Four weeks to go

Hey,

I am booked in to sit the CISSP exam in four weeks time and was hoping to get some ideas on what I should be doing in terms of study.

Study that I've done so far:
Read Security+ book by Darril Gibson
Misc audio, practice testes etc for Security+
Passed Security+ exam
Read Shon Harris AIO
Read Eleventh Hour Study Guide by Eric Conrad
Listened to Shon Harris audio

What I'm doing now and plan to do daily until exam time
Read CISSP summary (with sunflower on first page)
Read my own notes
Do 100 questions on cccure or total tester software from AIO book
Review anything of note from incorrect questions

Is there anything else I should try and do or not do? I am currently getting between 70 and 80% on cccure tests but hoping to raise that closer to 90% before taking the exam.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments

Thistleback

It is highly recommended to take some full 250 question practice tests, just to see what the sheer volume is like. This will prepare you for the grueling time you have to put in on the real exam.

cyberguypr

I concur. At this point you need to hit every single question set you can find. Also make sure you do the SANS CISSP webcast.

beads

Best piece of advice is to concentrate on the feedback you get from CCCure and any other quiz based materials. Bone up on those areas you are marginal with and pay less attention to those domains you do understand well. Basically the old saw holds true in that Networking and Crypto are probably your weakest domains (former is HUGE, the latter being difficult). Those two domains alone are probably worth your time and effort to find other helpful study materials such as mindmaps and diagrams to help you visually remember all those trite little memes.

Good luck with both the studies and the test itself as its gonna be a long month.

- B Eads

theroamingjoe

Here was my study plan.

Beginning about three months prior to the exam, I used the Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK. Read that cover to cover. After each chapter I used the included exam simulator to create a 25 question test in what I newly learned and an additional 25 questions for each of the previous chapters so they remained fresh. So by the time I finished the book I was taking 250 question practice exams.

About a week before exam day I read through, though not as thoroughly as the "Official Guide," the CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition, using it to fill in any holes in my knowledge that I thought remained. I also completed several practice tests at CCCure.

At around 9 PM, the night before the exam, I officially ended my studying. Whatever I knew was all I was going to know prior to the exam and trying to review any more would, at best, have no effect, and at worst, interfere with getting a good night's rest resulting in my tanking the exam the next day.

It must have been a good plan as I passed on the first try.

theroamingjoe

beads wrote: »

Best piece of advice is to concentrate on the feedback you get from CCCure and any other quiz based materials. Bone up on those areas you are marginal with and pay less attention to those domains you do understand well.

That's basically what I was doing towards the end.

philz1982

I went and asked myself with each section the following questions.

What in this domain could they ask me?
What do I need to know in this domain to protect the cia triad and human life.
What do I just need to brute force memorize.

I then took hundreds of questions from sites mcgraw hill and a cissp study exam I found on a website. Then every question I got wrong I studied via google and 11th hour.

I flew through the exam doing it this way.

I have my ccna and ccda and those helped a ton.

beads

theroamingjoe wrote: »

That's basically what I was doing towards the end.

Like I said its an old saw but it always been sage advice in case new folks to read as well.

Good luck with the test. You'll either feel completely lost afterwards due to the stress being lifted or wonder why you studied so hard as you thought in retrospect it was so easy to get through. LOL

- B Eads

JoJoCal19

I would highly recommend reading the Conrad 11th Hour, over and over and over. I had so much goin on my last month of study all I could do was really read the 11th Hour over and over.

asmodan

Thanks for all suggestions! I've done a couple of 250 question exams now. One on CCCure and one using the Total Tester software from the AIO book. Seems like good practice because I'm starting to identify when I lose focus and need to step away for a short break.

LionelTeo

My suggestion is that you concentrate on your 5 weakest domain (125 Questions Daily) , then gradually reduce the number of domain to 2 domain (100 Questions) daily. Keep practising on your weak domain until your satisfied.

asmodan

Thanks for all the suggestions. I changed my plan for these last four weeks based on suggestions here and in other threads. Took the exam today and passed!

zxbane

Congratulations! Any tips for someone about to test in 2 days? I've read Conrad's study guide 2-3 times and 11th hour numerous times, done roughly 5,000 questions on cccure averaging 80% in most domains and 75 +/- in a couple of the tougher ones. Also finished the self test in Conrad's study guide and referencing the AIO and online materials as well.

Any my tips for my last day of study would be appreciated!

stryder144

Congratulations! That is great work.

cyberguypr

Congrats!

asmodan

zxbane wrote: »

Congratulations! Any tips for someone about to test in 2 days? I've read Conrad's study guide 2-3 times and 11th hour numerous times, done roughly 5,000 questions on cccure averaging 80% in most domains and 75 +/- in a couple of the tougher ones. Also finished the self test in Conrad's study guide and referencing the AIO and online materials as well.

Any my tips for my last day of study would be appreciated!

Spent the last few days reading the entire sunflower pdf and the 11th hour chapters for the domains I was weakest in. Also read some of the summaries/quick tips from the AIO for my weak domains.

I stopped studying in the afternoon before the exam to make sure I was rested enough.

Good luck for your exam!

zxbane

Thanks for the advice. Today is my last day of study and I test tomorrow morning. Luckily I'm off today and I'm going over the sunflower PDF, 11th hour and doing some final cccure quizzing. Hopefully I'll be posting one like yours tomorrow!