Gcia pass!!!
Just passed the GCIA this morning! The test was incredibly difficult. I scored an 82%, which was slightly higher than my second practice test score, which was a 78%. I did feel like the real exam was a lot harder though. At my highest point early on in the test I was at a 92% and was feeling good. Steadily my score when down to 80, then back up to 85 then to the final score of 82%.
All things considered I think the test was very fair. I had no experience in this space prior to taking the SEC503 class. I studied hard for another month and a half after the class. The material was extremely challenging during the class and for the first week of self-stufy. I was finally able to put the pieces together during the second week of studying. I used the class books, and the IDS book by Judy Novak and Stephen Northcutt, which helped fill in some gaps... do not use the snort info as its dated!
I indexed all books and made tabs on them all for quick reference. I also brought in various **** sheets to help with hex/decimal/binary conversions -> thanks for the **** sheet @josh.armentrout1. For those of you taking the test, make sure you are keeping track of your time, its too tempting to want to hunt down every answer you are pretty sure is correct, Just go with your instincts.
When I get around to another SANS class I will probably do SEC504 to round out my knowledge a little more, then I'll look into a specific field some more. I do enjoy incident response though...
All things considered I think the test was very fair. I had no experience in this space prior to taking the SEC503 class. I studied hard for another month and a half after the class. The material was extremely challenging during the class and for the first week of self-stufy. I was finally able to put the pieces together during the second week of studying. I used the class books, and the IDS book by Judy Novak and Stephen Northcutt, which helped fill in some gaps... do not use the snort info as its dated!
I indexed all books and made tabs on them all for quick reference. I also brought in various **** sheets to help with hex/decimal/binary conversions -> thanks for the **** sheet @josh.armentrout1. For those of you taking the test, make sure you are keeping track of your time, its too tempting to want to hunt down every answer you are pretty sure is correct, Just go with your instincts.
When I get around to another SANS class I will probably do SEC504 to round out my knowledge a little more, then I'll look into a specific field some more. I do enjoy incident response though...
Comments
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E Double U
Member Posts: 2,233 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congrats!
I'm taking SEC504 in two weeks and the instructor is John Strand.Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS -
j.petrov
Member Posts: 282
I hear he is great! Enjoy!!E Double U wrote: »Congrats!
I'm taking SEC504 in two weeks and the instructor is John Strand. -
JoJoCal19
Mod Posts: 2,835 Mod
Congrats on the pass!!!Have: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, eJPT, GCIA, GSEC, CCSP, CCSK, AWS CSAA, AWS CCP, OCI Foundations Associate, ITIL-F, MS Cyber Security - USF, BSBA - UF, MSISA - WGU
Currently Working On: Python, OSCP Prep
Next Up: OSCP
Studying: Code Academy (Python), Bash Scripting, Virtual Hacking Lab Coursework -
j.petrov
Member Posts: 282
For anyone interested in SEC503 (GCIA), look to take this with Mike Poor. He was awesome.. Great mix of learning with funny stories.
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Mike-Mike
Member Posts: 1,860
do you all pay out of pocket for this? or do you get your employer to cover it?Currently Working On
CWTS, then WireShark -
JoJoCal19
Mod Posts: 2,835 Mod
I got accepted to facilitate SEC503 (GCIA) at SANS Virginia Beach in August and my work is covering the $900 facilitator fee. I'm looking forward to the class since Mike Poor is teaching it.Have: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, eJPT, GCIA, GSEC, CCSP, CCSK, AWS CSAA, AWS CCP, OCI Foundations Associate, ITIL-F, MS Cyber Security - USF, BSBA - UF, MSISA - WGU
Currently Working On: Python, OSCP Prep
Next Up: OSCP
Studying: Code Academy (Python), Bash Scripting, Virtual Hacking Lab Coursework
