CISSP Scheduling

I'm thinking of taking 3-4 months to study for the CISSP. Question, did you guys schedule the test out in advance?

I usually do that for most tests but most of my tests before this have been entry level ones and don't take this long to study for. I was watching the CISSP Cybrary videos and they recommended to schedule it, just makes me nervous setting a date so far in advance, especially since it costs like $100 to reschedule it! (don't know the exact cost off-hand btw)

Thinking I'll probably wait til I'm closer to when I feel I'm ready and schedule it. Just curious what others did on here. I understand the purpose of scheduling it in advance and kind of forcing you to study and be ready....

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E Double U

With my Cisco certifications, I scheduled my exams after I got high scores on the practice tests and always passed. I didn't do that with the CISSP and failed twice. Didn't schedule my third attempt until I started doing well on the practice tests and voila.

I would suggest that you go to the Pearson Vue site to see which test centers near you offer the CISSP to see available dates and times. Because it is such a long exam I've only seen it offered twice a day and at less testing centers near me than Cisco exams for example. I ended up having to drive 34 miles to get to a test center that offered the exam at an ideal date/time for me even though the nearest testing center is less than ten miles from my home. If you have a date in mind and don't book it in time, you may find that someone else has taken that slot when you finally do come around to scheduling your attempt.

NetworkNewb

Good advice! Didn't think about that.

Yea the closest one near me pretty much only has 1 time available each day. Has a good amount of days open though. Think I should be alright with waiting. Will have to check in a month or so when I'm deeper in my studying and see where I'm at and their openings.

TheFORCE

I wanted to schedule mine in advance to make me sit down and study, the day i had picked was already unavailable so then I scheduled it for 2 months in the future which worked nice because it gave me more time to read. By the time the day came to take the exam I had already finished reading my books and was just doing research online.

E Double U

TheFORCE wrote: »

the day i had picked was already unavailable so then I scheduled it for 2 months in the future

Same thing happened to me lol. I didn't like that because when I'm really ready for something I start to get antsy. I continued to study everyday to not leave things to chance, but I was so tired of CISSP material.

!nf0s3cure

E Double U wrote: »

Same thing happened to me lol. I didn't like that because when I'm really ready for something I start to get antsy. I continued to study everyday to not leave things to chance, but I was so tired of CISSP material.

Once you are tired of reading the next frustrating bit is when little of what you read gets asked in the exam!

E Double U

!nf0s3cure wrote: »

Once you are tired of reading the next frustrating bit is when little of what you read gets asked in the exam!

Don't get me started!

!nf0s3cure

E Double U wrote: »

Don't get me started!

Funny....why do I know that feeling!

cbkihong

Booking the test in advance has an advantage though, it sets you a deadline and keeps you studying. Otherwise, given the scope of CISSP that being so wide, you could end up wandering for long time and still not feeling the end of studying.

For me, I only read through the CBK (4th Ed.) and attended the official training. I booked the exam around 3 months in advance, but I regretted not reading sooner (I started reading the CBK around 1.5 months prior to exam), so I ended up only having read through about 90% of the book on the day of exam. But I know I understood the topics that I have read.

I should have started reading the CBK earlier (say, spanning over a period of 3 months), so that I would not have required to study as intensively in the last month since studying on the job is tiresome.

I haven't done many practice questions except those 125 given as part of the training seminar. I scored really bad for those and that intimidated me somewhat, though the real questions in the exam were far easier (and required less brain dumping) than I thought, and I was already calm and relieved by the time I was halfway through the exam. Indeed, the CBK covers a lot of details that were not asked in the exam, but I think it is still a good (yet difficult) read to ensure you get to know the subject. I'll for sure read it at some point though my exam was over. I got introduced to the certification through discovery of Shon's book while researching certain topics, though I ended up not having read it much for the certification.

jt2929

My exam is next Monday, 8/10, and I scheduled it back in February. I wanted to have a deadline to work towards and setting a deadline allowed me to make a schedule for my study materials.

tuabuikia

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I'm thinking of taking 3-4 months to study for the CISSP. Question, did you guys schedule the test out in advance?

I usually do that for most tests but most of my tests before this have been entry level ones and don't take this long to study for. I was watching the CISSP Cybrary videos and they recommended to schedule it, just makes me nervous setting a date so far in advance, especially since it costs like $100 to reschedule it! (don't know the exact cost off-hand btw)

Thinking I'll probably wait til I'm closer to when I feel I'm ready and schedule it. Just curious what others did on here. I understand the purpose of scheduling it in advance and kind of forcing you to study and be ready....

I book and paid for the exam in advance before I started studying and buying all the necessary study materials (book, etc). I'm doing my Masters as well and I started planning and booking for the CISSP exam once I handed over the last assignment of my previous study term. I believe that by doing so, you'll have a sense of urgency and a goal to work towards to.

All the best in your studies and exam

Edited: My exam center only has 3 exam-ready desktop that can be used at any one time and they host other CBT exams as well. When I was taking my CISSP exam, there were 2 other candidate taking their GMAT exam. Fortunately though, they do supply me with 3M foam ear plugs so I am not distracted by other candidates typing away. Best to check how many computers they have and if they are any other candidates taking other exams on the same day.