Passed CISSP yesterday March 8

oscarmack

I provisionally passed on March 8 on my first try. I finished all the 150 questions.  My original plan and hope was to pass in 100 questions so i spent a lot of time in the first 50 questions.  I had to revert to plan B when i saw question 101.  I want to thank the members of this group for all the tips, i did not panic as i had less than 35 minutes to finish the remaining 50 questions.  Completed the 50 questions with 5 seconds to spare.  It was quite an achievement considering the fact that i had to divy up my time for my 2 month old baby and new software implementation at work.  All the late Night study sessions paid off.

Here was my study plan in order.

1. Listened to Cybrary videos Kelly Handerhan
2. Read sybex 7th edition read cover to cover
3. Did the first 2 practice test on Boson (scored 62% and 64%) Revised all the questions and identified my weak areas
4. Listened to Mike Chappel on video on  Lynda.com
5. Using the scores from boson practice test, read the chapters on sybex that i had less than 75%
6. Used youtube extensively on technologies that was hard for me to grasp - Kerberos, MPLS, all the attacks, cryptography - this by far was one of the biggest help - I did not have to memorize anymore
7. Studynotesandtheory group on facebook
8. Did the remaining 3 practice test on boson scoring - 69%, 74% and 79%.  did a random 150 questions test from all the testbank that i had already done and scored 89%
9. Last 3 days---- just revised all my notes

even though i did not use Isc2 practice questions, i highly recommend them.  I did about 25 sample questions, and saw 3 very similar on the real exam.
I recommend using youtube cissp topics to understand what you cannot in the CBK.

Best of luck to all the people preparing.... you can do it.

Info_Sec_Wannabe

Great job on the pass!

Was MIke's video on Lynda.com informative? I don't see it mentioned very often. +1 on Studynotesandtheory group on Facebook, has a lot of great questions.

wiwatpr

oscarmack Hello, what's Boson CISSP exam product that you practice test..

Boson Software Products
1.ExSim-Max for CISSP (v2018)           
2.Kit for ISC2 CISSP                                
3.Practice Lab for CISSP                                
                                       

ehlaban

Congratulations!

Which "Isc2 practice questions" are you refering to? Are those the questions from the Sybex book online?

mikey88

Congratulations! I was in a similar situation as you. Do not bet on exam ending at question 100 and use time wisely.

jumblerr

Congrats!

oscarmack

wiwatpr said:

oscarmack Hello, what's Boson CISSP exam product that you practice test..

Boson Software Products
1.ExSim-Max for CISSP (v2018)           
2.Kit for ISC2 CISSP                                
3.Practice Lab for CISSP                                
                                       

I am referring to the EXsim-Max for CISSP.  I think they are great for the answers that they provide to their questions.  The CISSP exam is not as straightforward as Boson.  Most questions have at 2 or three sentences that you have to understand what they are looking for.

oscarmack

Info_Sec_Wannabe said:

Great job on the pass!

Was MIke's video on Lynda.com informative? I don't see it mentioned very often. +1 on Studynotesandtheory group on Facebook, has a lot of great questions.

For me it was really good.  They have demonstration on some topics which was really helpful. 

One other tip that i forgot to include was how to eliminate the wrong answers, i got a lot of help from "cybervista cissp questions" on youtube.   They go over about 40 or so questions...

tedjames

Congrats, and thanks for the in-depth post! I'm surprised it made you take all 150 questions. I know it stops early if there's no way that you'll pass. Your score may have been "on the fence" the entire time. Regardless, that's a great achievement.

DZA_

Congratulations on your pass. How did you find the value in the Studynotesandtheory study group? I've seen people list it one of their study aids on the forums but wasn't sure how much people were getting out of it. 

ehlaban

oscarmack said:

even though i did not use Isc2 practice questions, i highly recommend them.  I did about 25 sample questions, and saw 3 very similar on the real exam.

If you have time and if you want, could you tell which practise questions (25 samples) you did? Are these in the practise test book?
www.amazon.com/CISSP-Official-ISC-Practice-Tests/dp/1119475929