Another CISSP pass

Passed. (well, provisional pass but I am of the understanding that they all say that?)

Took me 4.5 hours with one 25min break and another 20 min break.

Resources:

Sybex 7th cover to cover over a period of 2-3 months in slow time. I also reread all the chapter summaries in the last week.

Eric Conrad 11th hour

ISC2 Official practice tests - 74% and 80% for the two 250 question tests 2 weeks before exam

CCCure test engine - 1400 questions and averaged 80% over 4 weeks (all pro) and was hitting 90% in the last week.

Kellys MP3 downloads at Cybrary - Only got half way through these - I wish I had started them earlier.

I also bought a high quality A3 sized 20 page sketch pad and made my own notes for all the domains. Used different coloured pencils and varied my style of writing and added little sketches and diagrams - anything to get my brain to remember this stuff.

Ultimately though a thorough understanding of the subject matter is the only way to pass this exam and I had to fallback on my experience to answer many of the questions. Make no mistake this is a real heavyweight exam and my brain felt pummelled at the end - I had a half hearted look at the 20 or so flagged questions but I just wanted to press submit and get the hell out of there. In common with a lot of other posters I had no idea if I had passed and the relief I felt when I opened the piece of paper was something I will not easily forget. I think maybe I will take a couple of weeks off and then start thinking about what to have a crack at next.

Thanks for all the help.