Advice on CISSP Practice Exams

Darma

Hi All,
My background is 15 years I.T. with the last 10 being an I.T. Manager. I have prepared
for the Cissp as follows:
Read the books by Conrad and the Stewart, Chapple, Gibson Book.
Listened to the Shawn Harris Audios and done the Cylibrary Videos with Kelly multiple times.
I've done the CCCure questions and was getting results of about 88%. So, I thought I
was ready for the Exam and scheduled it a few days ago for Monday. I had done all the
questions in CCCure so I bought Transcender questions to give me more practice.
OMG, my scores dived down to 70 - 74%. I'm seeing questions regarding material that
I have not encountered. So, I'm panicked and have rescheduled my exam.
Can anyone tell me if the CCCure questions or the Transcender questions are closer to
the real exam questions? Thanks!

g33k3r

I haven not used the CCCure questions but have the Transcender questions and ran into the same experience you have where my scores are rather low at times. I notice this when I see a number of questions that none of my study materials covered. In particular, I got a question regarding some crypto algorithm I've never even heard. These questions are tough at times. I can't say what sort of scores you need to be hitting to know if you are ready or not. Maybe someone who has passed the exam can chime in here.

Dan-in-MD

I have used both CCCure (Free Practice Tests) and Transcender. They're both fact-focused. I keep hearing (in forums and from people who have taken the exam) that this is a business/management exam with an IT security focus. In other words, I think the CISSP is looking for people to be able to apply knowledge/concepts as a manager, and not regurgitate the number of bits for a particular encryption key type. I'll know for sure on Tuesday morning as that's when I'll take the exam.

I've found the drag and drop questions on Transcender (that you won't see on CCCure) to be very easy. I won't mind seeing them on the exam...

I did have the experience of a colleague approach me a couple weeks ago (we were in the same review course in October, but otherwise I don't know him) saying he failed the CISSP. He said he had the fact-based questions down cold, but he couldn't handle the applied knowledge questions. He said he read the Conrad book cover to cover. My approach has been using multiple sources for studying: auditory, reading, practice exams, but I try to understand what I'm reading, and commit the key points to memory rather than cover ground (number of pages read). It's slower going...

Another colleague who took the exam a few years back said her instructor advised approaching each question as if you're a manager.

I know the feeling on loss of confidence. I have been averaging 84% and every once in a while you get a bad set and you're closer to 70%. I think at some point, if you drag it out, you're going to start losing some of the knowledge given the diversity and breadth of what you have to recall or understand. There are a lot of folks I know that like to take a review course and then immediately take the exam. I want to understand the contents, so I've pursued a two month study window, but there's no way I'm going to willingly sacrifice both my Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to this exam....

havoc64

Good Morning,

I used both the Transcender and CCCURE practice exams when I studied. I started studying in April and took the exam the 9th of November. The practice exams are NOT like the actual exam in as much as others have stated. The exam is more of a high level management exam, where as the practice test are knowledge based.

Now with the books you have read, and the videos you have watched I would say you are on track. Use the practice exams to show you your weak areas and study those areas again. Also don't overlook the Combined Notes and the Sunflower Notes.

Good Luck

kingholmes

I passed the exam and I was only getting 67% to 75% on the Transcender exams. The Shon Harris audio and the Cybrary will be big assets to you.

dustervoice

Any question bank will help. what you want to understand is concepts. As there are no practice questions that matches the format or style on the real test. When i was studying a few people mentioned this to me and i couldn't understand how can there not be similar practice questions until i saw the test. Those questions are really unique. I saw a few questions that i found interesting... stuff that you would never find in any book but applicable to everyday life. Wish i could post it but that would violate the NDA.

Darma

Thanks Everyone. Your replys have really helped to ease my nerves.
I'm scheduled to take the test late next week. I'll just keep taking practice
tests and studying my weak areas until then.

koenigss15

I just passed this at the weekend. Out of the two, the Cccure one is slightly closer to the real thing. Definitely do as many practice tests as you can. It will help.

After I started the test I immediately got the feeling that it was not going to end well. The test questions were not technical, and it was difficult choosing the managerial answer.

As long as you know your stuff you will be OK.