Difficulty of Practice Tests vs Real Exam GIAC/GCED

Hello,

I am taking my GCED exam in 3 weeks and was wondering how difficult the real exam is compared to the practice exam. I took my first practice exam and got a 93% in 2 hours but I did refer to my index a number of times and felt the questions were not very long and fear that the real test will be much harder so I am still stressing. Is the real exam a lot more difficult than the practice exams? This is my first SANS cert test. I have some time off work between now and then and plan on studying quite a bit.

Thanks

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636-555-3226

About the same. Practice may be just a little eeny bitty teeny easier, but not that much. a 93% on the practice might net you a 90 on the real, for example

kiki162

I would agree with that statement. Practice exams will be a little bit easier. I'd say be prepared for anything.

Higgsx

I passed GIAC's GCIH and practice test and exam test was at the same level of difficulty.

BillHoo

The value of the practice tests are:
- Give you an idea of how the test will be conducted.
- Give you chance to learn how to pace yourself on each question to meet the time allotted for the exam.
- Give you an idea what kinds of questions and how they are worded.
- Build your confidence in taking the exam.
- Identify what areas you need to focus on.
- Rebuild your index to make it more streamlined on taking the actual test.

I'd say you will start out doing worse on the practice tests than the actual exam. Not because the questions are any harder, but because you don't know what to expect.

After the two practice exams, you should be able to shift the gears in your brain to meet the test expecttations.

chins

My results are as follows:

Practice test #1: 93%
Practice test #2: 90%

Real exam: 92%

All in all, the tests seemed to be close to the same. I must have got the luck of the draw on the first practice exam, seemed to be a lot of ones I knew.

Thanks everybody for the replies! They helped boost my confidence as I was not sure what to expect.

blutsla12

Gratz on passing the test. I was wondering what book (cybex?) did you use to study and were the practice test included in the book? How long did it take you to study and pass the test.

thanks

chins wrote: »

My results are as follows:

Practice test #1: 93%
Practice test #2: 90%

Real exam: 92%

All in all, the tests seemed to be close to the same. I must have got the luck of the draw on the first practice exam, seemed to be a lot of ones I knew.

Thanks everybody for the replies! They helped boost my confidence as I was not sure what to expect.

chins

Thanks. My company purchased for me the on-demand training course and two practice tests from SANS. There were 6 books from SANS. I ended up studying pretty good for 2 months, building an index, outlines of each book. Taking the quizes in the online training really helped me alot.

blutsla12

Thanks for the quick reply.

Now i have to see if i can get my work to pay for some training.