So how many actually passed the first time around?

Well?

Post too if you've taken multiple times and passed.

Just curious how good my chances are of passing on the first attempt.

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2lazybutsmart

But why is Sec+ so hard that I've yet to see a person claim pass on first try.

Is it really that hard:;: or is this just some sort of stereotyping

pandimus

Remember Cheeblie?

Very smart kid.. Passed First time by one point. I'm on my third try.. You can probably ask russ, but the way comptia wants you to **** ize their tests sucks. Seems their questions were made to intentionally trick someone. Needless to say, it is the toughest test i have yet to take. Not the material, but the test itself...

pmann

I needed two shots at this exam and it was definitely the toughest I'd taken. I've been in IT (including all aspects of security) for >20 years and I really should have sailed through it.

The main difficulty for me was that the available answers for each question included two or even three perfectly valid responses. The problem was to identify which answer CompTIA was actually looking for. After a while I figured out that when in doubt, go for the answer you believe a security professional would go for, not your personal opinion. (The whole purpose of the exam is to turn you into a security professional of course!).

A second problem was that many questions asked things like 'what is the most common...' Well for me the most common thing will differ depending on the context, e.g the most common thing on a commercial network is not the most common thing on a domestic network. Just had to click and hope on these ones.

Having gotten through it I moved onto the beast (216) for light relief... I'm retaking it this week

kenseido

Now I will be the first to admit, this exam was hard.
LearnKey, CBT Nuggets, MS Press and Transcender.
Very tough exam.

But I passed first try. 870 out of 900.

SniperHunter

Heh, I took it today and scored a 756... My mouth DROPPED when I seen the score.. I thought I aced the goddam thing, im freaking pissed.. I rechecked my questions TWICE I thought maybe I have gotten 2-3 wrong TOPS... None the less when I seen FAIL I almost ripped the monitor out the wall lol.. Anyhow back to studying.. Hopefully ill take it again next week

/usr

I'm really reluctant to take this exam....ever.

In all seriousness, I think I'll take it soon and hope for the best. Maybe I'll be one of the lucky few who passes the first time around. I just don't know if I can stand to see the "Fail" pop up on my screen afterwards. I just want to move on to my MCSA.

zen4glenn

I took the test on Mar. 5th. Scored 748. I was a little chapped. Trying it again on the 26th. Crossing my fingers and wearing out highlighters.

2lazybutsmart

pandimus wrote:

Remember Cheeblie?

Very smart kid.. Passed First time by one point. I'm on my third try.. You can probably ask russ, but the way comptia wants you to **** ize their tests sucks. Seems their questions were made to intentionally trick someone. Needless to say, it is the toughest test i have yet to take. Not the material, but the test itself...

Oh yeah, Cheeblie. Where in the world is Cheeblie BTW. haven't seen him around here for months now.

Back to Sec+: But I'm hearing that all CompTIA tests have a very strange way of wording their questions. So I would assume A+ to be just as hard as Sec+ if that were the only case here; but it seems that it's the exam that's a helll of a something.

Do they have labs or something in the exam like the CCIE??

zen4glenn

No labs in the exam just a broad scope of information required. They don't expect you to know information on as deep a level as would be required for CISSP but, best to be intimate with encryption schemes and ports. Like I say, I failed by two questions on first attempt. I should have read more than just Myer's Passport book. I'm gonna smack it on the behind tomorrow though (hopefully).

2lazybutsmart

Well Best of Luck zen4glenn

zen4glenn

Thanks 2lazybutsmart

zen4glenn

Second time was a charm. Scored 884. Now I can move on to MCSA.

janmike

Congrats!

ICreateLoops

I passed my second time around w/ 788. Failed it the first time by 8 points! Boy was I pissed. I too thought I aced it, only took me half an hour each time to take the test. It's strange cuz you expect it to be a Network+ test b/c the questions are so small (not like MS and there full page questions, lol) and then it sneaks up on you.

At my job (The Training Camp) you'd be surprised how many people slack on the Sec+ b/c they think its like A+ or Network+ despite the teacher telling them it's a hard test.

2lazybutsmart

Congratulations Zen4Glenn.