GICH next Thursday

JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
Hello group.

It has been a while since I posted on tech exams. Recently I did my CDFE from Mile 2 last year. I'm now prepping for the GCIH Sans 504 exam. I've done the entire on demand course twice. I have passed the course completing all labs and practice quiz's. It has been challenging for me and ed is such a fast talker. I'm fairly confident in my ability to pass this exam, although it will be a close one. Is there a lab phase of the exam? From what I understand it is 150 Questions multiple choice with no lab. Any advice would be helpful. Anything to point out that could help would be great.

My spelling of the course in the subject is wrong. LMAO sorry about that. The Sans 504 exam next Thursday. not the gich exam!
Jinverar, TSS

Comments

  • docricedocrice Member Posts: 1,706 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Ed is a fast talker for a good reason - he needs to get a lot of information relayed in the class which makes the course in itself worth it. There's no lab portion of the (GCIH) exam. I know some of the newer GIAC exams are 75 questions rather than 150 with a 2-hour time limit instead of 4. The questions might also be packaged with more difficulty (in other words, you can't simply look up the answer from a sentence remark in the books) so there's a bit thinking and / or analysis involved. This requires you to actually know the material pretty decently. I'm not sure if the GCIH exam has adopted the new format yet though.
    Hopefully-useful stuff I've written: http://kimiushida.com/bitsandpieces/articles/
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I've been led to believe that the test on thurday will be 150 questions and 4 hours long. I also read that it's open book. Is that true? open book seems a bit easier. The following quote was sent to me. Does this mean I can use any notes I want from previous courses like Net + and Sec +?

    "GIAC exams are open-book/open-notes. You are allowed to use hard copy reference materials such as books and paper materials during the exam. You must be able to carry these into the testing room, leaving your backpack or briefcase outside of the testing room."
    Jinverar, TSS
  • docricedocrice Member Posts: 1,706 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Yes, any printed materials including the books from the course are allowed. What you can't bring in are electronic notes on your smartphone, tablets, computers, etc..
    Hopefully-useful stuff I've written: http://kimiushida.com/bitsandpieces/articles/
  • JDMurrayJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,023 Admin
    Open book exams are more difficult. This may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it, if they wanted to make the exam easier they'd just make the questions easier. Allowing you to have all of your books and notes right there in front of you is a reason to make the exam even harder than it would be otherwise.
  • ChooseLifeChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
    JDMurray wrote: »
    Open book exams are more difficult. This may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it, if they wanted to make the exam easier they'd just make the questions easier. Allowing you to have all of your books and notes right there in front of you is a reason to make the exam even harder than it would be otherwise.
    There are different axes of mental activities and the overall "score" of a task's difficulty depends on one's cognitive skills. Analytical skill is one axis, ability to remember facts is another. So I think we need to be cautious in defining difficulty of an exercise on a linear scale.

    I think it would be fair to say that technical open-book exams tend to focus on measuring understanding of principles and analytical skills, while placing less emphasis on factual knowledge and memorization of facts
    “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896

    GetCertified4Less
    - discounted vouchers for certs
  • JDMurrayJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,023 Admin
    ChooseLife wrote: »
    I think it would be fair to say that technical open-book exams tend to focus on measuring understanding of principles and analytical skills, while placing less emphasis on factual knowledge and memorization of facts
    Maybe it's a fair statement, but hardly accurate. Drawing a correct conclusion from a complex set of factual knowledge is also a way to increase the difficultly of an open book exam. The idea is to force the exam candidate to memorize as much as possible to answer the questions more quickly, because it's faster to use facts that are in your head than it is to look them up in a book.
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    On the first practice exam I got 68% without using any books or notes. I took the second test today and scored 78% using the books and my notes. I am really suffering in web application attacks and covering tracks. On both exams that was one of my weakest points.
    Jinverar, TSS
  • docricedocrice Member Posts: 1,706 ■■■■■■■■■■
    I recommend studying those ares some more as it may cost you a passing score on the real exam. I've heard from different people that the real exam is harder or easier compared to the practice exam. For me it's always been somewhat the same. Everyone's experiences differ apparently.
    Hopefully-useful stuff I've written: http://kimiushida.com/bitsandpieces/articles/
  • ChooseLifeChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
    JDMurray wrote: »
    Maybe it's a fair statement, but hardly accurate.
    I would like to understand which part of the statement you find inaccurate and why.
    JDMurray wrote: »
    Drawing a correct conclusion from a complex set of factual knowledge is also a way to increase the difficultly of an open book exam.
    I referred to this process as analytical skill in the previous post.
    JDMurray wrote: »
    The idea is to force the exam candidate to memorize as much as possible to answer the questions more quickly, because it's faster to use facts that are in your head than it is to look them up in a book.
    This is achieved by placing a time constraint which is a dimension separate from open vs closed-book format. An open-book exam without a time constraint does not force candidates to memorize/retrieve facts quickly.
    “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896

    GetCertified4Less
    - discounted vouchers for certs
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Quick question did everyone complete the capture the flag event before doing the exam?
    Jinverar, TSS
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    icon_twisted.gifI think I've had a education headake for the past week. I did enjoy the course. I've got 4 more days to practice and study. I've put in 110% effort on this course. icon_twisted.gif
    Jinverar, TSS
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    The Exam is tomorrow at 1300. I am pretty much done with the Ondemad. I've completed it a few times and ed's voice is so repetative now it's like "I hope it's over" Great course, and no matter what I learned way more than anyone at my level in my job right now. It also helped me discover some huge risks and actually save managment money, as well get me major points from the boss. I have been an incident handler for the past two years and that exp should help. I managed to capture flag 1 last night in the CTF event. I will get flag 2 tonight and study a few more hours. Last minute advice on watching logs and thinking like a hacker would be great!
    Jinverar, TSS
  • Bert BondyBert Bondy Member Posts: 5 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Good luck on the exam! I am taking 504 at SANS Boston this August. Let us know your thoughts.
  • JinverarJinverar Member Posts: 95 ■■■□□□□□□□
    icon_cheers.gifThanks for the reply. I just barely passed today.icon_cheers.gif I will write more in another reply shortly, after I'm done puking my volatile memory all over the second brain I had to image with DD. The exam was bloody hard. sniffing all the answers out from the books was impossible. In the first 30 questions I was at 90 percent. Then every 15 questions my mark kept dropping lower and lower ever so slowly. I hated that counter with a vengeance like no other. It never went up again after the 90. I passed it with at 73.3 % and passing is like 72.7 %. I worked my ass of to pass to. It came down to minutes for me after 4 hours the last few minutes ticked by as I answered the last few questions. My notes and books saved my bacon. I will write more on the weekend like I said after I capture some more CTF flags from capture the flag. I got two now!icon_twisted.gif Don't go into this course with little life experience. It could make a person miserable in the end.icon_study.gif
    Jinverar, TSS
  • ChooseLifeChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Congrats on the pass!
    “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896

    GetCertified4Less
    - discounted vouchers for certs
  • docricedocrice Member Posts: 1,706 ■■■■■■■■■■
    This is why some open-book exams should not be taken lightly. You should know the material well enough that book-references are kept to a minimum as possible. The score counter used to refresh after every question in the older exams, but now it's done after every 15 questions. But at least you made it over the passing mark. I've been there where I've barely skimmed by.
    Hopefully-useful stuff I've written: http://kimiushida.com/bitsandpieces/articles/
  • laughing_manlaughing_man Member Posts: 84 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Pass is a pass. Congratsicon_cheers.gif

    Open book is harder IMHO
  • Bert BondyBert Bondy Member Posts: 5 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congrats dude!
Sign In or Register to comment.