GCIH Certification 3.5.15 - Passed w/ 85%

valbizuresjr81valbizuresjr81 Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
in GIAC
Hello Everyone,

First post here so I figured I'd give back to the community. I took SANS 504 this past October in Las Vegas. John Strand was the teacher. First off, John Strand is the man. He's so down to earth and delivers the material excellently.

I gotta say I got a man crush. This guy is legit. Check him out at Black Hills Security.
The material itself is very engaging.

I never read the books cover to cover as many recommended. I simply didn't have the time or the will power, but here is my advice none the less.

INDEX.
My index was ~30 pages w/ about 400 key points. My descriptions were a bit long which made my index longer than it really had to be. There were some key terms that I didn't have. My recommendation in hind sight. Go through the book page by page and index everything.

Tools, Attacks, Concepts, etc. Know the book and page number it's in.

I looked up ~80 percent of the questions, some times to simply confirm my answer. I had plenty of time, but I credit that to being able to find what I was looking for immediately.

If you can read the books, do it. Knowing the material is important specially when you're given logs and asked to describe what is taking place.

The exam is just like the practice exams. Same types of questions, same difficulty. I scored a 73 and a 79 on my practice exams. Use these exams to fine tune your index.

The most important piece of advice I can give anyone is to get a good night sleep and take a pre test ****. I learned this a couple of years ago. :)

I hope this helps anyone taking the test in the near future.

God speed.
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Comments

  • jensmith592jensmith592 Member Posts: 23 ■□□□□□□□□□
    congratulations on passing! Great score. So I assume the practice tests were easier than the exam in your opinion?
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  • valbizuresjr81valbizuresjr81 Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
    No. Same exact difficulty. I think that by the third test my index was just better than what it was on my first exams.
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  • jensmith592jensmith592 Member Posts: 23 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I understand completely. Making the index better and better as your progressed through the practice tests. It couldn't of been difficult for you with a 85% score :) That test was to easy for ya
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  • KingEloKingElo Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    The practice tests are a good indication of where you stand for the real exam. I scored a 78 and an 87 on the practice exams and an 86 on the actual exam. There are a lot more scenario based questions on the real exam though.
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  • fuz1onfuz1on Member Posts: 961 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats! Great score too! What's next?
    timku.com(puter) | ProHacker.Co(nsultant) | ITaaS.Co(nstultant) | ThePenTester.net | @fuz1on
    Transmosis | http://transmosis.com | LinkedIn | https://linkedin.com/in/t1mku
    If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it. - Epictetus
    The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. - Buddha
    If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. - Unknown
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  • chanakyajupudichanakyajupudi Member Posts: 712
    Congratulations!
    Work In Progress - RHCA [ ] Certified Cloud Security Professional [ ] GMON/GWAPT if Work Study is accepted [ ]
    http://adarsh.amazonwebservices.ninja


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  • E Double UE Double U Member Posts: 2,233 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Congrats!

    Taking the course with Strand in May so looking forward to it.
    Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS
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  • EngRobEngRob Member Posts: 247 ■■■□□□□□□□
    valbizuresjr81 wrote: »
    The most important piece of advice I can give anyone is to get a good night sleep and take a pre test ****. I learned this a couple of years ago. :)

    We don't encourage **** here............oh wait, THAT kinda ****......my bad icon_lol.gif

    Congrats on the pass!
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  • valbizuresjr81valbizuresjr81 Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Thanks for all the congrats. Just started a What's next thread to get input on where I should go from here.

    - God Speed.
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  • calliclescallicles Member Posts: 13 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congratulations!
    Passed: GCIA, GWAPT, GCIH Goals: GCFE, GCFA
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  • impelseimpelse Member Posts: 1,237 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats
    Stop RDP Brute Force Attack with our RDP Firewall : http://www.thehost1.com
    It is your personal IPS to stop the attack.

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  • ccnpninjaccnpninja Member Posts: 1,010 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Nice job!
    my blog:https://keyboardbanger.com
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  • FillAwfulFillAwful Member Posts: 119 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I was hoping you could clear up some confusion for me. I don't understand what you are referring to when you say INDEX. Are you able to take materials into the test or is this just a good practice for study and memorization?
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  • cyberguyprcyberguypr Mod Posts: 6,928 Mod
    You can take most printed material into the exam. Course books, other books as needed, printed PDF **** sheets for tools, etc. Most of us make an index of terms. See: http://www.techexams.net/forums/sans-institute-giac-certifications/98047-passed-gcih.html
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