Questions regarding preparedness, format of exam, etc

mudflaps

I am scheduled to take the CISSP on Friday, 21 Oct. I have some general questions:

1. Are the majority of the questions one sentence type questions, or scenario based? On cccure, many of the questions are 1 to 2 sentences, and thats it.
2. I know ISC2 has integrated some drag and drop, or interactive questions. Is this the majority, or are most an a,b,c,d multiple choice type question?
3. Has anyone used the cccure tester as their exclusive tester, and passed?

I am attempting to judge my preparedness. Here are my stats and materials used:

Official ISC2 Guide to the SSCP CBK, Tipton, Second Edition - Read cover to cover, passed SSCP in 2011.
All in One CISSP Exam Guide, Sixth Edition, Shon Harris - Read this over the last 3 yrs, gearing up for CISSP but chickening out.
Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Gordon, Fourth Edition - Read this over last 6-7mos, took end of chapter tests.
CCCure CISSP 2015 Tester, been using for 2 wks, trying to take all 1800+ questions, writing down missed questions, attempting to circle back to those missed
Taken CBTs here and there on FedVTE for CISSP

I have more or less studied for 5+ yrs. In a 100 question sampling last night on CCCure, I scored an 80 out of 100. Any feedback is welcome, and I will try to keep this thread updated in my final 2 week lead up to the test on everything I do.

mudflaps

73 out of 100 tonight (73%)

dhay13

my scores are mostly right around 70% on FedVTE, Skillsoft, McGraw Hill, and a few others. The Sybex 7th Edition Study Guide I got 85% and 90% respectively on chapter 1 and 2. That is all the further I have made it on that. I am scheduled to take it mid November so I need to get moving

Jinuyr

Hello there! I highly recommend the Sybex 7th Edition book and the CISSP 11th Hour Book by Eric Conrad. The information in these two books helped me go into detail on most of the areas I struggled with as well as provide me with a quick refresher on important topics before the exam.

I also highly recommend the practice tests from the Official CISSP App and PocketPrep (both on Android and iOS).
For me, they contained information that was similar in style to the actual exam.

I would not be concerned with the number of words or sentences in the question but rather the hints that help guide you towards the right answer. Keywords such as best, least, most, worst, etc are what you need to concern yourself with. Remember, the CISSP may give you several right answers, it is up to you to pick the best one that is presented to you. Understanding the subtle differences between two right answers can sometimes be the key.

It may also help to talk yourself through an issue such as why is a particular method or process more important? Is it dependent on another element or the other right answer in order to function properly? Can you do one without the other? etc...

Hope this helps and good luck to you!

mudflaps

Jinuyr, thanks. I definitely get the nuances in each question, having qualifiers such as NOT, MOST, LEAST, BEST, etc. I guess my query about the length of question, was to gauge whether or not the CCCure timer would be an equivalent indicator to an actual test. On CCCure im taking about 30-35 seconds per question, and most are 1-2 lines. If the CISSP exam is all paragraphs, this changes things and makes the exam significantly longer than expected.

cyberguypr

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about that. Some questions are long, others are short. Some will take seconds while others will make you question why in the world you decided to take the test. Based on reports here and elsewhere I would say running out of time is not something common. I always default to assuming the worst, that way the only possible scenario when you get to the test is that there are more short questions than you thought.

mudflaps

77 out of 100 today

dhay13

what test is that mudflaps? and make sure you aren't just memorizing the answers

mudflaps

dhay13 wrote: »

what test is that mudflaps? and make sure you aren't just memorizing the answers

The test I am using is the freepracticetests.org (cccure) CISSP 2015 bank of test questions. There are about 1850 unique test questions here. I am memorizing, but also taking each missed question, writing it down, and studying that area to gain or re-establish understanding.

Scored 78 out of 100 (78%) this AM.

mudflaps

scored a 81 of 100 (81%) tonight.

mudflaps

154 of 200 (77%) this AM

dhay13

anyone using the official ISC2 app? i have taken all the tests and scored mostly around 75% on individual tests but scored 85% on the mini test and 84% on the 50 question mock test. seems much easier than many others i have taken. how close id this to the real thing? i am averaging about 70% on all others, including the McGraw Hill tests, FedVTE, SkillPort, and Sybex 7th edition tests. a little encouraged that i did so much better on the 'official' test but still being realistic here

mudflaps

thinking about getting the app too, id be curious to hear also..

trueshrewkmc

Passed on Friday, October 7th. Didn't use any electronic test apps except what came with my video class prep. Make sure you are reviewing your weakest domains AND that your weakest domains are not the ones most heavily weighted in the test bulletin.

mudflaps

Thanls for the info, thats interesting.

102 of 125 (82%) this PM

dhay13

did the Skillsoft practice test today. 250 questions. 75%

dhay13

i noticed many of the questions on the 'official' ISC2 app are the same as on the Sybex 7th edition. so far on Sybex i got ch.1 85%, ch.2 90%, and ch.3 85%. thats all the further i made it so far

mudflaps

99 of 125 (79%) this PM. Watched section 1 and most of 2 on cybrary.it Kelly H online course over the last day or so.

mudflaps

My weakest domains in order from weakest to strongest. This is calculated from my past 7 test results:

Software Dev - 74.14%
Security Engineering - 75.42%
Security Operations - 75.85%
Comm/Network - 78%
Security Risk Mgmt - 82.28%
ID & Access Mgmt - 85%
Sec Access - 89.33%
Asset Sec - 90.57%

Zela

I just recently passed the test and I can tell you, just like others have posted, there are all types of questions.

My study material was the Sybex 7th Edition and the CISSP Study guide 3rd edition by Eric Conrad.

Read both books and created some flash cards on what I felt was my weakest areas.

I spent about 6 weeks studying hard but the last week I just did my flash cards and a ton of practice questions using Pocket Prep, the practice questions in both books and the online questions/tests the Sybex provides you.

Make sure you aren't just memorizing the question but also the reason on why the answer is correct.

mudflaps

Zela wrote: »

I just recently passed the test and I can tell you, just like others have posted, there are all types of questions.

My study material was the Sybex 7th Edition and the CISSP Study guide 3rd edition by Eric Conrad.

Read both books and created some flash cards on what I felt was my weakest areas.

I spent about 6 weeks studying hard but the last week I just did my flash cards and a ton of practice questions using Pocket Prep, the practice questions in both books and the online questions/tests the Sybex provides you.

Make sure you aren't just memorizing the question but also the reason on why the answer is correct.

Thanks for the input. Definitely not trying to memorize, but nail down why the answer was wrong.

98 of 125 (78%) tonight. Brain is feeling kinda bruised from all this quizzing. Ill probably go hard again tomorrow then take a day off this weekend. I was really over thinking some of the answers tonight, instead of letting the information come to me.

mudflaps

86 of 100 (86%) this afternoon

mudflaps

161 of 200 (81%) today. My brain still feels fried. Watched a ton of Kelly H Cybrary training yesterday, and made some wall posters of some topics I need shored up on. Did one on IPsec, one on SSL/TLS, one on OSI model. Ill probably make more this week. I have taken 1770 of the 1855 questions in the CCCure database, and written down each one I missed for review. Currently have about 385 to review that I wrote down.

ankit2455

are u using any other test engine apart from CCCure....not sure how much its useful as its much technical...i am also about to give the exam next month

mudflaps

I am not using any other test engine. Ive done the end of chapter tests in the Shon Harris AIO and CISSP CBK books. I think that should be sufficient.

dhay13

i'm scheduled to take it next month. working on the Sybex 7th edition now. finished FedVTE awhile ago and finished the skillsoft training as well. also completed Cybrary.it. i feel pretty confident but want to finish the Sybex book first

mudflaps

I am starting to wish i read the Sybex book, everyone raves about it.

Zela

mudflaps wrote: »

I am starting to wish i read the Sybex book, everyone raves about it.

The Sybex book is long and detailed but I feel the online questions you get with the book were very helpful, at least for me.

mudflaps

Got through all 1800ish questions in the CCCure database. Tonight I set my tester to 50 questions, and used the "Questions that were previously answered wrong". Ended up getting 43/50 for an 86%. My weakest domain on this was Security Engineering. That also happens to be my cumulative weakest domain, so I will be hitting that one hard. I am hitting the Cybrary Kelly H. videos pretty hard during the day, and am almost finished with those. Finally, I am creating wall posters on things that probably need committed to memory. So far I have posters for OSI model, TCP/IP model, IPsec, SSL/TLS Negotiation, Crypto. I will be creating a few more.

Right now my mind feels like a bathtub being filled with water continuously, but it's full and spilling over. The more information I am cramming into my mind is causing other information to escape. I am also getting a little bit sick and can't help but blame it on all the continuous worry and studying.

mudflaps

Today is the day before my CISSP attempt.

Queued up another 50 questions last night using only the questions I got wrong previously, got an 80%. I plan on re-skimming select chapters today as a quick refresher. Comm/Net, Soft Dev, Sec Ops, and Sec Eng. I'll try to keep it light to not burn out, but it will help to get this information to the forefront of my volatile RAM.

dhay13

Good luck!