classes or having face time (albeit virtual in many cases) with an instructor – and that’s fine! Everyone learns differently and what works for you is all that really matters when the chips are down.

ENJOY 10% OFF USING MY PROMO CODE BELOW AT CHECKOUT!

PMPROBLEMS

Reg. $119.99

Reg. $499.99

Reg. $1,199.99

Notes:

1 – “100% Pass Guarantee” applies only to the Self-Paced and Live Instructor PMP Exam Prep Courses and CAPM Exam Prep Course. “100% Pass Guarantee” does NOT apply to PMP Exam Simulator program. Just making sure this is clear so as not to mislead!