Gse #202

Hi all,

After a painful 45 days of waiting, I've been officially informed that I've earned the GSE. I'm number #202!

I created a thread last Summer about the GSE Multiple Choice exam. After passing the multiple choice exam, I went on to earn the GCFE and GCCC as part of the final stretch of the MSISE program.

With those certs out of the way, I really began focusing on the GSE lab this February (about 3 months prior to flying out to D.C. to take the 2 day hands-on portion).

The 2 day/16 hour lab was the most challenging certification exam/process I've endured. The lab covers a ton of content and you're forced to work under pressure while exercising excellent time management skills. Like all GIAC exams, I'd say that the whole thing was fair, and definitely aligned to the exam objectives.

I created a GitHub repo back in February to serve as a gathering ground for exam tips, resources, and methodologies. I had a few collaborators who contributed too. The repo is organized to align to the primary GSE objectives and sub-objectives. It's really meant to be an aggregate for things useful during preparation: https://github.com/Robicus/gse-study

Upon finishing the exam, I had to sit with mixed feelings and anxiety that plagued me for weeks. Just like those before me, I don't think anyone walks away from the lab saying, "I feel great about it". There were 25-30 of us who took the lab this most recent round, and 9 of us passed. I feel very fortunate.

Phew.

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Comments

Danielm7

Congrats, very impressive!

cyberguypr

Hats off to you sir.

quogue66

Congrats and thanks for the study material. That's really interesting to hear that so many people failed the exam. I was under the impression that there was a very low fail rate because SANS was very thorough at helping you prepare. Do you know how many people were that took the lab were also in the master's program?

Robicus

quogue66 wrote: »

Congrats and thanks for the study material. That's really interesting to hear that so many people failed the exam. I was under the impression that there was a very low fail rate because SANS was very thorough at helping you prepare. Do you know how many people were that took the lab were also in the master's program?

Great question! It's really hard to say... I personally know of 5 other students who were in the group. Overall, it was a good mix of students and non-students.

Re: the pass rate: I've been tracking it over the past 2 years (the lab is offered every 6 months) and it seems to be consistently around ~50%, and in some cases, less. GSE is known to be mysterious and there's not a lot of prep, if any at all, that SANS offers. It's an aggregate of knowledge and core topics drawn from 401, 503, and 504, served up in a way that really tests one's application as it relates to the real world.

JDMurray

A fantastic accomplishment and only 202 GSEs in all the time it has been offered (<=2001)!

What's next for you, CCIE:Security?

As for GSE study, there are these member-only resources:

SANS advisory-board-open mailing list: https://lists.sans.org/mailman/listinfo/advisory-board-open
GIAC study group on Google Groups: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/giac-study

josephandre

That's a torturous wait, especially for an exam with such a high fail rate. Awesome accomplishment man. I have 3 GIAC certs, and have a few more I'd like to get, but would never, and I mean EVER submit myself to that. Hats off.

JoJoCal19

Awesome job! Congrats! Thanks for the study resources as well.

mjs1104

Congrats, great work! I have to take the GSE as part of the MSISE degree and am definitely not looking forward to it. Only 9 people out of a group of 25-30 passed? Wow, that is scary.

Thanks for the Github repository. This looks like an invaluable resource. Thank you for providing that.

LionelTeo

Congrats and welcome to the club!

MalwareMike

Awesome job and thanks for the link to the material!

gespenstern

Huge achievement! Congrats!

krucial85

I'm obviously late to the party but congratulations! I'm considering taking the GSE but I'm not sure I want to go that route because my current plan is to become an IT auditor when I get out of the military in a couple of years. I've been in pursuit of certifications because I've been told that having certifications will help get me in the door but, at the same time, I don't want to be viewed as a certification hoarder. I need the knowledge of how things work in the civilian world and that's the only way I know how to get it.

josephandre

While I'd never say 'easy', I actually was surprised at how well I was able to perform the lab. I'd set myself up as if it was going to be torturous and found that it was anything but.

Perhaps it's because I spent 2 entire years studying, or perhaps because I'd heard so many horror stories I over prepared and it just felt easier than it is.

Or perhaps I'm full of it and could never dream of attempting it

Congrats on such an incredible accomplishment

JGS

Congratulations on the GSE! I hope to do this as well at some point

. Thanks for posting the Github material!!!

DJVeritas

I'll congratulate you again, on this site.

MalwareMike

Congrats!

chrisone

Congrats on the pass! I hope to tackle the GSE in 2020.