Failed CISSP with 629 :(

Hi everyone,

Took my CISSP today and my scaled score was 629

I've been studying on/off but really sat down the last month or so and created somewhat of a plan for myself. Read and highlighted 11th hour. Here are the other material that I used:

-Eric Conrad 11th hour 1st edition
-24/7 books: Eic Conrad 2nd edition(only read topics that i had problems with in 11th hour) maybe read 4-5 domains from start to finish
-Shon Harris MP3 and I believe i went through all of them.
-Shon Harris practice questions and was scoring ~65-70

I also Paid for the CCCure a week before and started taking those tests on the daily basis until the test day. I was getting on average 76% towards the end but it got to a point where I knew some questions by heart and knew what the answers were reading the first couple of words. The test itself wasn't technical at ALL and more at the administrative level.

Just read someone else's story where too much time was spent on the first 80 questions and the same thing happened to me. My game plan was to read and re-read questions and I thought I was doing good until I got to about question 80 and that's when i realized that I had spent way too much time on those 80 questions and wasn't going to finish if I continued that pace. AND that's when everything went downhill. I started sweating like crazy and raced through the remainder of the test. Also, it was about 90 degree outside and seemed like they had the heater on inside the small room, which is another issue...

Here's my breakdown:
-Legal
-Architecture & Design
-Security governance
-Physical
-Access control
-Cryptography
-Software security
-Telecommunications
-Operations security
-BCP/DRP

I'm reading some other posts and getting pointers like GISP(more $$?) and Transcender. I'm planning on reading the official CBK(2nd ed) book from start to finish and highlight the crap out of it. Any other pointers? and thanks in advance

I'll go cry myself to sleep..

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Comments

jvrlopez

Sorry about that. How much time did you spend on those 80 questions?

CyberfiSecurity

If this is your first time fail, don't be discourage to stop studying it. I passed on the 4th attempt, believe it or not. Whenever I failed I just discourage and did not come back after over 6 months average. If this this your first attempt, attack more materials and come back in 30 days. Therefore, your brain still retain lot of information instead waiting for 6 months, then you have to go back from square one. Do not make mistakes like I did.

- I would recommend to take a look at the Office study guide 3rd edition or Shron Harris 6th edition.
- Transcender is the best out of CCCure and GISP. (I used all of them)

If you don't have money for books and practice test, you can sign up with Safari Book online on subscriptions. When you take the practice exam, ensure to look over the answer explanation whether you get it right or wrong.

LionelTeo

Whatever you get, just dont get the studiscope

Also, I had the official CBK, and I think it didnt help.

Shon Harris book will be your best next option.

dustervoice

did you spend a lot of time on the first 80 because the questions were long or answers were tricky?

TheProfezzor

Kindly answer the questions below:

How do you scale the questions you encountered?
Do you think Eric Conrad didn't cover all but most of the topics that were addressed in the questions?
Did any of the questions surprise you too much?. Why were you surprise?
How many DragNDrop and HotSpot questions did you get overall?
Did you see too many questions on TCSEC and OrangeBook?
How technical were the questions, on a scale of 1 to 10?
What's your experience in the industry?

Regards

MSP-IT

TheProfezzor wrote: »

Kindly answer the questions below:
How many DragNDrop and HotSpot questions did you get overall?

Did you see too many questions on TCSEC and OrangeBook?

How technical were the questions, on a scale of 1 to 10?

Regards

These would most likely be protected by the NDA. Be careful of what you ask.

beads

The 90 degree thing came immediately to mind. Been there in a small hot room so small that I had to push the chair in to open the door. Never do all that well in those types of environments. Lesson learned? Seek out a more comfortable testing center. Its a long enough test without needing to feel physically uncomfortable as well as mentally drained.

Alas. One thing I will tell you is the more commercial type tests you take the better you become at them. My current mentored is just getting the idea that academic tests don't always reflect what a commercial testing center for say Security+, Cisco CCNA or CISSP are like. More akin to taking the ACT, SAT, LSAT or GRE but with more physical security and constraints. Some people just adjust easily others need a "few under the belt" before becoming comfortable with the whole testing thing. Took me a couple of tests before I became comfortable myself.

Personally, I'd still prefer the paper based test rather than a testing center for my own reasons but we have beaten that horse to numerous serial deaths over the past couple of years - particularly on this board.

- B Eads

dullar

I feel like I can pass it if i take it again next week because now I know what to expect. I know all the material and probably need to go in detail in some of the domains to fully understand the concept and now the technical terms. I went in there thinking it would be more of a technical even though i've heard many people say it's not. I'm thinking about taking couple of weeks off and will come back in full speed. This feeling sucks though just sucks..

dullar

TheProfezzor wrote: »

Kindly answer the questions below:
How do you scale the questions you encountered?

Do you think Eric Conrad didn't cover all but most of the topics that were addressed in the questions?

Did any of the questions surprise you too much?. Why were you surprise?

How many DragNDrop and HotSpot questions did you get overall?

Did you see too many questions on TCSEC and OrangeBook?

How technical were the questions, on a scale of 1 to 10?

What's your experience in the industry?

Regards

Yeah, I can't into the details of the questions but I will say that I will be changing my game plan for the next time I take it. I have 6 years in the industry and I tried not to answer "how I would deal with it" for a question but I think I did on some of them. I think the best way to go about it is to put yourself in a managers shoes...that's coming from a guy that just failed the test?!?! Eric Conrad was a good book and I'l still use it to get a gist of a domain but I think I need to go to the Shon Harris books for more examples.

dullar

dustervoice wrote: »

did you spend a lot of time on the first 80 because the questions were long or answers were tricky?

My gameplan was to read each questions at least twice before looking at the answers and then read it again if I couldn't get the answer on the first shot. I ended up reading the question several times and was feeling good about myself until I realized that time was just flying by. Time management was horrible and I definitely need to improve that.

billyr2009

I am sorry to hear about this. I agree with the others do not give up. I actually just took the exam today for a 2nd time and passed. In my first experience with the exam I did something similar to you where I read teh questions 2 sometimes 3 times. you have to pace yourself, even with 6 hours 250 questions is a lot to go over with complete focus. Your mind wears down after some hours. My suggestion to you is to take in 4-6 weeks but continue studying hardcore and focus on your weak areas. Understand the concepts and take many practice questions. The GISP exam is helpful inmy opinion.