GSEC 401 Exam tomorrow..Nervous now!

All,

I started reading this forum when I started studying for my SEC 401 exam 2 weeks ago. Its been like drinking from a fire hose to be honest. I felt really confident until I took the 2 practice exams (72 and 67) and now I feel nervous as hell. I guess I'm on here to vent a bit while I take a small break. My exam will start in 12 hrs so I guess its do or die VERY soon. Can someone share what notes they took into the test with them? I don't have the books so it will be from memory plus whatever notes I takes in with me.

Heres to hoping I come back tomorrow with some good news!!

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Comments

EngRob

2 weeks of Study seems rather aggressive to challenge this exam but it looks like you were able to get a passing score on the practice tests so the final exam should be similar. Did you sit the practice tests using any notes or purely memory?

I have seen other members say that they wouldn't recommend the exam without the SANS books, and I completely agree due to the range of topics covered. For my exam I took the books, my index (thanks JD Murray for your blog's info on this), and Dr. Cole's book.

Good luck!

laughing_man

I too had the books plus my index of the book material. If you do not have the SANS text, the next best thing is the Network Security Bible by Eric Cole.

Best of luck to you!

Wannabenerd13

Well I passed after all low score but I passed..no books just some tcp notes but dreadfully regretted not having them.

Greg

cyberguypr

Congrats

Wannabenerd13

cyberguypr wrote: »

Congrats

Thanks..I tried going to the GSEC site but my name is not pulling up yet. I also tried to download my cert and it says it wont be available for a couple days. I thought from reading on here that it was pretty instantaneous? But, I did receive the email that states Congrats on passing the test with some instructions. Pretty freaking happy about this..TIRED as hell but well worth it!

Greg

docrice

Challenging the GSEC is no small feat. Having the courseware books is an absolute advantage (I'll stop short of calling it a ****), but getting through the exam on your knowledge alone as it exists in your head is very noteworthy. Good job.

Wannabenerd13

EngRob wrote: »

2 weeks of Study seems rather aggressive to challenge this exam but it looks like you were able to get a passing score on the practice tests so the final exam should be similar. Did you sit the practice tests using any notes or purely memory?

I have seen other members say that they wouldn't recommend the exam without the SANS books, and I completely agree due to the range of topics covered. For my exam I took the books, my index (thanks JD Murray for your blog's info on this), and Dr. Cole's book.

Good luck!

I took the first practice with notes and maybe 5 google searches and the second memory alone. This is when I realized I bombed a lot of Linux and packet captures. So I made 2 pages of notes the night before along with the tcp **** guide and used that during the test. The proctor asked me where my books were and I showed her my notes. She thought it was funny, I didn't then now I do. Thanks for the good luck I needed some during the exam.

Greg

Wannabenerd13

docrice wrote: »

Challenging the GSEC is no small feat. Having the courseware books is an absolute advantage (I'll stop short of calling it a ****), but getting through the exam on your knowledge alone as it exists in your head is very noteworthy. Good job.

Thanks, I didn't have the books but I did take the SANS online boot camp with 6 module in 6 days. So I did have the info in my head but only because it was recently placed there...so not as great a feat as first thought. Lol

I really do appreciate the comments man, sites like these are what keep you moving forward!!!

Greg

Wannabenerd13

docrice wrote: »

Challenging the GSEC is no small feat. Having the courseware books is an absolute advantage (I'll stop short of calling it a ****), but getting through the exam on your knowledge alone as it exists in your head is very noteworthy. Good job.

Just noticed your Certs brother!!!

One day man one day ......very nice

Greg

laughing_man

Well done!

darkuser

any recommendation's for GSEC self study ? passed GCIH and put in my mentor application.
bit I want to save my training money for GCIA. so im going to buy a GSEC cert attempt
but I'm looking for some relevant structured material ... thanks.

CCNPforSure

Congratulations!! I am looking forward to taking it soon myself.