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DONE! Passed 11/7 after Training Camp.
ic3scrap3r
Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
in SSCP
I just passed Saturday. I took a Training Camp class in Dallas and passed the exam after 5 1/2 of the 6 hours.
I've been doing security work exclusively since 2005. I've stopped and started this process (via self-study) several times over the years. I think my experience and previous studies definitely played a role in my passing. I studied for and received my CISA several years ago which also covered some of this material, so that helped.
I took the Training Camp course last week in order to get dedicated study time and a skilled Trainer. Class started every day at 8 am and went to 7 PM or 7:30 almost every night. I think the course was a great investment of time and money. I don't think I could have passed the test without this class. The instructor, Buzz, was great. He presented the each major topic or item in a way that was easy to understand at a high level first, then dug into the specifics in the book afterwards so you had a base when reading the technical material. This really helped me. One key thing to remember, this Boot Camp is intended as an intense review. There will be items on the test not taught in class. Experience and other studying WILL be required!
Books and study Material in order of my purchase and reading.
CISSP All-In-One Shon Harris Fourth Edition
(ISC)2 Official CBK Participants Guide
Sunflower Review Notes
Cybrary CISSP videos and MP3s.
Quizlet (ISC)2 Official Flash Cards (These are free and are the exact same flash cards they gave us at the class)
The Official (ISC)2 Participant's Guide - This has great material in it, but it needs to be re-edited. There are misspellings, words left out, odd spacing, etc. A very tiny percentage of this results in the information being wrong.
The layout of this book is atrocious. Why in the heck is material from almost every other domain included in each domain? There are items that seem to be randomly placed in a section where there is literally no interaction/correlation between the two. It's like they couldn't figure out where else to put it. In my mind, this would make the information provided when you fail the test (strong domains/weak domains) useless because it could be anything!
Shon Harris' books and materials - They are 10 domain formatted, but you don't have to know what domain material comes from. It's all there, and it's solidly edited. It is however, quite dry.
Sunflower Review Notes - These are great. If you don't know what this is, just Google "CISSP Sunflower" and you'll find it. Great nightly review and day-of review. It hits the high points, however I was thinking that it could use some updating and editing. Still in 10 Domain format.
Cybrary Videos and MP3s - I listened to these in the car and watched a few videos to get clarifications on some things I felt I was lacking. Kelly Handerhan does a great job presenting the topics and I find her voice easier to listen to than Shon's. They're free. Use them!
Quizlet (ISC)2 Official Flash Cards - A classmate pointed this out. Download the app on your phone and enter CISSP in the library section to download the CISSP flashcards. They are the same cards provided by Training Camp. You can enter answer, play matching games, etc.
The Test - Be prepared to dissect the questions. EACH word in the question (and the answers) means something. It took my 2 hours for my first round through the test. I answered what I knew, marked review on the ones I answered but didn't feel great about, and didn't answer quite a few. On my second round I selected Review Unanswered and made sure every question on the test had been answered. I marked some for later review. On my third round I selected Review Marked. I spent more time on these determining if the answer was the BEST correct answer. (It's that kind of test!) On round 4 I reviewed every single question and answer on the test. Done!
Technique - Several times I wrote A,B,C,D on my erasable sheet. I read each answer to see if (by itself) it was true. I marked out those that weren't. Then I compared two answers to each other to figure out which was best and marked out the least. Then compared with the next remaining answer. Comparing two at a time rather than all four made it easier for me. YMMV.
I've been doing security work exclusively since 2005. I've stopped and started this process (via self-study) several times over the years. I think my experience and previous studies definitely played a role in my passing. I studied for and received my CISA several years ago which also covered some of this material, so that helped.
I took the Training Camp course last week in order to get dedicated study time and a skilled Trainer. Class started every day at 8 am and went to 7 PM or 7:30 almost every night. I think the course was a great investment of time and money. I don't think I could have passed the test without this class. The instructor, Buzz, was great. He presented the each major topic or item in a way that was easy to understand at a high level first, then dug into the specifics in the book afterwards so you had a base when reading the technical material. This really helped me. One key thing to remember, this Boot Camp is intended as an intense review. There will be items on the test not taught in class. Experience and other studying WILL be required!
Books and study Material in order of my purchase and reading.
CISSP All-In-One Shon Harris Fourth Edition
(ISC)2 Official CBK Participants Guide
Sunflower Review Notes
Cybrary CISSP videos and MP3s.
Quizlet (ISC)2 Official Flash Cards (These are free and are the exact same flash cards they gave us at the class)
The Official (ISC)2 Participant's Guide - This has great material in it, but it needs to be re-edited. There are misspellings, words left out, odd spacing, etc. A very tiny percentage of this results in the information being wrong.
The layout of this book is atrocious. Why in the heck is material from almost every other domain included in each domain? There are items that seem to be randomly placed in a section where there is literally no interaction/correlation between the two. It's like they couldn't figure out where else to put it. In my mind, this would make the information provided when you fail the test (strong domains/weak domains) useless because it could be anything!
Shon Harris' books and materials - They are 10 domain formatted, but you don't have to know what domain material comes from. It's all there, and it's solidly edited. It is however, quite dry.
Sunflower Review Notes - These are great. If you don't know what this is, just Google "CISSP Sunflower" and you'll find it. Great nightly review and day-of review. It hits the high points, however I was thinking that it could use some updating and editing. Still in 10 Domain format.
Cybrary Videos and MP3s - I listened to these in the car and watched a few videos to get clarifications on some things I felt I was lacking. Kelly Handerhan does a great job presenting the topics and I find her voice easier to listen to than Shon's. They're free. Use them!
Quizlet (ISC)2 Official Flash Cards - A classmate pointed this out. Download the app on your phone and enter CISSP in the library section to download the CISSP flashcards. They are the same cards provided by Training Camp. You can enter answer, play matching games, etc.
The Test - Be prepared to dissect the questions. EACH word in the question (and the answers) means something. It took my 2 hours for my first round through the test. I answered what I knew, marked review on the ones I answered but didn't feel great about, and didn't answer quite a few. On my second round I selected Review Unanswered and made sure every question on the test had been answered. I marked some for later review. On my third round I selected Review Marked. I spent more time on these determining if the answer was the BEST correct answer. (It's that kind of test!) On round 4 I reviewed every single question and answer on the test. Done!
Technique - Several times I wrote A,B,C,D on my erasable sheet. I read each answer to see if (by itself) it was true. I marked out those that weren't. Then I compared two answers to each other to figure out which was best and marked out the least. Then compared with the next remaining answer. Comparing two at a time rather than all four made it easier for me. YMMV.
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havoc64
Member Posts: 213 ■■□□□□□□□□
Great job! I couldn't agree more with your comments on the class, instructor, Book and the test! Nice meeting you in the class! Keep in touch!
Mike -
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clarkincnet
Member Posts: 256 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congrats! Thanks for the information on the class. I am registered to take on in Feb.Give a hacker an exploit, and they will have access for a day, BUT teach them to phish, and they will have access for the rest of their lives!
Have: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, ITIL-F -
Optionsjegasior9
Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hi...currently looking to purchase the CISSP CBK Participants Guide....Supplement Guide...and flash cards. Are you thinking about selling your copies? Or do you know someone who is? Seriously interested and willing to pay a fair price. Please get back to me.... Thank you!
