Well... here goes nothing!

rcoop · August 2003

I'm moments before leaving for writing the Sec+ exam

A bit nervous, mainly due to the mixed responses and reflections here on TechExams, but feel fairly comfortable with my studying and knowledge that the test is covering.

Thanks to Russ and WebMaster for the site... although it has definitely delayed me scheduling the test months ago... I'm hopeful that it prevented me from failing my first Cert exam (and wasting some $$$ in the process).

Also, thanks to all who post, positive or negative, its good to read others' opinions. I haven't really posted much, but visit here quite a bit.

I wish everyone luck in their cert and educational pursuits...

Take Care,
--Rcoop

Webmaster · August 2003

Good luck! It looks like you took the time to prepare, so relax and pass.

rcoop · August 2003

I passed with an 812 score. It took me about 48 minutes to finish the 100 questions, and although I was pretty sure I was going to pass, I was pleasantly surprised that I beat the 800 score level that I was hoping for.

It was definitely tougher than my prior cert exams (except maybe Novell's Advanced Admin, but it's been so long since I took the Novell exams I can't really remember how hard that exam was). According to my report I missed a few questions in about every objective area

, and with a few questions I had trouble discerning what the question was asking so I probably missed those as well. Overall I think I prepared adequately for the exam... meeting CompTIA's "ideal candidate" prerequisites pretty close or exceeding them.

Preparation & Study Materials:
An eight-week class (7, 3hr classes) on Internet and Intranet Security at my local Community College (Fall 2002, yep over a year ago, but covered nearly every topic on the exam.)

Mike Meyers' Security+ Certification Passport (book) ISBN:0072227419
Security+ Exam Cram 2 (book) ISBN:0789729105
TechExams.net CompTIA forums/practice exams (web site)

To a Minor degree:
802.11 Security by Bruce Potter (book) ISBN:0596002904
Cert21.com's 20 free practice questions.
Boson Softwares 36 free practice questions.

I normally only buy one certification training/cram book and then purchase a decent practice exam(s) [my favorite was probably BeachFront Quizzer]. But since I got two free practice exams with the Mike Meyers book I thought I was good. Then I read some reviews of both the book and the exam (and some posts here on TechExams), and I knew I purchased the book before the actual exam went live, so I went looking at my local book reseller for another book to study that had been published after the exam was out of beta for a few months. I decided on Exam Cram 2, not really thinking it was the best book available, but already feeling prepared for the exam, I decided on it due to the free 100 questions PrepLogic practice exam and the two in-text 125 question practice exam, and since I was going to be paying for the exam myself, I decided the 30% Discount advertised on the back page (which would definitely cover the US$30 I was paying out for the book) was worth it.

I definitely like the PrepLogic exam format and testing engine, almost as much as I like BeachFront's engine, which is waaaay better than the ExamWeb engine used by the Mike Meyer's Passport practice tests (although I like the computer simulators better than taking practice tests out of a book). The 50 question TechExam practice test is better IMHO, than the two 60+ each practice exams from Passport book. If I would have failed, I would most likely have paid the $65 for the three(?) other 100 question practice exams from PrepLogic, or would have investigated BeachFronts offering (When taking the Boson demo exams, I'm not so sure I liked them, so I don't think I would have considered them for purchase.)

So Wednesday (two days ago), I went about scheduling the exam (through Vue), and purchasing my "bundled" exam discount voucher from Marcraft (30% was a little better than the bundle from getcertified4less.com since I didn't really need/want more study material for the exam)... and so imagine my (and my wallet's) delight when the test voucher came to $157.50... at least at this price I could afford to fail (well, kind of...). I've never used a voucher from anyone other than CompTIA (for my i-Net+, I think) before, so I was pleasantly surprised with the cost of what was to be my first writing of the exam (and thankfully last).

...okay... there's some feedback for all you still in pursuit... If I think of some general feedback from my testing experience, I'll be sure to post it here.

I'm currently in an excellerated class for MS 70-210/215 tests, so its nice to allow my head to stop worrying about Security+ specific stuff and start concentrating on the new exams.

Take Care, and best of luck,
--Rcoop

Webmaster · August 2003

Congratulations on tackling this one!

Thanks for the feedback so far

RussS · August 2003

Well done - my hearty congratulations

ajs1976 · September 2003

Thanks for the feedback on the study material. I was thinking about getting the Passport book eventually, but it looks like I am going to lean towards the ExamCram 2 now.

rcoop · September 2003

CompTIA is sure speeding up the mailing of their certificates... I received the Sec+ Certificate package today (Sept. 5) after only taking it 7 days (5 business days) ago. The Score report for the exam stated 4 weeks, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it made it to me so quickly.

More "yeah me!" wall-paper for work. Nice to move on.

Take Care,
Rcoop

PeteyB · November 2003

Ah, patience is a virtue, right?

I'm still waiting for my network+ papers, the exam that I passed 6 weeks ago.... Even my A+ took 7 weeks to get here, in canada... Let me assure you FedEx delivers here also.

Anyways, thanks for psyching me up for the toughest exam of my short life, Sec+. I'm reading the sybex Book plus the All-In-One from Gregory White. I'll probably be doing around 1200 questions from boson, examdrill2k, and the usual .pdf's that I will print out for easier brain digestion. I also take notes on my readings for metacognition and deeper understanding. And still I'm afraid...

I'm one of the lucky bastards with a rich father who pays for my study tools, but the only money I'll take from him is for my education.... I'll do the same for me'boy y'know?

Anyways, now I'm actually thinking I might as much finish up a CCNA before really getting into the Sec+ material. I hear the first half of the CCNA cert is 80-90% similar to the net+ exam...

Ghent · December 2003

Congratz on the pass.

domsved · December 2003

I hear the first half of the CCNA cert is 80-90% similar to the net+ exam...

No, not the same. I took Network+ in 13 June by scores 810 and I took 640-801 last week on 23/11 (4 months! of my full time studies) and passed with scores 930. N+ give you basic knowledge about network in general, and N+ covers about 40% of CCNA. Network+ give you a good basic to understanding Cisco CCNA.

Good luck to you.

Kalle/

Well... here goes nothing!

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