CISSP Last Minutes, A bit lost..

SDee

My exam is on Monday, been preparing since 6 months for the exam!

However I am bit lost now.. I feel good about all of the topics.. I understand the concept of almost everything.. and have a good work experience in about 50% of the covered topics..

I studied from the following sources:
- CBT Nuggets Videos
- Cybrary Videos
- A lot of mixed Youtube videos
- Conrad's 3rd Edition
- Conrad's 11th Hour
- A lot of tests, including the mobile App tests


During the last week I read Conrad's 3rd edition again.. and Eleventh hour.. (some domains from the full book, and others from the Eleventh hour) took lots of notes and what I plan to do is review all of the notes I took during the last week and before (I took notes from Cybrary and CBT Nuggets) before going into the exam..



My problem is I still feel I am missing some parts! when doing test exams, some specific questions get me lost.. however I have no issues with answering more concept-dependent questions..

I am a bit worried about something, getting nervous in the exam if it started with some questions that I don't really know and am afraid this would affect what comes later..


I read that the test is scenario based, which something I might prefer, as long as it is not really long texts..

What I want is..
- More information about the actual test, not trying to **** or anything, I just want to feel relaxed and not getting something that am not expected.. How is the exam like? any tests out there that have the same look and feel?

- Last minute tips, I will leave the last day for full review on the notes and solving tons of tests...

- If you had one "Last Day Tip" what would it be?



Thank you!

TechGuru80

I don’t believe the exam is performance based...ie gets harder or easier based on how you do...I don’t believe they have ever advertised it that way so you can treat each question equally.

I liked the BOSON practice exams for preparing. If you have a good grasp on the concepts and the CBK, really focus on determining the root problem of a question and how a manager should answer it. Most people naturally think technical because that is their background so it can be challenging.

Honestly I think everybody is nervous for the exam no matter what. The day before get a good night sleep and try to not focus too much on the exam or try to cram. Determine a pace for answering questions like x per hour and just keep moving. Also take breaks if you start to wander off during questions.

Danielm7

As stated, get good rest the day before. If you don't already know the material you aren't going to learn it the day before. Try to stay calm, if you're really stumped just mark the question and move on so you can answer ones you feel comfortable with and build your confidence back up. I've always found with cert exams sometime you might be a little unsure of a question, then later you find another question that actually helps confirm your answer, so don't get freaked out, just move on and knock it out.

SDee

Thanks Guys!

Unfortunately I didn't get the BOSON exams, not sure but I don't think I will buy them the night before the exam.. Yeah I read a lot about thinking like a manager not a technical, but never encountered such things in test exam..

Will try to rest as much as possible, won't touch any CISSP material in the day of the exam.. Yes some questions answer others I will try to make use of that.. this might require some extra time.. looks like inference to me just sayin!


Thanks again! in for any last minute tips.. Free useful test exams..

H-bomb

Best of luck, you got this!! What have you been scoring on the practice exams?

SDee

Just Finished Watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arkIFPbK3lo
Lovely approach.. but some false information.. will take a look on the mind maps..

My scores have been random.. the thing is I am not doing long tests except for VCE exams (no not ****, just VCE because I like to know the answer immediately).. on longer tests am scoring 85-90.. with shorter ones it depends on my luck.. I'd score a 100, a 60 then a 90..

I really wish the CISSP Test mobile app had the possibility of revealing the answer immediately! I tend to remember stuff much faster compared to checking my wrong answers at the end of the tests..


Now I will have a look on the mind certs.. and will keep a 3-paper notes to be reviewed tomorrow..

SDee

PASSED!!!


It really started tough.. the first 5 questions were really tough, I even verified that this is actually a CISSP exam! got a bit nervous and lost my concentration.. So decided to go with another approach which may not work for everyone.. I just skimmed through the questions and answered the first answer that crossed my mind.. I only flagged the questions that I was almost certain that I got them wrong.. finished 250 questions in around 120 minutes.. Took a 15-minute break, and got back reviewed the flagged carefully.. after that I reviewed all of the questions.. some of the questions answered the other or helped in answering.. and got it! took around 4 hours in reviewing my answers and reading everything carefully..

The exam is not easy! more technical than I expected (which I liked!)..
Feels amazing...

mattster79

Awesome! Great work!

PersianImmortal

Congratulations!!!

H-bomb

Congrats!!!! How did the **** Sheet video line up to the test?

SDee

I'd be lying if I said that I really remember the test!
All I remember that only a single Q about the code of ethics.. more technical than I expected.. Barely asking about law stuff which was a weakness point for me.. and well, absolutely more than 10% about SDLC!! I felt like 25% of the exam was SDLC!!

The **** Sheet video was a lovely piece.. Highly recommended (but be aware there are some false info in the video)
However it helped in putting a lot of pieces together and link up things.. RECOMMENDED

DZA_

Thank you for the tip SDee on the your approach to answering the questions. I had a colleague who also did a similar approach where he went through the questions from 1-250 for the ones he knew, marked on the ones that had flagged and then went skip over the ones where he didn't mark it at all since he did not know the answer. He went back to answer the ones where he flagged and basically repeat the process. It seems that its a fairly efficient way of getting through the questions. I'm going to be taking that approach as the first time I did exam, it took me about 4.5 hours to the exam back to back. Congratulations on passing the exam.

SteveLavoie

Usually, I am more nervous at the start of an exam and often the few first question seem always harder, so I flagged more question, then after my nerves settle down, I begin to get into the zone, then answer flow and I can go back to those "harder" question. I would not like to skim through all question once, I would get more nervous and less focused. I think that if you flag more than 20% of question, you were not prepared enough.