Passed! First attempt
nperreault568
Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
in SSCP
Let me start by saying I have been waiting many months to make my own post and I can't move forward without giving a big thank you to the posters who came before me and provided valuable insight into their preparations.
With that out of the way, I hope I can be of similar help to others who are preparing. I took, and passed the test on April 11th. My original goal was February, then decided on May but moved it forward to sneak it in before the test is updated on the 15th. After seeing others whose exam ended in a pass somewhere between question 100-105 my heart was pounding as I submitted question 100. The exam instantly ended and I had a really good feeling it went well after an hour and a half of assuming I had failed. The exam really is difficult and requires careful thought at each question.
My study plan in order:
1. Read the Sybex 7th edition text cover to cover
2. Listened to Kelly Handerhan's videos (invaluable)
3. Read Sybex 7th again. All chapters while taking detailed notes but not necessarily in order
4. Completed countless practice tests on the Sybex site as well as mobile app
5. Listened to Larry Greenblat's video on how to approach CISSP questions on Youtube. Look it up, it's worth the half an hour
6. Conrad's 11th hour book the night before (Good refresher on the main points of each domain. It's only a little over 200 pages)
7. Looked over the Sunflower notes the day and hours before
I did this over the course of 6 months. Would have been more like 7 but I really wanted to get the test in before the switch.
My bits of advice:
Use this forum as a guide but don't look to deeply at what someone is doing and how that compares to you. It's easy to start to feel like you are missing something important, when maybe the other person learns in a different way.
Absolutely review the code of ethics before hand, as mentioned in the study books, it will likely show up somewhere on the test
The questions I encountered on the test jumped around a lot between domains and very few were just straight definitions. Be prepared to put on your critical thinking hat and work through the problems. Even if you're not familiar with the term (I wasn't for a few of them), take the bits of information you do understand and form an answer from that.
I think I preferred the CAT format over the long format. It's intimidating but suffering for 3 hours max seems a heck of a lot better than 6.
I hope this helps someone and good luck! I am happy to get my nights back
With that out of the way, I hope I can be of similar help to others who are preparing. I took, and passed the test on April 11th. My original goal was February, then decided on May but moved it forward to sneak it in before the test is updated on the 15th. After seeing others whose exam ended in a pass somewhere between question 100-105 my heart was pounding as I submitted question 100. The exam instantly ended and I had a really good feeling it went well after an hour and a half of assuming I had failed. The exam really is difficult and requires careful thought at each question.
My study plan in order:
1. Read the Sybex 7th edition text cover to cover
2. Listened to Kelly Handerhan's videos (invaluable)
3. Read Sybex 7th again. All chapters while taking detailed notes but not necessarily in order
4. Completed countless practice tests on the Sybex site as well as mobile app
5. Listened to Larry Greenblat's video on how to approach CISSP questions on Youtube. Look it up, it's worth the half an hour
6. Conrad's 11th hour book the night before (Good refresher on the main points of each domain. It's only a little over 200 pages)
7. Looked over the Sunflower notes the day and hours before
I did this over the course of 6 months. Would have been more like 7 but I really wanted to get the test in before the switch.
My bits of advice:
Use this forum as a guide but don't look to deeply at what someone is doing and how that compares to you. It's easy to start to feel like you are missing something important, when maybe the other person learns in a different way.
Absolutely review the code of ethics before hand, as mentioned in the study books, it will likely show up somewhere on the test
The questions I encountered on the test jumped around a lot between domains and very few were just straight definitions. Be prepared to put on your critical thinking hat and work through the problems. Even if you're not familiar with the term (I wasn't for a few of them), take the bits of information you do understand and form an answer from that.
I think I preferred the CAT format over the long format. It's intimidating but suffering for 3 hours max seems a heck of a lot better than 6.
I hope this helps someone and good luck! I am happy to get my nights back
