Taking CAS-002 Saturday and starting to panic

deathbatcountry

am taking CAS-002 on Saturday. I'm trying to cram it in before it expires in Oct. I had originally scheduled it for 9/8, but decided to move it up.

I've been studying since I finished CySA+ in April, and before that I obtained Sec+ summer of 2017. I have watched the Plural Sight course multiple times, I've watched Cybrary's videos multiple times, I've also crammed in some of the Udemy course, and I've read the Pearson book and done the end of chapter questions. I'm currently skimming back through it again to cover key topics. I listen to the various videos from Plural Sight and Cybrary on my commute.

I do the frigging pocket prep questions multiple times a day. I've nailed the Pearson book additional questions, but then I totally bombed on DG's CASP questions which absolutely has crushed my soul.


I honestly feel like I'm totally burnt out on this exam and studying for it.


I have been reading just some absolute horror stories about this test and how hard it is, and how none of these practice tests come close to the actual test questions. I feel like I know the concept and materials, but for some reason I feel like I struggle applying them to situations.


I went into CySA+ not feeling good, and passed, but I'm going into CASP feeling crushed already.

Markos4

Listen, you have to relax. stressing yourself wont do any good. It is a very hard exam and it pains me to say this but I actually gave up on my CASP journey because I was in the same position you were except I did less than you have done. I completed the Cybrary course and read the Pearson book three times. the problem for me was the same though, i was seeing nothing but "failing" CASP posts on this site, everyone kept telling me that you really needed real world exp to pass. it does not matter though. keep pushing yourself. you only have on e shot. the exam is about to retire. Its now or never so Do not give up. I also gave up because my budget is very limited and my certs expire next year but next year I will be super busy so I chose to go for the Cysa instead which should be 3x easier.

bjpeter

deathbatcountry wrote: »

am taking CAS-002 on Saturday. I'm trying to cram it in before it expires in Oct. I had originally scheduled it for 9/8, but decided to move it up.

I've been studying since I finished CySA+ in April, and before that I obtained Sec+ summer of 2017. I have watched the Plural Sight course multiple times, I've watched Cybrary's videos multiple times, I've also crammed in some of the Udemy course, and I've read the Pearson book and done the end of chapter questions. I'm currently skimming back through it again to cover key topics. I listen to the various videos from Plural Sight and Cybrary on my commute.

I do the frigging pocket prep questions multiple times a day. I've nailed the Pearson book additional questions, but then I totally bombed on DG's CASP questions which absolutely has crushed my soul.


I honestly feel like I'm totally burnt out on this exam and studying for it.


I have been reading just some absolute horror stories about this test and how hard it is, and how none of these practice tests come close to the actual test questions. I feel like I know the concept and materials, but for some reason I feel like I struggle applying them to situations.


I went into CySA+ not feeling good, and passed, but I'm going into CASP feeling crushed already.

How did you do? Did you take it today or are you taking it Saturday, September 1?

deathbatcountry

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omg that test was BRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTAL but I did it! Omg I am so frigging happen to round out my CompTIA certs with CASP. Now I am taking a break for a year or so before I jump into CISSP.

stryder144

Awesome job! That is great to hear!

scaredoftests

Yay! Congrats!!

Info_Sec_Wannabe

Congrats!

ThePawofRizzo

Congrats. It's a great feeling to meet those goals. I know I'll be doing that last few days of cramming, taking practice exams, and thinking "Why am I doing this?!!" Then, when I pass the exam, and also as I apply that knowledge on the job subsequent to the studies and certification I get that great feeling that the challenge was worth it. When I reflect later after going through each study and test, I always see that I've learned new concepts, and often also reviewed some concepts I'd forgotten. It all helps me do my job better.

crking3

So just like you I have trouble applying the knowledge to “what to do” situations.........how did you mitigate that ? What study tactics did you use ? Can you explain more about how it worked for you??? Thanks and congrats !

deathbatcountry

crking3 said:

So just like you I have trouble applying the knowledge to “what to do” situations.........how did you mitigate that ? What study tactics did you use ? Can you explain more about how it worked for you??? Thanks and congrats !

Well, it feels like forever ago that I did the exam, as I've started studying for CISSP. 

Honestly, my studying habits are erratic as can be. I usually start off reading the written material first, then I move to video material. I read the CASP book then watch the Plural Sight video series, then Cybrary video series. 

I also was constantly doing practice questions on my phone whenever I had downtime. After I did all the material I REDID the Cybrary videos over and over. I would pretty much play those videos as background noise whenever I could including while I was cooking, during my long commute. 

I also broke my normal protocol of NOT studying the day before, but I did a last minute cram the day before. I basically just reread the key exam tips in the books and the end of chapter summary and important topics. 

Honestly, when I went into the exam I didn't expect to pass at all. The exam was extremely hard, but the questions were pretty straightforward which I thought made things a little easier. 

crking3

deathbatcountry said:

crking3 said:

So just like you I have trouble applying the knowledge to “what to do” situations.........how did you mitigate that ? What study tactics did you use ? Can you explain more about how it worked for you??? Thanks and congrats !

Well, it feels like forever ago that I did the exam, as I've started studying for CISSP. 

Honestly, my studying habits are erratic as can be. I usually start off reading the written material first, then I move to video material. I read the CASP book then watch the Plural Sight video series, then Cybrary video series. 

I also was constantly doing practice questions on my phone whenever I had downtime. After I did all the material I REDID the Cybrary videos over and over. I would pretty much play those videos as background noise whenever I could including while I was cooking, during my long commute. 

I also broke my normal protocol of NOT studying the day before, but I did a last minute cram the day before. I basically just reread the key exam tips in the books and the end of chapter summary and important topics. 

Honestly, when I went into the exam I didn't expect to pass at all. The exam was extremely hard, but the questions were pretty straightforward which I thought made things a little easier. 

Did you start doing questions before you went through the entirety of the material??? I find that it’s hard for me to get the mos tout of doing practice questions if I haven’t at least already covered the topic....however most test banks of practice questions are mixed up/in test mode so it’s hard to test yourself on specific material as you go ......also, how much stric memorization would you say that you did vs just reading through the material and listening to the videos ?...thanks for the timely and thorough response man !!

deathbatcountry

Well since I already had Sec+ and CySA+ I did start right into the questions thinking I'd have some overlapping knowledge for those two. Same thing I'm doing with CISSP. I've almost finished the Sybex book (900 pages), but I've been doing practice questions on my phone the whole time. 

I'd say CASP was not so much memorization as it was knowing what to do in a certain circumstance. Of course, knowing acronyms is essential to understanding many of the questions. The questions were much more than knowing the definition of something. Almost all the questions were given as a scenario and you had to choose the best resolution to that scenario of the multichoice options. I'm not talking like "so and so's PC is infected with malware what do you do first?" The situations were very detailed and complex. The test is a mix of technical and management so then other questions involved calculating ROI, SLE, ALE, ARO etc. 

I was sure I had failed it. It is an extremely hard test. 

crking3

I definitely have overlapping knowledge with net+ and sec+ so maybe I’ll start doing questions right away as I continue to make my way through the book .....I’ve been noting every single acronym on a separate notebook .......largely I think it’s all about a mindset ....think like a security professional .....so you feel like this is a generally good strategy ? Also you mention ROI ....this topic is poorly explained in the cert guide of Pearson .....basically money you put into a security solution vs the money the solution saves you/how much is the risk it mitigates ....how do you approach ROI??

deathbatcountry

Here is a pretty good explanation of ROI. 

You're right about mindset, which is really screwing me up with CISSP. Sec+, CySA+ and CASP have a large degree of technicality to them, but CISSP is supposed to be more management. So everything I read about CISSP is "approach it as a management person, not as the fix it person." I'm having a hard time with that when it comes to answering the questions. 

https     /www.csoonline.com/article/3010007/advanced-persistent-threats/how-to-calculate-roi-and-justify-your-cybersecurity-budget.html

had to break the link up in order to post it but that's a good explanation of ROI. 

crking3

Awesome I’ll check this link out.....thanks for all the advice and hopefully I can continue to reach out to you as I progress through my studies .....gonna just work through the Pearson cert guide chapter by chapter and use the ITpro and skillsoft video series as I go, then after that idk? I will probably get the Kaplan/trancender, GCGA, Actual Test questions and start hammering away at pracice....if I find gaps I’ll go back and study them ....also thinking about going through the exam objectives one by one and just jotting notes a week out ....any advice for how to bring it all home after I ge through the cert guide ?

deathbatcountry

Honestly, I didn't take a single note. I'm bad at note taking and I would have literally just re-written everything because I tend to be excessive in note-taking. Watch the Cybrary CASP series with Kelly Handerhan (she's fantastic), and it's free so why not? 

crking3

deathbatcountry said:

Honestly, I didn't take a single note. I'm bad at note taking and I would have literally just re-written everything because I tend to be excessive in note-taking. Watch the Cybrary CASP series with Kelly Handerhan (she's fantastic), and it's free so why not? 

I’m so excessive in note taking too lol 

okay so basicaly just do practice questions and use a video series to tie it all together ...cool thanks again man 

deathbatcountry

No problem. My learning is pretty sporadic so I can't really pinpoint what actually worked for me, and I'm a terrible test taker. I think I finished CASP with an hour to go still, and I went through the entire test every single question twice. On the second time through I actually changed a few answers. Obviously, I don't know if that helped or hurt me. 

crking3

deathbatcountry said:

Here is a pretty good explanation of ROI. 

You're right about mindset, which is really screwing me up with CISSP. Sec+, CySA+ and CASP have a large degree of technicality to them, but CISSP is supposed to be more management. So everything I read about CISSP is "approach it as a management person, not as the fix it person." I'm having a hard time with that when it comes to answering the questions. 

https     /www.csoonline.com/article/3010007/advanced-persistent-threats/how-to-calculate-roi-and-justify-your-cybersecurity-budget.html

had to break the link up in order to post it but that's a good explanation of ROI.