I am a big fat LOSER

Second failure. WTF? i really felt I was good this time. I studied Sybex and was doing well on the practice tests for both the Sybex and the Ace Wiley Sybex tests.

I also did Bosons and reviewed Cybrary videos.

I feel like the practice tests focus too much on BS like SLE, ARO, ALE stuff and lots of BS that is not on the test.

The questions are so awkward on the actual exam. I have never had to dissect questions that much on an exam. I don't quite now how to study for that.

I have done Security+ which was easy, and I also took and passed the MCSE back in 2008. So it's not like I have never taken a tough test. I am just at a loss of how to study for this. AS I said, I feel like I have down the concepts based on the practice tests and I made sure I randomized as much as I could so I wasn't memorizing so much, etc. AT this point I don't know what to do. I don't want to give up. Now I am bound and determined to conquer this damn beast but I am at a loss of how to prep.

To add insult to injury, I also took an entire offing week off to study. And let me tell you, it was hours in the library. I know this material! I just don't comprehend the questions on the exam correctly apparently!

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Comments

TechGuru80

What were you averaging on scores for practice tests? What was your exam score each time? Are you getting fatigued at a certain amount of questions? Do you know why an answer is correct and why the others are not? Have you tried reading the answers last to first? There are so many factors and strategies for the exam.

With the exam being adaptive now, it is definitely possible for stuff to not be in the questions you receive.

clconrad1

l was getting about mid 80s mostly on the practice tests. Everyone has consistently said Sybex was the way to go but I feel like a lot of my questions were not in the Sybex. After my first failure I went back and re-read the book and highlighted stuff I remembered from the test as well as from questions I missed on the Sybex previously. It only helped my Sybex score but definitely not the actual test. UGH. and I could definitely weed out at least 2 of the answers in most cases but sometimes the entire question/answer set was off the wall. I almost think sometimes different terminology was used for some stuff that I had never heard.

victor.s.andrei

No, you're not...unless you stop learning from what you did wrong last time and try again with that new knowledge in hand.

TechGuru80

Getting down to two answers is good. It’s hard to track your thinking without a sample problem, but a tip I’ve used on other exams is to underline at least mentally the specific thing the question is asking. If I had to guess, you probably are picking an answer that solves the question but it’s the second best answer.

E Double U

You might be big and fat, but I would not consider you to be a loser for failing twice (I also failed 2x). My issue was going from purely technical exams (5 Cisco tests in a row) to CISSP. The "think like a manager" approach was not easy for me because I was not a manager. On my 3rd attempt, I actually approached every question from the point of my view of the CISO. Regardless of what I felt, I chose the answer that I thought my manager would pick. I also did a lot more practice exams before my 3rd try. I used the disc that came with the Shon Harris AIO.

lamont29

If you stop now, then you'd be a 'Big Fat Loser' as you exclaimed. But you will try it again. Make sure that you keep learning the concepts. On this exam, as long as you know the concepts, the study becomes 100% easier. Also, people test differently. It doesn't mean that you are dumb, slow or a loser. you just need to figure out what works for you. I have helped people who at first had NO confidence in passing some exams, but they all got through them.

iseeyou

you are not a loser, you can learn from your score report and study again on your weak areas. i was averaging 76-78% in sybex practice test that i though i will fail the exam. i wish you all the best in your next attempt

Nightfallx

you said you had no SLE / ALE questions? what were the majority of the topics you had? any crypto or software questions?

clconrad1

Nightfallx wrote: »

you said you had no SLE / ALE questions? what were the majority of the topics you had? any crypto or software questions?

I did have crypto and software questions as well as database stuff. It was heavy on cloud too and the cloud questions I got was mostly stuff I did not see in the Sybex book. Tons of off the wall stuff.

Nightfallx

clconrad1 wrote: »

I did have crypto and software questions as well as database stuff. It was heavy on cloud too and the cloud questions I got was mostly stuff I did not see in the Sybex book. Tons of off the wall stuff.

thank you I am taking it soon, what do you recommend I concentrate on in my final hours of studying?

AVK

Sorry to hear about your second attempt, don't take it too hard, many have gone through the same process.

Here is someone who passed on his 6th attempt:
https://www.studynotesandtheory.com/single-post/How-Doug-Cracked-His-CISSP-Exam

And someone who passedon their 4th:
https://www.studynotesandtheory.com/single-post/How-Joshua-Cracked-His-CISSP-Exam

And someone who passed it after having a brain hemorrhage:
https://www.studynotesandtheory.com/single-post/How-Eduardo-Cracked-His-CISSP-Exam

clconrad1

Thanks for the encouragement. I will try again of course but I am pretty salty that the class I was in said they had a 95% pass rate and that they gave us all the materials we needed to pass. Big old BS!!! Anyway, back to the drawing board.

Nightfallx

clconrad1 wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement. I will try again of course but I am pretty salty that the class I was in said they had a 95% pass rate and that they gave us all the materials we needed to pass. Big old BS!!! Anyway, back to the drawing board.

what do you recommend concentrating on? what were the primary domains you recommend?

clconrad1

I don't really know! It was a lot of management stuff and a lot of cloud stuff.

There were definitely encryption question, Firewall questions, and OSI layer stuff.

Some question were no intuitive AT ALL and there was definitely stuff on there that was NOT in the book I was told to study(Sybex).

chrisone

Took me three attempts and on my last attempt I did not feel I passed. I was hard headed and did not see the questions as a manager which was key for my own success. I knew the material, concepts, topics, charts, tables, you name it. My fault was approaching the exam like an engineer, hammering down all the nails I saw without actually thinking why I was.

You are not a big fat loser, only a student who uses failure to learn. Negative approaches towards failure was brought up by people who taught fear and negative consequences in life.

Geez, the LFCS exam took me 4 tries lol

EDIT: Part of your mastery is accepting failure as part of the journey.

hxhx

Ummmm, no. You are not a loser. You're further along than many people including me.

I haven't taken this exam, but I'll give you some general advice that has helped me in the past. I have passed 5 exams in the last couple years (most recently SECFND from the Cisco Scholarship). It doesn't mean I know anything, but I have found things that work for me.

ITIL: got me back in the game. 1st cert since my CCDA many years ago.
Security+: Learned to learn from mistakes. Know why the right answers are right and why the wrong answers are wrong. Also incorporated Brainscape which was recommended by someone on TE. Brainscape is a flash card tool. I use Brainscape for 2 things. Indexing unfamiliar topics. Information from wrong answers on practice tests. Sneak in practice time. The good thing is that you can work on flash cards as soon as you create them.
GSEC: How to get into the details and pick out the important information. Also, how to create an index (which doesn't apply to the CISSP, but it does apply to my Brainscape point)
SECFND: Dealing with the anxiety of the exam and the higher passing score (82.5%). Relax and answer the questions. Eliminate the wrong ones one by one. Look for the intent of the question. Sometimes that takes 2-3 reads to get. Take a best guess if needed.

I have seen people recommend the Conrad 11th hour for the last couple days of study. Don't know if it's any good or even worthwhile, but Eric Conrad is a terrific teacher.

So keep your head up. You're still ahead of most people and you will get there.

Flyslinger2

clconrad1 wrote: »

I did have crypto and software questions as well as database stuff. It was heavy on cloud too and the cloud questions I got was mostly stuff I did not see in the Sybex book. Tons of off the wall stuff.

My exam was almost a mirror image. Based on the marketing emails I'm getting from (ISC)2 they are trying to push us to cloud in a big way.

PersianImmortal

Ah, you're not a loser man, everyone fails at things, its how we learn! This exam was really tough, but you can do it! Think about what questions gave you the most pause on the exam and re-focus on those topics. I'm sure the third time will be the charm for you! Best of luck!

laurieH

Dude, it's not supposed to be easy. I was sure I had failed when I walked out and will never know how close I was to failing. You may need to review how you revise as this is so crucial when there's such breadth of material to cover. Take some time to chill out for a bit then see if you want to give it another go.