CISSP Set for 07/16 but probably rescheduling

Paperlantern

I have been having a really hard time keeping my head in the game the last week to two weeks. I'm refinancing my house at the same time as it being very stressful and busy at work. I've been quite distracted and find my mind wandering every time i sit down to read the book I'm in right now (OIG Second Edition). I plotted out where I needed to be in order to finish the book with a week to spare for flash cards, practice questions and additional brushing up before the exam, and I'm 2 chapters behind. I needed to read roughly 40 pages a day though, and I knew that it might be difficult, but im averaging 12 pages a day right now. I'm not even close.

I'm scoring low to mid 70's on the practice tests Ive taken so far. So i'm cautiously optimistic, but I know I still have a good ways to go. I'm tempted to push the date out an entire month.

I've already gone through the Eric Conrad offering, as well as completing the LearnSmart CISSP online training course. I didn't pass their final exam on the first try but got a respectable 73% (they want a 90% to consider it passing). This exam prep just has me shaken to the core.

kalkan999

As expected, I am chiming in.

Mid-70's is respectable. We all seem to have our distractions in life: work, home, health, family, Euro collapse, Mayan Apocalypse, which 'diety in the sky' will listen to our prayers/accept our burnt offerings, selling our first born to Rumplestilskin so that we might pass this test. Mid-70's is NOT where you want to be, though. If pushing the date out a month will help you, then by all means, push the date out a month. $600 is not a small amount of money to part with, and it takes awhile to re-focus and re-group if you don't pass the first try, ESPECIALLY if you are close. BUT, there are benefits to taking the test and not passing first time, most notably is that you get a better perspective about what is on this test if you take it on 17 July. You can always re-take it a month later if you are close and know where you were weakest, as you are given a score of sorts in each domain if you don't pass.
Go back to your roots: Why are you taking this test? How well have you prepared for Scenario based questions? Do you know what your strengths are? Based on what people share in these forums and others, what domains should you study for the hardest?

Paperlantern

See hats the thing kal, I don't feel like I'm even to the point in my studies tha I can answer those questions. The last test I took, the LearnSmartmfinal exam, basically showed me not strong, but not terrible all the way across the board.

gwhitney

I would say if you're not ready and comfortable then push it. Watch your scores and let the material soak in. After all, I assume you want to know the material even if you do pass the test. There's nothing wrong with waiting a short period of time. Just be careful not to push too far. You don't want to lose your sharpness with regard to your studies and you don't want to hit the ISC2 change cycle for testing updates.

JDMurray

It's all about understanding how you study best, and what you do to avoid studying.

It helps to have a study plan with small, daily tasks that are easy to accomplish in a set period of time. For example, I might spend five days reading/highlighting ten pages per day, and then one day transferring those highlights to study notes. During "study time" I avoid my major distractors--TVs and Web browsers. I also break up studying into one-hour chunks, because 60-90 minutes of reading is about my limit before I need to switch gears to doing something else. I try to get in two block on weekdays and three on weekends. I keep written track of my progress (calendar checklist) so there is a visible sign of my progress.

By two weeks before your exam, you should be finished going through your study materials and only be studying the "boiled down" information in your study notes. This makes it easier to focus on what you should have in your mind when you step into the exam room.

Paperlantern

Good advice guys thanks. I did put a calendar out there for my progress through the OIG, but the issue was when I would sit down to read, I couldnt concentrate at ALL, nothing i was reading was sticking, i was rereading pages because id realized my mind wandered and I didnt absorb any of it, I think LIFE is just too overwhelming right now for me to be able to actively study ON TOP OF life. Once the Refinance closes and the monetary woes we have right now are eased a bit I think I will be able to settle into a routine of daily studying, hopefully by then work will settle down a bit as well and i'll really be able to put a shoulder into it. I think i may push the date out about 6 weeks. i dont want to put it off TOO long of course, just long enough to allow me to have a couple months to get through another book, and to do some practice questions and practice exams as well as reviewing notes and other materials prior to sitting for the exam.

Would a change cycle be a concern of mine over the next 2 months?

JDMurray

There are a lot of reading concentration tricks that they teach kids, such as tracing your finger along the words as you read, or placing an index card under each line as you read it. My trick is using a highlighter to "seek and mark" information that I need to extract. That also give me a feeling of accomplishment with seeing all of those yellow lines I'm making. Whatever drills your concentration into the written words on the page, or the spoken words in your ear buds..

spicy ahi

Paperlantern wrote: »

Good advice guys thanks. I did put a calendar out there for my progress through the OIG, but the issue was when I would sit down to read, I couldnt concentrate at ALL, nothing i was reading was sticking, i was rereading pages because id realized my mind wandered and I didnt absorb any of it, I think LIFE is just too overwhelming right now for me to be able to actively study ON TOP OF life. Once the Refinance closes and the monetary woes we have right now are eased a bit I think I will be able to settle into a routine of daily studying, hopefully by then work will settle down a bit as well and i'll really be able to put a shoulder into it. I think i may push the date out about 6 weeks. i dont want to put it off TOO long of course, just long enough to allow me to have a couple months to get through another book, and to do some practice questions and practice exams as well as reviewing notes and other materials prior to sitting for the exam.

Would a change cycle be a concern of mine over the next 2 months?

Not sure what your needs are, or how important it is for you to get the CISSP at this moment in time, but would taking another cert that's more into your "zone of interest" be in the cards? I started studying for the CISSP in October of 2011 and by January of this year, I felt the same way you did in your OP. I got a notification that my CCNA was set to expire so I diverted and went the CCNA:Sec route to renew my CCNA. Since networking is my thing, I knew I could easily get into it so I studied and renewed it then went back to studying for the CISSP. It was a bit of a gamble since my test date was in April, and I essentially shaved off 6 weeks of precious studying time and left only about 6 weeks to prep before the test but in my case the CCNA Sec helped to put some things together for me (particularly encryption) so when I went back to my original studies I found a few topics easier to understand. More importantly, I'd gotten myself back into a studying rhythm because I was interested in the subject matter and when I transferred back, I was still in that rhythm so it made studying easier and *shockingly* enjoyable. The sadistic thing is I now enjoy CISSP stuff.

gwhitney

If I remember right they reserve the right to change every 6 months but it's more like 12. I didn't research that. So, I would keep it within 12 months. They don't overhaul the test but change questions within a couple domains. The last change was January of this year so you should be alright for the time being but I wouldn't push it out to mid-2013. ISC2 does post the updated to the CBK on their website so you should be aware when changes are made.

Paperlantern

Actually ahi, it is pretty important, I'm going for a promotion so I even hate pushing it out at all but it can't be helped. Though I do know there is only so much studying you can do. So I hope the next 8 weeks or so will be filled with good solid study sessions most every day and good things will happen. If I fail, well then I have a good insight on where i need to be for the retake.

Thanks gwhitney, yeah I plan on hitting up the site to see if there is anything I missed in my studies before I complete them fully. I'm thinking to push it to the 10th of Sept.

spicy ahi

Paperlantern wrote: »

Actually ahi, it is pretty important, I'm going for a promotion so I even hate pushing it out at all but it can't be helped. Though I do know there is only so much studying you can do. So I hope the next 8 weeks or so will be filled with good solid study sessions most every day and good things will happen. If I fail, well then I have a good insight on where i need to be for the retake.

Thanks gwhitney, yeah I plan on hitting up the site to see if there is anything I missed in my studies before I complete them fully. I'm thinking to push it to the 10th of Sept.

Good luck in your endeavor! The only advice I can give beyond all of the good advice above is to try to incorporate it into your daily routine. When I was studying (and actually, I still find myself doing this) I'd look around my office or the server room or outside the building and try to relate some CISSP concept to what I'm looking at. For instance, I would think about the encryption tunnels on our network and try to go over the encryption concepts whilst thinking if we implemented it. Sometimes I'd have to dig around to see if we are, or if there were an option for it (or download or whatever) Other times, I'd sit outside in the little outdoor picnic area/smokers pit and stare at the building trying to think of the different physical security elements and what applies to my building and what elements would improve security (I even put in the suggestion box a few of the easier to implement measures) It might help a little; and every little bit counts with this animal.

TBRAYS

I'm thinking of rescheduling myself, I had a study plan set out and I was sick for the past 4 days with the FLU after this past storm hit us in Florida (Tampa), so I'll probably go for the second week in August instead of 7/28, thank god for the CBT! I'm averaging around 70 pages a night because I have to wait until my two year old goes to sleep.