Practice Tests vs Actual

I was hoping to compare my experience with everyone else's to get a better gauge on things.

Overall, do you think your scores/performance on the practice tests were higher or lower than the final/certification test?

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From what I can tell (many GIAC tests under my belt), the GIAC practice questions are probably old but real test questions that tested poorly or were cycled out for some reason or other (such as age or leaked online). The questions are very indicative of what's on the exam, are written in the exact same format, and test the exact same topics. In other words, if you score an 80 on the practice test, I'd bet you'd score in the 76-84 range on the real exam.

Are you asking in reference to the GMON or GWAPT?

TechGromit

I concur, generally it's within a few points of your practice test scores, or higher it you put a lot of studying from your last practice test to when you take your exam. I would recommend a score 5 points higher than the minimum passing grade on your practice exams, this should give you enough buffer to ensure you know the material well enough to pass the exam. If you can't get a passing grade on the practice tests, don't take the exam, pay for an extension, your not ready.

ramrunner800

On my exams I have scored 10 or so points higher than on the practice tests. I attribute this mainly to slowing down and being more focused. I would be worried taking a real exam if I wasn't at least in the 80s on the practice tests.

quogue66

I've taken four GIAC exams this year. I scored higher on the actual exam on 3 of them. On the fourth exam I scored 3 points lower on the actual exam. I'm studying for my fifth now (GPEN). Hopefully I follow the same trend.

gwood113

I have 5 giac certs. I normally take the practice tests without using an index. I have scored between 75-89 on practice tests and my exams have been one 83 (6 points lower) and four 91+ (3 - 11 points higher).

The practice test questions are retired exam questions. That doesn't mean you won't see questions that are painfully similar to some of your practice questions on the exam.

If you make a passing score on the practice test it is highly likely that you will pass the exam.

alias454

That was my experience as well. I took the practice test and found some similar questions on the main exam. I also scored lower on the practice test than the actual exam; mainly, due to being less worried about paying 600+ for a retake. It really depends on the amount of effort you put into the practice exam but if you did moderately well on it, passing the actual exam should be easy enough.

the_Grinch

I found the practice questions to be on par with the questions asked on the exam. Perhaps not as in depth, but definitely relevant.

Kalabaster

Yeah, I was just wondering. For my GMON I scored just a few points over by practice test. It's just that I took a GWAPT practice test and scored well, so was wondering if that is a strong enough indicator to just skip the studying phase and just test out.

docrice

I've taken quite a few GIAC exams over the years. The practice versions always felt close to the real one. I always score higher on the real exam because I'm much more careful and paced, whereas on the practice runs I blast through them relatively quick to see how I score when I go mostly by gut and reference my index/books less. I don't think I've ever used both of my practice exams either.

mazx

Hello,

If I book an exam will I lose access to my practice exams? I'm going to try to book the exam for next week but I haven't done the practice tests yet.

E Double U

I felt the GCIH practice exams were similar to the real thing. I scored higher on the actual exam than both practice tests.

quogue66

mazx wrote: »

Hello,

If I book an exam will I lose access to my practice exams? I'm going to try to book the exam for next week but I haven't done the practice tests yet.

No, you won't lose access to them. Even after the exam you will still have them if you haven't used them yet.