Provisionally passed last night at ~110

I'm not sure of the exact number. At 107, I had about an hour left, and I thought, okay, I have time.

My god, that test was brutal. My undergrad was in math & computer science. I took very serious advanced math exams. Next to this beast, they were a kindergarten trip to the park.

Other than maybe 5 "gimmes," the questions were nothing like the practice exams. The "50 hard CISSP questions" YouTube video came the closest to emulating them, but these questions were on steroids. I had no earthly idea if I was answering them correctly. I made educated guesses and hoped I guessed right.

Then there were 3-5 questions that I literally had no idea how to answer, so I just blindly guessed. Hey, a 25% chance of being right >> a definite 0.

I was certain I had failed. Imagine my joy when the proctor handed me that paper. I wanted to shoot off fireworks. Studying for this exam took over my life for the past 2 months, particularly the last 4-6 weeks.

My study materials:

The OSG. I couldn't get through that droll thing, but I used the online test banks.
Destination CISSP book. Didn't read the whole thing because of time constraints. If I had, it probably would've helped.
50 Hard CISSP questions. This helped A LOT. https://youtu.be/qbVY0Cg8Ntw?si=I9bpKBzhPQVtqEhq
CISSP exam cram. This helped a lot, too, especially the downloadable PowerPoints. https://youtu.be/_nyZhYnCNLA?si=ZKcYH45vFssJAX4Q
Why You Will Pass the CISSP. Not just a cheerleading video! Great accompaniment to the 50 Hard Questions video. https://youtu.be/v2Y6Zog8h2A?si=nGBn-euPo7diJ7Cc
The LearnZapp app. I got to 74% preparedness yesterday. They very recently updated it for the new exam. Well worth the $35.

I have an MBA, which helped with the whole "think like a manager" thing. That whole degree was about that.

As others have mentioned, the practice questions drill you on the WHAT. The exam asks you WHY ... in painful detail.

I'm chuckling at the NDA I signed, agreeing not to disclose any questions. They were so complex and convoluted that I doubt I could even recall any of them with any accuracy. 😆 I couldn't violate it even if I wanted to.

Read every question carefully, then read it again. Make sure you understand exactly what's being asked. And study your butt off, then study some more. This exam suffers no fools.

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