I took the CISSP Exam yesterday (12/18 ) in Reston, VA. My experience with the exam was, well, surprising. I expected the exam to be extremely difficult, confusing etc however, I found it to be pretty straightforward. Don't get me wrong, it is difficult but I didn't spot any trick questions that threw me off or anything like that. I do admit there were a couple of questions that I was not very confident about but for the most part, if you know your material -- its not impossible.
My exam taking strategy was to mark all my answers in the booklet itself. I finished this process in about 2.5 hours. I then, took a bathroom break, ate my sandwich and got back to basically walking thru each question once again, confirming/modifying and marking my answers in the scantron sheet. This process took me another 2 hours but I was satisfied that I had been thorough.
I came out of the examination room and basically sat in the hotel lobby for the next thirty minutes with my eyes closed. I was mentally drained and needed that time to get myself together to drive home.
I feel that unless my foundation understanding was way off (always possible), I should pass the exam. But, who knows, untill I actually get the results e-mail.
Posting this info for anyone that is prepping to take this exam in the future. I know reading these types of accounts do prepare an individual in terms of what to expect. I visited this site a number of times to familiarize myself with personal accounts -- maybe that's why I didn't freak out at the exam
