Cissp 2012

wolfgemv

Hi all, going for my cissp 7/9/2012 was wondering if anyone took the computer based exam and if you seen any NOT questions.
Thanks.

Jcast

I took it on 6/26. Yes there were NOT questions.

wolfgemv

Thanks, did you pass?
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Jcast

Yes I passed. My strategy for the test was to answer all 250 questions the first time through and mark for review the ones that I wasn't 100% sure of the answer. At the end of 4 1/2 hours and answering 250 questions, I counted 75 to be reviewed. I re-reviewed these 75 questions lending a lot of weight to my original answer and only changing that answer if I was really convinced there was a better answer. This goes along with the old adage that your 1st choice is usually the correct one and you're more likely to change a right answer to a wrong one. I would say there were about 10-15 questions that became clearer on the 2nd pass and I either changed the answer or knew I had the correct answer. About 20-25 questions had a 50/50 shot between 2 answers. The rest were educated guesses. Eat something with protein before you go and limit your bathroom breaks. Six hours seems like a lot of time but it's not. I used 5 hours and 50 minutes with only 2 very brief bathroom breaks. There's only so much advice I can give you on such short notice. Hope this helps. JC

Jcast

Good luck!!!!!! Let us know how you do.

spicy ahi

I wish you good luck as well! I took the paper exam but a friend of mine who previously failed the paper exam just retook it and I asked him how it compared. (FYI - he just took it so he hasn't passed it yet) He said that his method, which was similar to mine and Jcasts as well, didn't change between the two. The only difference is that where he tested, he was in a little room by himself and whenever he needed to take a break, he had to walk outside into the lobby area where the proctor/test center guy was and wait for the guy to take his stuff out of the cabinet to get a snack or whatever. A little more time than simply walking to the back of the room where your stuff is waiting for you, but not a whole lot more. Going off of that, I'd assume that other than minor differences between testing center policies, the method you'd approach the PBT would still apply to the CBT.

That being said, I also went through an initial pass to answer questions that I felt I knew the answer to. If it didn't immediately jump out to me within a minute I skipped to the next. After the first pass, I took a break to give my mind a bit of rest then went back with a fine toothed comb and answered the skipped questions one by one without skipping unless there was absolutely no obvious answer. Took another break then tried to answer the ones I skipped over after the first two passes. After the third pass I had time to recheck over each answer but opted against it as I figured my luck would see me change enough correct answers to fail. There are other good methods posted in this CISSP forum; just go through each thread and find them. And enjoy the agony of us "4-6 weekers" as you read as well!

Jcast

Yes, being in a tiny enclosed room was weird and a little claustrophobic, but it also meant no distractions. Being separated from the other testers who were in and out of the main room quicker than me meant I couldn't see them or hear them. I was able to submerge myself entirely into the CISSP. Once the test is finished you don't get your results on screen. You have to walk out of the room and wait a whole 3-5 minutes until the proctor retrieves the results from the printer. I guess this is ok compared to the 4-6 weeks our colleagues have waited in the past...

coolz203

I am confused, you are allowed to take breaks during the CISSP exam? Is there a limit to how many or how long?

DarthVader

@Jcast Did you already complete your endorsement? I sent in my papers on June 27th but havent heard anything yet?

spicy ahi

coolz203 wrote: »

I am confused, you are allowed to take breaks during the CISSP exam? Is there a limit to how many or how long?

Yes, apparently so. My friend told me that where he tested, the proctor's desk looks into the room so all he had to do when he wanted to take a break was wave at the proctor and wait for him to come in and secure the room. He let my friend out, then locked the door and walked him back into his desk area where my friends stuff was locked away. The proctor took his stuff out, gave it to him and he had to eat/drink whatever in the room. As for bathroom breaks, the proctor walked him to the bathroom because it's out in the hallway, open to the public but they have a bathroom (I'm guessing the employee bathroom by his description) where he was escorted to. I'm sure there'll be differences from center to center, but from the sound of it the centers and their employees had to go through training to host this test.

afcyung

Its a 6 hour exam covering lots of various topics. Breaks are a necessity. I finished in 3 hours I took breaks every 100 questions. I took the paper test so the area we were testing in had a bathroom that was just for us.

Jcast

DarthVader wrote: »

@Jcast Did you already complete your endorsement? I sent in my papers on June 27th but havent heard anything yet?

I sent my endorsement paperwork in on 6/27 as well and have been glued to my email. The word is that it takes 4-6 weeks for a response after they acknowledge they've received it. Let's stay in touch and let each other know status.

Jcast

coolz203 wrote: »

I am confused, you are allowed to take breaks during the CISSP exam? Is there a limit to how many or how long?

No limits to the number of breaks or duration.

DarthVader

Jcast wrote: »

I sent my endorsement paperwork in on 6/27 as well and have been glued to my email. The word is that it takes 4-6 weeks for a response after they acknowledge they've received it. Let's stay in touch and let each other know status.

Sure thing, hopefully it won't be too long. At least I know I passed, that was the hard wait.

coolz203

One last question, according to ISC2, you have 6 hours to attempt 250 questions. Does that mean you are graded on what you have answered if you did not complete all 250?

Thistleback

You are graded on the whole test, regardless of how far you got during your allotted time. (Remembering that 25 questions are there for "vetting" purposes and don't count toward your grade.) If you don't answer a question, it is considered incorrect. You are better off guessing than not answering at all. You can usually rule out two of the answers as obviously wrong, and guess between the remaining two. Using that method you have a chance at guessing half of them correctly, so it's worth a try, rather than an automatic "incorrect" for no answer at all.

cyberguypr

Following that logic I could answer just a few questions i was 100% sure about the answer and get perfect score. Definitely guess those that you don't know.

DarthVader

Make sure you answer ALL of the questions. Even if you are not sure. The score is cumilative so if you leave any unanswered, you are just leaving points on the table!

coolz203

Got it, thanks!