Passed GCIH on 6/10/2016

Employer paid for the on-demand GCIH course. I watched the videos while I worked. Made a super-detailed index that really helped. I took the first practice test after I read through the books the first time and got a 70% without using any books at all, and had 1.5 hrs. left. You need a 72% to pass / 150 questions in 4 hours. I then went back through the books and re-read them a second time, and made my index. Then took the second practice test using the index about 3 weeks after the first test, and got a 78%, with about 30 minutes left. I took this second practice test the day before the exam, and I wasn't feeling very confident with a 78%. So I studied up on the sections that I missed questions in. I was a little stressed out on exam day, and the testing center had to do a Pearson software update, so my test start time got delayed about 1.5 hours. Once the exam started, I felt pretty relaxed, and my index worked out great. I scored 82% and had about 20 minutes left over. The practice exams and the actual exam were about the same, although I feel like the actual test was easier, probably due to the fact I had studied and was familiar with the material.

I would suggest that anyone taking this needs to start the index as soon as possible. I added notes in my index too. Some say don't put too many details, but I put in a lot. My index was about 50 pages long. I used excel and followed the photos of others I had seen online. I had a section for keywords, tools, Linux commands, and Windows commands. I printed out the SANS **** sheets and attached them to the back, as well a a list of common ports, and a few other misc **** sheets that I didn't even need. I printed my index landscape on 8.5 x 14 legal size paper, otherwise it would have been even more pages, and I printed them single sided. Also, I highly recommend getting the little sticky tabs and marking off all the letters of the alphabet in the index. It saves time, and makes it easier to looks things up. Plus, I was the only one in the testing center that was using books, so that helped me be a little quieter when I was flipping through pages. Mark your books the same way with page number tabs.

I definitely felt some pressure taking this exam since my employer was paying for it. Everything you need to pass is in the books, you just have to be able to find the info. Indexing will help. Plus, reading the other threads on this forum too for more insight. Good Luck!