Failed CASP in 2014. Should I retake the exam this winter?

Ramjam

I've been studying and preparing diligently for EC Council's CEH v.8 since last November, and passed that exam this week. However, I now am contemplating tackling CompTIA CASP again. I failed in my first attempt to pass that exam on 13 Jun 2014 (Friday, the 13th) and believe I rushed through and made mistakes in the simulations. I attended four days of boot camp training by TrainingCamp but otherwise had no other preparation. Our instructor urged the class to take the exam at week's end or else we would forget many of the concepts and terminology that he taught us once we returned to the daily grind and distractions of work.

On CompTIA's web site, it has been announced that they are rolling out CAS-002 10 days from now, which I understand has even more simulations. I'm considering purchasing a voucher for CAS-001 and will attempt to pass the first version of this exam since I have familiarity and it could be some time before any books, videos, and practice exam questions are available for CAS-002. This time, I will approach the CASP as I did the CEH and draw upon multiple resources and make sure I am prepared. I work for DoD and thus have access to the following:

• FedVTE (Carnegie Mellon University) - Note: going offline at the end of this month for a few weeks.
• O'Reilly Safari Online Library
• U.S. Army SkillPort CBTs

I hope these resources will be enough to prepare me. The government paid for my voucher the first time, but I'll be paying $402 out of pocket this time. Also, I noticed some third party sites that sale discounted exam vouchers such as ITexamvouchers.com. Are they legitimate or scams?

fuz1on

GetCertified4Less.com
CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner, casp
Our Price: $369.00

CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner Test Voucher Pearson VUE expires on February 15th, 2015.
Our Price: $359.99

This is the most legit place. The deliver right away (during business hours) and give you a free practice exam - most of the time. I've gotten numerous vouchers here with absolutely no problems. I think most people use their site too.

An update to the CASP certification exam launches January 20, 2015. The new exam CAS-002 replaces CAS-001, which will retire on June 20, 2015.

*edit* I assume you can still take the CAS-001 until June?

BTW, I'm taking the CASP on Thursday so I'm going to be in cram session study mode. If you want to study...let me know!

PJ_Sneakers

I've used both of the sites mentioned above for vouchers, and had a positive experience with each.

Ramjam

Good luck with the CASP on Thursday, fuz1on! I would help you study over the next few days but I'm still in decompression mode from studying and taking the CEH v.8 exam this past Monday. I will begin studying for the CASP on Saturday.

PJ_sneakers and fuz1on,

Thanks for your advice and recommendations on the 3rd party exam voucher sites. I feel safe going with them now.

overthetop

Not retaking the exam is like walking outside and falling and deciding to lay on the ground. Get back up stronger physically and mentally than before!

fuz1on

Ramjam wrote: »

Good luck with the CASP on Thursday, fuz1on! I would help you study over the next few days but I'm still in decompression mode from studying and taking the CEH v.8 exam this past Monday. I will begin studying for the CASP on Saturday.

Thanks and congrats on passing the CEH v8. So many more doors are going to be open for you - if they aren't already!

overthetop wrote: »

Not retaking the exam is like walking outside and falling and deciding to lay on the ground. Get back up stronger physically and mentally than before!

I know that failure is a key ingredient to success...or possible future success!

Ramjam

Yes. I must agree with you both, overthetop and fuz1on. Conceding defeat after not clearing CASP the first time only makes me more motivated to conquer this certification obstacle. Unlike the first time, I will exhaust all available study resources until I am confident enough to sit for the exam.

fuz1on

I'm taking this tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Ramjam

Yes. I have confidence that you will do well tomorrow. Good luck, fuz1on!

fuz1on

Thanks @Ramjam!

MrAgent

I am considering doing CASP after the OSCP.
I would definitely take it again if I failed it previously

@fuz1on, how did your exam go?

fuz1on

Studying...in a couple hours. Actually, taking a break...after another session. I went over cryptography pretty extensively yesterday because I felt that was my weakest domain after taking both Sec+/Cloud+. I'm a little lucky because I worked at a large enterprise (5k-10k+) on a couple of different occasions. Also, I actually was team lead for AD/cloud migration so I got relevant experience without even really realizing it at the time!

fuz1on

I failed! I was pretty confident I was going to pass and I felt I had a good grasp on the material. I felt relaxed throughout the whole test and finished with an hour left then went back and changed a few answers. I think I messed myself up there. Too bad we don't get a score - I think I just missed it. Nothing seemed different from my previous passes...

MrAgent

Oh man sorry to hear!

fuz1on

MrAgent wrote: »

Oh man sorry to hear!

Yeah...disappointing but sometimes it's good to face adversity so you don't get too comfortable! I am going to retake it but not until I finish some other certs I have lined up. The only reason I took it yesterday was an early expiration voucher that had to be used before 1/20 Now that it's around $400 - the return on value is definitely not there anymore!

faauuga684

Sorry to hear that..so was it CAS 001 or CAS 002 you took? Do we have the option to choose CAS 001 or 002? I'm sure its the same material no matter what the version. I'm studying CAS 002 version that came out in Oct 2014. What did you use to study with?

fuz1on

faauuga684 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that..so was it CAS 001 or CAS 002 you took? Do we have the option to choose CAS 001 or 002? I'm sure its the same material no matter what the version. I'm studying CAS 002 version that came out in Oct 2014. What did you use to study with?

I took CAS-001 but it seemed like all the test material didn't really fit with the McGraw-Hill book I used. Don't get me wrong - it prepared me but I hardly got any questions on cryptography which was my weakest domain. The luck of the draw - I guess - which is why I decided that I should just take it again ASAP while the material is still fresh.

*edit*

I officially decided to give it another go. The decision was aided by another price increase after 3/1 so I signed up for 2/27 . I'm going to diversify my study materials a bit which should help me digest anything new and pertinent that I missed the first time.

Ramjam

fuz1on,

This is the first time in a few days I've logged in here; I'm sorry to learn of your experience with the CASP a couple days ago, but encourage you to take it again as I plan to do. Like you, I remember changing several answers at the end, potentially leading to my failure. While I have a good grasp on cryptography, I need to bone up on cloud technology and networking. My job revolves around layers 4-7 of the OSI model and not so much layers 1-3. Therefore, I'm contemplating stuying for CCNA in concert with CASP. Additionally, I will recieve intensive training in Amazon Cloud technologies on the job over the next few weeks, which should help bolster my knowledge in that area. Thanks for the "heads up" on another CompTIA price increase on March 1st.

faauuga684

Are u going to take the same CAS 001 or the new CAS 002 version? You're making me nervous, I was hoping to take it by mid feb, so would think majority of the test was cryptography?

fuz1on

Same version. It's mostly on enterprise compliance and best practices but I was weak at cryptography.