Failed - 2nd attempt 691

Really bummed, 1st time i got a 677 and this time i was feeling really confident that i was going to pass, but got 691.. Dusting myself back up and getting back in after a short break.. you know what they say about the 3rd time

Review Sources;
Larry Greenblatt (1st 2 videos)
Cybrary (excellent)
newest Sybex book - 7th ed
CISSP AIO (including audio)
and a lot more

I guess my issue with this test is to not think like a tech but think like a manager, i can say that it may have tripped me up this time.

Biting the bullet and getting transcender this time, if anyone still has the discount code, pls re-post. Thanks all and have a great thanksgiving

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Comments

TechGuru80

Definitely take more practice questions. I did boson and their questions were pretty good but obviously Transcender has a good reputation. Did you use the flash cards for the study guide at all? Really focus on what the question is looking for...for example if the question mentions integrity, do not choose an encryption method. That might not be your issue but the questions can be tricky and you really have to isolate what is being asked...of course you have to know the material too.

I found that picking a term from my notes, then vocalizing what the term is helped me.

Clm

Get back at it your to close not to you got it the next time guaranteed

wayne_wonder

Are you paying out of your own pocket? that's a very costly exam if so

Swimfan2516

What resources are you using for practice questions? How much time are you spending on them?

g33k3r

Great attitude!! I''ve just started hitting my Transcender questions and they really make you think. I've made the mistake of not slowing down and reading the questions before I answered them. There are a few out of left field that I've never even heard of but their explanations are usually very good. I got a discount code after signing up for emails.

cledford3

I have the 2015 Transcender - and unless they know something no else does, many the questions seem off to me. Frankly I've been starting to lose confidence in its value and am considering looking at CCsure. I also am concerned about the ratio of questions related to the various domains, specially too few questions. (more on this below)

I've attended Training Camp, listened to the Shon Harris MP3s, and watched about 50% of the Cybray vids. I've been reading the domains in parallel across the AIO, the Cole book, and the new Sybex. (occasionally cross referencing with the CBK workbook from the bootcamp) I then have been doing the Transcenders for each domain. I've found a fair amount of questions in Trancender that just seem to me to be out of left field. Technically speaking they are not inaccurate and mostly contained somewhere in the AIO (the book Transcender uses for its main reference) - its just that they seem so insignificant, so obscure, so off the beaten path I can't see them being valid. The base knowledge or information for many of them can often only be found in the 6th ed of the AIO. The concern is that often I can't find these things mentioned anywhere else.

Even considering that they would not want to commit test compromise and the questions are NOT supposed to be reflective of those actually on the exam, I'm wondering how many are targeting useful knowledge, and how many others are simple filler. Even considering that sometimes knowing why the wrong answers are wrong as important as why the right one is correct, I am still not seeing correlations. Ie. the wrong answers don't seem to point to any more important knowledge to have than the correct answer.

I've also found that for the new material (which isn't contained in the AIO) the web links they provide to some of the supporting documentation have been really, really poor - as if they just picked the first link that came up when they googled.

Regarding the ratio of questions to each domain - there are real head scratchers. There are 12 questions for Asset Security - just 12. While I can't say how relevant that domain is on the exam, Asset Security is a DOMAIN - I just can't believe they could muster only 12 questions. Software Development Security is another big one - only 53 question. Between posts on the forums and conversations I've overheard, there sounds to be a lot of SDS on the exam recently. The material that is covered in the 53 Transcender questions on SDS falls way short of that I've reviews in the CBK, the AIO, and Sybex.

All in all , if it was out of my pocket, I would lean to CCsure. Their reviews are many and solid. There also seems to be a wealth of other content provided for the monthly subscription.

cledford3

Other issues I've noticed with Transcender:

- A *HEAVY* reliance on questions with answers such as "A and B", "B and C", "Both B and D", and "all of the above." From everything I've heard and read - these type answers WILL NOT be on the exam. Sometimes they make the Transcender questions too easy, as multiple conditions must be met. Other times they are frustratingly difficult - and not in a good way. Why practice struggling through question/answer formats that are not on the exam? This seems like a cheap "corner cut" to avoid coming up with deep questions.

- Questions that are often too easy. If you read the explanation you will get a lot out of the question - simply because you read the explanation. Otherwise, many questions are very easy, they can be repetitive, and often are very shallow. On some domains, the questions actually repeat themselves!

- Reference citations that are completely wrong. As in referencing something in the AIO (in the question explanation), and the info is actually in a totally different chapter of the AIO.

- Unspecific references. Telling me something is in Chapter X of the AIO is not much help - I then spend about 5 minutes (or more) digging through the chapter to find the info to validate (something I feel I must do as there have been inaccuracies in some of the question explanations), and/or I feel I need dig deeper into. When you consider that the AIO has around 80-100 pages per chapter - would it have been that hard to put page references into the question explanations? This product DOES cost $200!

- poor, copy and pasted (over and over again) explanations. If you read every single explanation as I do, along with doing all the questions from a single domain at a time, you will begin to see the same explanations over and over again. While this might make sense on one level, it is the same content over and over again never goes deeper. This is hard to explain but the bottom line is that wonderful explanations are a few sentences long, regurgitated again and again. If you complied them together, they would equal a few pages of high level notes with many gaps.

- Using incorrect terms. It is one thing to use a synonym in a question to test reading comprehension, it is quite another to provide a definition and ask what the term is - then have the term which is the correct answer not to be found in ANY of the study texts (I own them all), but have it pulled from some fly by night web article. I don't see it doing any good to have questions that lead a person to memorize a term that can't be found anywhere in the CISSP specific study guides.

- Finally, obscure questions from the AIO - as it ripping any fragment or portion of a sentence out of it makes the info valuable and relevant.

sesha437

Here is the code:TRAGOOGLE15
Even I got 691 in first attempt.second attempt yet to decide. Let's see. I didn't buy tanscender yet. Let me know is it worth or not?

Swimfan2516

I thought some of the information/questions w/ Transcender were helpful but I don't feel like the questions are giving me confidence (that warm and fuzzy feeling haha) that I need to sit for the exam. CCCure has received a lot of praise on here so I'll be signing up for the 30 day access soon. Hopefully it will push me over the hump and give me the confidence when taking the exam in a few weeks..

renacido

I passed the exam and am waiting for my endorsement to be reviewed by isc2. Here is my advice.

First, I applaud your positive attitude and perseverance. I know a lot of CISSPs and many had to retest, some more than once, and these are smart guys so you'll be in good company. If it was easy the cert would not be as valuable as it is.

The main thing I see people struggle with on this exam is that they go into it thinking its testing you on encyclopedia of minutiae and facts about a broad range of security topics. That's not what the exam is. Easily 70% of the exam is not asking for regurgitation of the source material. It is asking you to apply security knowledge AND professional judgement to make a managerial decision or identify this from that or choose the best option within the context of the situation you are presented in the question.

People describe the CISSP as "mile wide inch deep" that is wrong. The technical info, standards, models, nomenclature, etc yes is broad and it is not a hands on technical exam. It's not supposed to be. It's not "Sec+ on steroids". It is testing managerial competence for building and managing a security program/department.

Rote memorization of facts is not usually enough for this exam. Work on thinking like a security manager, not an analyst, not a firewall admin, not a pentester, not an engineer. You're the boss and the enterprise security SME for this exam.

Practice tests are good for assessing your competence in an area and identifying what you need to put study more. They shouldn't be what you spend the most time doing. You should be analyzing the feedback from your practice tests and digging in deeper on the stuff that doesn't come easy to you. If you've got access control down pat but cryptology is kicking your butt on the practice tests, study crypto and reassess. Aside from assessing progress practice tests are good for building confidence but they don't teach you what you need to know for the test.

Hope this helps. I wish you the best and with your scores being so close to passing have faith that your hard work will pay off if you use the time until then to fill in the gaps and keep in mind the managerial lens you need to read the questions. Now go kick that exam's a**!

E Double U

I passed on my 3rd attempt and so will you!

"You can do it." - Rob Schneider

gespenstern

cledford3 wrote: »

Other issues I've noticed with Transcender:

Awesome post, actually, deserves a separate thread. I always keep telling people that transcender sucks. Hopefully you don't expect much from cccure/freepracticetests because they also suck but in a less major way.

LollyBaggins

cledford3 wrote: »

I have the 2015 Transcender - and unless they know something no else does, many the questions seem off to me. Frankly I've been starting to lose confidence in its value and am considering looking at CCsure. I also am concerned about the ratio of questions related to the various domains, specially too few questions. (more on this below)

I've attended Training Camp, listened to the Shon Harris MP3s, and watched about 50% of the Cybray vids. I've been reading the domains in parallel across the AIO, the Cole book, and the new Sybex. (occasionally cross referencing with the CBK workbook from the bootcamp) I then have been doing the Transcenders for each domain. I've found a fair amount of questions in Trancender that just seem to me to be out of left field. Technically speaking they are not inaccurate and mostly contained somewhere in the AIO (the book Transcender uses for its main reference) - its just that they seem so insignificant, so obscure, so off the beaten path I can't see them being valid. The base knowledge or information for many of them can often only be found in the 6th ed of the AIO. The concern is that often I can't find these things mentioned anywhere else.

Even considering that they would not want to commit test compromise and the questions are NOT supposed to be reflective of those actually on the exam, I'm wondering how many are targeting useful knowledge, and how many others are simple filler. Even considering that sometimes knowing why the wrong answers are wrong as important as why the right one is correct, I am still not seeing correlations. Ie. the wrong answers don't seem to point to any more important knowledge to have than the correct answer.

I've also found that for the new material (which isn't contained in the AIO) the web links they provide to some of the supporting documentation have been really, really poor - as if they just picked the first link that came up when they googled.

Regarding the ratio of questions to each domain - there are real head scratchers. There are 12 questions for Asset Security - just 12. While I can't say how relevant that domain is on the exam, Asset Security is a DOMAIN - I just can't believe they could muster only 12 questions. Software Development Security is another big one - only 53 question. Between posts on the forums and conversations I've overheard, there sounds to be a lot of SDS on the exam recently. The material that is covered in the 53 Transcender questions on SDS falls way short of that I've reviews in the CBK, the AIO, and Sybex.

All in all , if it was out of my pocket, I would lean to CCsure. Their reviews are many and solid. There also seems to be a wealth of other content provided for the monthly subscription.

Hi,

I'm a lurker but I've seen your posts many times, and it seems to be copy and paste every-time putting down Transcender. I'm not sure if you're simply spamming or had a bad experience with the test-engine but I know many people whom has passed on testing on the Transcender engine alone, myself included (along with supplemented studies of course) and Transcender will most definitely get you thinking in the way the CISSP exam is structured. The explanations help and yes CCure explanations help as well but the actual test engine does absolutely nothing in preparing your mindset for the test. Many have claimed that Transcender is most likely the "closest" thing to the test and I agree, in the terms of it getting you to behave and think in the way ISC2 wants you to.

The only reason I'm speaking out and posting this is because I don't want to deter any potential CISSP's from succeeding. Most of the issues most candidates have with the test is that they dive too much into the technical details -- and I feel CCure doesn't help as most of the questions are more geared towards the technical side than the "full-encompassing scope" of the CISSP. I feel that is where Transcender exceeds. However that's just my 2 cents.

PS. Alot of the "regurgitated" material is there for a reason. I could go into detail but you know that thing they make you sign

Hope this helps and good luck to everyone!

cledford3

LollyBaggins wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a lurker but I've seen your posts many times, and it seems to be copy and paste every-time putting down Transcender. I'm not sure if you're simply spamming or had a bad experience with the test-engine but I know many people whom has passed on testing on the Transcender engine alone, myself included (along with supplemented studies of course) and Transcender will most definitely get you thinking in the way the CISSP exam is structured.

Hmmm, first post? And you're suggesting I might be a spammer? I have made the post above to exactly 2 threads - this one being the 2nd - so I'm not sure where the "many times" comment is coming from.

I'll say this, Transcender charges a whole lot for their product. In my opinion they did not put the effort into it that would be consummate with what they are charging. That bothers me - so in threads where people are seeking feedback on Transcender I offer my opinion. I back my opinion up with detailed observations. People are free to consider my comments or not.

I can say that if the Transcender cost a quarter of what it does that would be one thing. (possibly even half) But for almost double what one of their typical aids cost, in my opinion they are milking the CISSP cow and fleecing people who are seeking the best resources to prepare for the exam.

YMMV

CLICK

Thanks all for the kinds words and tips, the only thing i havent incorporated in my training is cccure and transcender exam prep, i've been using the free tests from the AIO and the Sybex books but they are heavily technically focused, i guess using exam prep either transcender or cccure will put me over the top. Thanks cledford3, Lollybaggins, gespenstern, sesha437, and everyone who contribute to this forum, you guys are awesome and know that you help a lot of people not just me.

And yes wayne_wonder, this is all out of pocket that's the reason for the hesitance to invest in transcender, anyways, looking back, i should've done it during my first go around..oh well,, it is the journey that matters and i have learned to not only respect but value this cert among others.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and best of luck to everyone prepping for this.

CLICK

kingholmes

And I wouldn't get too caught up on the scores on Transcenders. I started taking them the week before my test. I took around 500-600 questions at 50 and 100 questions segments. I only made it over 80% once and all the others were in the 67% to 75% range. But I got CISSP on first try. I used the Transcenders just to get a feel for taking a test again. It had been over a year since I finished CCNA.

g33k3r

Thanks for the input kingholmes. My scores are similar thus far with my best at 90%.

Dan-in-MD

This is the key point I keep encountering, that this is a management exam and not a technical exam, that the point is being able to apply concepts, not regurgitate technical trivia. One woman at my work said that was the key point she was advised to take when she passed it. A guy who took it and failed last week said he did great on the technical memorization bits, but was not able to handle the application of concepts.

This is the key disconnect between many of the testing and knowledge resources. My exam is scheduled for Dec 1 and I'm scoring generally between 78-88% on Free Practice Tests, mainly around 84%, and about the same on Transcender. I feel like Transcender is harder because they have more choices (for example, you could have 6-8 answers for some questions).

At this point, I just want it to end. Please let it end....