Passed CISSP! 04/14
Wow, where to start. It was rough, not necessarily difficult, just different. A lot different than I had expected. Shortly into it I actually wondered if it was possible that I was taking the new exam because of how different it was than I had expected. I had no idea if I was passing or failing during the exam. "Think like a manager" and "this exam is not technical" cannot be overstated. "A mile wide and an inch deep" is an understatement. I finished in around 4 hours and 15 minutes after reviewing maybe 5 questions I had flagged. I often second guess myself and usually change to the wrong answer so I wanted to avoid flagging many and hit submit.
Material I used:
Cybrary.IT videos - 5/5. First and foremost these were the most helpful, Kelly did an awesome job and dives in just deep enough, everything else went too deep. I watched these like 2 or 3 times.
CBT Nuggets - 4/5. Knocked these out in a weekend, only like 12 hours of video and they're pretty good. More technical than the Cybrary course, not quite as good IMO.
Conrad's 11th hour - 4/5. Great for review, only book I needed.
Conrad's 2nd edition - Can't give a fair rating. I read maybe 150 pages, it went too deep IMO. The knowledge is great but with my timeline(1.5 months) I didn't have time to go that deep.
Combined notes pdf - 4/5 ..thanks to the person on here that posted this, very very good. Wish I had found this sooner.
Sunflower pdf - Good, but I preferred the combined notes.
2 week bootcamp through work - 3/5. Gave a solid baseline. Not the best I've been to. I watched Cybrary's videos on the domain that we covered each day after coming home because Kelly just has a way of clearly explaining things.
CCCure paid - Came with the bootcamp, seemed decent but too technical. Stopped using it after reading less than favorable reviews on here.
M&H online quizzes - Not as technical, liked more than CCCure.
Shon Harris 3rd ed exam book - The one that came out on March 20th. Probably my favorite practice quizzes, reading why answers were right and wrong put some things into perspective.
Here are some quick tips to future testers, I'm sure you've already heard most but even after reading and being told this stuff who knows how many times I still don't think I totally understood what they meant until the exam was over:
1. Take you technical hat off. Put on the CEO/CIO/Senior Manager hat.
2. Don't dive too deep. As others have said, concepts.
3. Take breaks. I took a break every hour for 10+ minutes, it really helps. I even took a break with 10 questions left because an hour was up and I felt like I was losing focus, be consistent. Eat something, stay hydrated, do not think about the exam while on break. I was the only one out of 5 that took regular breaks, some didn't take breaks at all, not sure how they stayed focused. Don't worry about time, there's plenty.
Overall I learned a lot in a little over a month that I spent studying for this. I focused on too many technical things that aren't needed but in the end it's new knowledge so I can't complain. And huge thanks to the members of this forum, reading the review threads daily really helped.
Material I used:
Cybrary.IT videos - 5/5. First and foremost these were the most helpful, Kelly did an awesome job and dives in just deep enough, everything else went too deep. I watched these like 2 or 3 times.
CBT Nuggets - 4/5. Knocked these out in a weekend, only like 12 hours of video and they're pretty good. More technical than the Cybrary course, not quite as good IMO.
Conrad's 11th hour - 4/5. Great for review, only book I needed.
Conrad's 2nd edition - Can't give a fair rating. I read maybe 150 pages, it went too deep IMO. The knowledge is great but with my timeline(1.5 months) I didn't have time to go that deep.
Combined notes pdf - 4/5 ..thanks to the person on here that posted this, very very good. Wish I had found this sooner.
Sunflower pdf - Good, but I preferred the combined notes.
2 week bootcamp through work - 3/5. Gave a solid baseline. Not the best I've been to. I watched Cybrary's videos on the domain that we covered each day after coming home because Kelly just has a way of clearly explaining things.
CCCure paid - Came with the bootcamp, seemed decent but too technical. Stopped using it after reading less than favorable reviews on here.
M&H online quizzes - Not as technical, liked more than CCCure.
Shon Harris 3rd ed exam book - The one that came out on March 20th. Probably my favorite practice quizzes, reading why answers were right and wrong put some things into perspective.
Here are some quick tips to future testers, I'm sure you've already heard most but even after reading and being told this stuff who knows how many times I still don't think I totally understood what they meant until the exam was over:
1. Take you technical hat off. Put on the CEO/CIO/Senior Manager hat.
2. Don't dive too deep. As others have said, concepts.
3. Take breaks. I took a break every hour for 10+ minutes, it really helps. I even took a break with 10 questions left because an hour was up and I felt like I was losing focus, be consistent. Eat something, stay hydrated, do not think about the exam while on break. I was the only one out of 5 that took regular breaks, some didn't take breaks at all, not sure how they stayed focused. Don't worry about time, there's plenty.
Overall I learned a lot in a little over a month that I spent studying for this. I focused on too many technical things that aren't needed but in the end it's new knowledge so I can't complain. And huge thanks to the members of this forum, reading the review threads daily really helped.
Comments
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fasc
Member Posts: 13 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations and thank you for the detailed feedback. Wish you the best! -
jonwinterburn
Member Posts: 161 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congratulations! Totally agree on the CBT Nuggets, I think they're too rushed. Cybrary is awesome. -
Chuzpah
Member Posts: 68 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congrats Codyy! I passed today as well and what a feeling that is!
-
zme783
Member Posts: 43 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations!
Can you share the link for CBT Nuggets please? I am planning to take up the exam in may. -
Codyy
Member Posts: 223 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations!
Can you share the link for CBT Nuggets please? I am planning to take up the exam in may.
Thanks everyone. Just google the CBT Nuggets site and search the site for CISSP. They offer a 7 day free trial which is plenty of time to watch all of the videos.
Agreed about them being rushed jonwinterburn. Oddly their Network+ course is 24 hours and CISSP is half of that.. -
zme783
Member Posts: 43 ■■■□□□□□□□
Thank you! I found the link.
Prep begins slow and stead, hope I clear this time. -
kjrhodes
Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hi,
Where can I find:
1. M&H online quizzes
2. Combined notes pdf
that you mention in your post? -
Hunter85
Member Posts: 60 ■■■□□□□□□□
M&H can be accessed here McGraw-Hill Education | CISSP Practice Exams
Can someone share sunflower and combined notes pdf?
