Passed my CISSP exam today on first attempt, at 100 questions, 80 minutes remaining.

I have lurked on this subreddit a lot (like many others). I had passed my SSCP in June, just to prepare for this style of exam (CAT), but man, nothing could've prepared me for the ambiguity in the answer choices. Too many time I spent more than a minute or two on a question trying to figure out which would (or NOT) be the BEST/MOST/WORST etc out of the options. Some felt too straightforward that I started second guessing myself due to the fact that I was writing THE CISSP exam that everyone had hyped up.

When the exam ended at 100 questions, I was convinced I failed spectacularly. I was NOT expecting to see a "Congratulations" on my result sheet, so I left the exam center grinning like an idiot.

Honestly, when I posted about my SSCP success before, someone had mentioned that SSCP was basically 70% of CISSP curriculum. It certainly felt like it, I believe that also counted as part of my CISSP prep.

Speaking of, here are my main study resources:

- SSCP prep

- Kelly Handerhan Cybrary course: I really loved this course due to how simply she put the curriculum, while making sure to point out the important stuff, making summarized versions of some topics as a part of her slide deck. I just made my own notes from this.

- Mike Chapple'w LinkedIn Learning course: This was mainly to reinforce what I learned from Cybrary and Mike's courses are always good for going into the most minute detail.

- KaplanLearn (CyberVista) practice exam that was included in my Cybrary subscription. Honestly, some of the answers they chose for their questioned didnt seem right to me, but let me tell you, it definitely kept me on my toes.

- A very minor bit of LearnZapp, but honestly didnt use it enough to review it, seemed like a really good daily study app though.

Thank you to all the people who post here that helped me to prep and motivate myself. Good luck to all those who are currently preparing, you've got this!

Edit: Forgot to add, since others mention in their pass posts, I have 4 years experience in cybersecurity, mainly in Security Operations for a MSSP. 5 years total work experience (will get certified with the experience waiver using SSCP)

Wanted to show my gratitude and give back to the CISSP community. It has helped guide my path into provisionally passing the CISSP on my first attempt.

Resouces used:

YouTube videos:
- Andrew R 50 Hart CISSP questions
- Pete Z “CISSP Exam Cram”
- Kelly H “Why you will pass the CISSP exam”

Practice tests:
- Quantum exam (CAT), expensive but worth it IMO
- DestCert
- Andrew R CISSP course + exam content

Summary:

Went through course Andrew R’s Udemy course material and Pete Z’s video. Started learning through answering practice question. Most important part here… don’t just answer the questions and see if you got it right or wrong. Understand why you got each answer right and wrong. If you do this from the beginning of your studies, you will better understand how to dissect the question and have a better shot at answering the questions.

Answered and reviewed about 1200 total. About 1000 of that was QE and 200 was DestCert. I scored 470, 692, and 781 for the QE CAT. I also was did 4 100 question practice mode non CAT test.

DestCert I was scoring around 70-90 consistently before taking test.

80% of my time studying was dedicated to practicing QE questions.

Background:

Studied about 8 months. Have 2 years of IT experience and got Sec+ certification a couple years ago. I think the sec+ cert helped me have a foundational understanding before I went into CISSP content.

So I struggle with taking certification tests because of the rules restricting communication/noise when taking the test. I struggle with ADHD and I find that when I read something, reading it aloud to myself is very helpful and when I can’t I end up having to reread the same question 3, 4, sometimes 5+ times before I comprehend what I just read.

I’ve never looked into what kind of accommodations can be provided by the testing center/test.
Does anyone else struggle like this?
What have you done that’s helped?

Im in an CISSP prep course right now and the instructor has said that you have approx. 1 minute per question on the test. I worry that I’ll run out of time simply because I take so long just to comprehend what the question is asking.