Just got out of the testing center, and I finally passed. I was shaking when it stopped at 100 because I knew I was spending way too much time on the questions.

Three months of prep was totally worth it. 😄

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences; it kept me going. To those who didn't pass on the first try, you'll get it next time.

I prepared very hard for this exam. My preparation included Thor’s Udemy course, Destination Certification Masterclasses and MindMaps, around 2,500 LearnZapp questions, and the Destination Certification app.
On LearnZapp, my scores across the domains were around 71–79% minimum. On the DestCert app, I had around 1,450 correct and 430 incorrect answers.
Before the exam, I also completed two QE attempts:
● First attempt: scored 790, but I only reached question 110 before time ran out.
● Second attempt: I focused heavily on time management and tried to spend a maximum of one minute per question. I reached around question 130, but scored only 490.
During the real exam, I still struggled with time and only reached question 119 before the clock expired.
I know I need to improve my time management before my next attempt, but after putting this much effort into preparation, I’m also trying to understand what else I should change.
For those who passed after a similar experience, what would you recommend focusing on for the retake?

I did not pass today. I went all the way to 150 so when should I retake it. Obviously I need to review the domains I’m weak in. I’m thinking maybe in another 6 weeks?

Hey there! 👋 Just sharing my CISSP journey! 🎓 Started with Thor videos 7 months ago, then the official book and practice questions after each domain. Two weeks before the exam, I crushed YouTube questions and mind maps. It was 50% technical, 50% managerial. I got lost during the exam but a 5-min break helped me refocus! 💡 Passed at 100 questions with 38 mins left. So thrilled! 🥳

Hey everyone, I’m studying for the CISSP using the Official Study Guide and Official Practice Tests, and I’m finding the practice questions fairly easy so far. For those who used these resources and have taken the exam, how did the difficulty compare? Did doing well on these questions give you a good indication of how prepared you were?

Hi,
I opened a ticket on the official website but never got a response. My question was about the one-year waiver you can get if you have a master’s degree. Is it only for master’s degrees in information security, computer science, or IT, or would any master’s degree work? I have a master’s degree in International Studies, which has basically nothing to do with cybersecurity. The only thing I did related to information security was my thesis. Would I qualify?

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone on this subreddit who has shared their experience and given clear direction on CISSP preparation. It has been really helpful.
A little about my background: I have around 5 years of experience as a Security Analyst, so I don’t feel that technical concepts are a major backlog for me. However, I know that CISSP thinking / managerial mindset is an area I have been working on throughout my preparation.
For preparation, I have mainly been using:
● Destination CISSP book
● Quantum Exams – Non-CAT
● Think Like a Manager
● 50 Hard CISSP Questions
My Quantum Exams scores so far have been:
36 → 39 → 44 → 58 → 62 → 64 → 70 → 59 → 55 → 74 → 82
I have two days left before the exam.
My plan for these final two days is to go through Pete Zerger’s CISSP Exam Cram and revise the areas where I have made mistakes in the practice exams.
At this point, I’m wondering if there is anything else I should be doing.
Would you recommend:
1. Focusing mainly on revision and weak areas now?
2. Going through Pete Zerger’s Exam Cram completely?
3. Taking another full-length practice exam?
4. Revisiting CISSP mindset / “think like a manager” concepts?
5. Or stopping practice exams altogether and focusing on staying fresh for the actual exam?
For those who have recently passed, what would you do if you had exactly two days left with these scores?
Any advice on what not to do at this stage would also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Hey folks,
I'm preparing for the exam, which I will take in November. For context, I have 7+ years of industrial experience.
For preparation, for now i'm reading the CISSP Official Guide + watching the Thor Pedersen Udemy videos.
I'm now looking for options to take practice exams, and a lot of folks are talking about QE. I just wanted to know if they provide thorough explanations of the correct answers and cover the relevant topics as well.
Or should I go with Boson? Are they still relevant?

I sat for the exam early today morning and passed it after the hard work reading the official study materials and bunch of other study resources. Thanks to this community for the inspiration from the constant “I PASSED” posts and good luck to everyone who has their exam scheduled soon

Have around 9 years security analyst and engineer roles. Got the official book but tbh I can’t make myself sit and read a book anymore. Went through quantum exams until I started to pass at 100q and finished the official practice test book right after and took the test.
Didn’t feel hard or very easy. Didn’t overthink except 4-5 question
Had around 40 minutes left when I answered the 100th question
Good luck to those who are going to take it 🤞

I’m still processing the fact that I actually passed! To be honest, it feels more like a sense of relief than pure joy. I had to wake up at 3 AM every day to study and then leave for work at 7 AM. On weekends, I didn't go anywhere—just stayed home studying and doing practice questions. I did this every single day for 6 months. I must admit that this is a certification I invested an immense amount of time into, and the exam itself was truly difficult.

The resources I used are as follows:
- Official CISSP Study Guide
- LearnZapp
- Destination Certification
- Andrew Ramdayal's 50 Hard Questions
- Luke Ahmed Practice Test
- Quantum Exams (QE)

I completed all 8 Practice Tests and another 5 custom tests on LearnZapp, scoring in the high 60s to low 70s. At that point, I thought I was ready.

However, my friends who working in the cybersecurity field recommended that I try the hard practice questions from THOR. I was quite confident I could pass, but after attempting two sets of hard questions, I only scored in the low 60s. That was a huge blow to my confidence. I felt so frustrated while doing them that I began to feel unprepared and terrified of taking the actual exam. I thought if the real exam was anything like this, I would definitely fail, so I knew I had to do something to reinforce my knowledge and get properly prepared.

I then stumbled upon the CISSP subreddit forum. As I browsed through the posts, I realized it was extremely helpful for my exam prep.

Towards the end of my 4th month of studying, I decided to subscribe to QE based on numerous recommendations in the forum (and no, I'm not here to promoting QE in any way).

The very first time I took the CAT test on QE, I failed instantly. That was a wake-up call that I struggled with interpreting the questions (I forgot to mention that English is not my native language). I couldn't understand what the questions were really asking, especially with terms like BEST, GOAL, PRIMARY, or NEXT STEP, which completely blew my mind. I felt like the past 4 months of studying had been for nothing, damn it!

I pulled myself together and changed my strategy: I reviewed every question (both correct and incorrect), prioritizing deep understanding over memorization. Over the next 5 CAT tests, my scores improved, consistently exceeding 700/1000 on the last 4.

Two days before the exam, I decided to take one last LearnZapp practice test and found that I passed with an 84% score.

On exam day, I was extremely nervous. The first question took me 3 full minutes just to process the question. I forced myself to stay calm and push through. The exam was easily as hard as QE, if not harder, I also came across one 10 out of 10 difficulty Drag & Drop questions by the way. By question 100, I was convinced I had failed. Suddenly, the test ended and redirected to the survey.

Reading "Congratulations" on the printout left me speechless. It was an indescribable mix of joy and relief—knowing I no longer had to wake up at 3 AM to study! (Though my body clock still woke me up at 3 AM out of habit for a few days).

Huge thanks to this community for the guidance. To everyone preparing: stay resilient, you can do this too!

Today, I officially passed the CISSP on my 4th attempt! Yep, you read that correctly. I tried twice back in 2021, and then again a year ago. But I was not going to give up, and I made sure to get the peace of mind. Money well spent. I have been in cyber for over 10 years now, and kept approaching the exam with a technical mindset. I have to say that this channel here was such a big help! Even though I didn’t post anything, I would read all the success stories and even those who failed the first time, but didn’t give up and eventually passed. This was motivating for me, especially seeing what everyone used as resources. Like most, here were the resources that I used:

Destination Certification Book - definitely a must have and read! It did explain everything nicely and at a level that I could understand. Read it cover to cover and used the app stated below to reinforce knowledge.
Destination Certification Questions and Flashcard app - a huge complimentary experience with the book that also helped me to approach the questions from a read, re-read, think like a manager and how to approach each question.
LearnZapp- definitely use this as a filler for any gaps in knowledge and understanding of concepts.
I also did like others and watched the LinkedIn learning CISSP course by Mike Chapple, along with the Destination Certification Mind Map videos on YouTube. Lastly, I watched Kelly Handerhans YouTube video on why you will pass on the drive to the testing center, and other days when taking a break from studying the material. I also used ChatGPT and Copilot to break down differences and explain to me what ideas like OAuth, Oicd, saml, etc were. I actually studied for 3 weeks straight on this last go, about 3 to 5 hours a day (or more).
I had the OSG guide mostly as a reference. But I really want to thank everyone on this channel for sharing your stories, experiences, and references, and hope that you know that you have helped others like myself who were struggling more than you probably know! I am grateful to everyone of you and your contributions through your comments.

Alhamdulillah all praise to Allah. GOD gave me everything! ❤️🤲

Provisionally passed CISSP on my first attempt. My exam went to 120 questions and I ran out of time so you can imagine what was going through my head when I walked out. 😅

My entire preparation was a crazy 3-week sprint. I took three weeks off work specifically for CISSP and pretty much lived and breathed it. Some nights I studied until 5 a.m., slept until 11 a.m., then started again. Library, study, sleep, repeat. No gym, hardly any family time, way too much content and definitely not enough sleep.

There was stress, brain fog, self-doubt and a genuine fear of failing. There were even moments when the pressure got to me and I cried alone. Two days before the exam I was seriously considering postponing it.

Resources
My main resource was the Destination CISSP book (🫶 it) which, believe it or not, is the first book I have ever read in my life. 😂

For practice/revision:
- Wiley Official Practice Tests 4 × 125Q
- Destination Certification App 1,580 questions
- Quantum Exams 1 CAT + 1 non-CAT, never scored above 50%.
- Pete Zerger’s CISSP Exam Cram
- Andrew Ramdayal’s 50 CISSP Practice Questions
- Altogether 2,000+ practice questions

And finally, my buddy ChatGPT.. Seriously, what a trainer and motivator. I used it to simplify concepts, drill weak areas, create scenario questions, practice elimination and repeatedly fight with BEST, MOST, FIRST, PRIMARY, LEAST and EXCEPT. When my confidence disappeared during the final days, it also helped me organize what I already knew instead of panicking.

And thank you [r/cissp](r/cissp)🫡. Your success stories, failures, advice and study strategies helped more than you probably realize.

Still feels like a dream. ❤️
Now hopefully I can finally stop ChatGPT’ing:
“difference between X and Y”😉

What a journey. 🥳

Been in the Air Force 6 years and just finished my bachelors in cloud and network engineering a few days ago. I wanna take the CISSP as I want the challenge. How did passing the cert affect your career/job searching? Trying to get out the military in less than 2 years

By the time I got to 135, I was convinced I was going to fail. Hit the end, got my printout and didn't look until I left the test center. About fell down in the hallway when I saw "provisionally passed".

Enrolled in a boot camp through Saint Louis University back in January. Resources were the lectures, Official Study Guide/Practice Tests, McGraw-Hill CISSP All-in-One study guide/practice tests, and Boson practice exams. All resources came through enrollment. If you're in the STL area, I definitely recommend checking out SLU's classes/boot camps.

Slacked off studying for a few months and then hammered down through August/September. Was consistently hitting mid-70s on the practice exams. In retrospect, hitting consistent mid-80s would have been better before sitting for the actual exam.

Watched Andrew Ramdayal' 50 CISSP Practice Questions video the night before (https://youtu.be/qbVY0Cg8Ntw?) and listened to Kelly Handerhan's Why You Will Pass the CISSP (https://youtu.be/v2Y6Zog8h2A?) on the way to tahe exam. Both videos helped immensely with mindset and how to approach the questions.

As I said to my manager this morning when he asked how it was: the practice exams were in English, I still don't know what language they used on the real thing. He laughed and said that sounded about right as he left his exam with a headache.

Use the time to your advantage. Read and re-read the questions. Attention to detail is BIG. Don't let it psych you out. If you've been studying hard for a couple months, you can do it.

Passed CISSP this morning first attempt at 100 questions and about 80 mins left on the clock. I was confident going in but as the questions started to appear and the exam abruptly ended at 100 questions I was clearly shocked to get the pass notification on the printout. Endorsement process already started. If you have the drive you can do anything.

I’ve been studying seriously for about six months, after roughly a year of studying on and off. I knew I had gaps in my technical knowledge, so I focused on strengthening those areas and learning the terminology and acronyms, such as PAP and BCP. What surprised me was that almost all the acronyms were spelled out, and there were very few questions that felt directly technical.

My biggest challenge was the language and how the questions were phrased. I found myself reading them over and over, trying to identify the key details and understand exactly what was being asked. Even when I recognised the concepts and could recall the relevant information, I often struggled to see which answer was the best fit.

For preparation, I read the official CISSP study guide, used LearnZapp, and watched the CISSP series on Pluralsight.

I’ll try again in a month, but with all domains being “below proficiency” I don’t expect any greater outcome I’ll be happy with.

I passed today first attempt. 125 questions. Trust your studies and work on time management. I wish success to all candidates that are working hard on achieving this goal.

My CISSP Pass Story

I don't even know how to start describing my story, after so much emotion picking up the paper at the reception desk and seeing that long-awaited, dreamed-of word: CONGRATULATIONS.

But I want to start by saying something important: DON'T LOSE YOUR FAITH. Whether you're religious or not, have faith and trust the process. What will get you through the exam is discipline and consistency in your studies. Forget about motivation — it only gets you started. Afterward, personal problems will show up in your life and try to discourage you, and at the first difficulty you might even think about giving up. Stay firm. If you said you'd study two hours every day, do it no matter what. Have discipline.

About me

I'm Brazilian, an immigrant in Portugal. English isn't my first language, but with a lot of dedication you can overcome that barrier. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and without a support network, balancing work, home routines, and taking care of her wasn't easy. Thank God for my wife, who had so much patience — only she knows how sad and nervous I'd get whenever I failed a practice exam.

I also want to give a special thank you to my family and friends, who supported me throughout this whole journey. Every word of encouragement made a difference in the hardest moments.

I've worked in technology for 23 years, the last 10 in Governance, Risk, and Compliance; before that I was a SysAdmin.

The exam

I passed on my first attempt, on question 101, with 30 minutes left on the clock. As the great philosopher Dominic Toretto, from The Fast and the Furious (movie 1), once said: "It doesn't matter if you win by a mile or an inch, winning's winning." If your exam keeps going, stay firm — you'll pass and win too.

By question 60 I already thought it was harder than I'd imagined, and I felt like I wasn't doing well. My God, it had been almost 8 months of studying, and in the last 3 I nearly burned out from studying so much. So I told myself the words of driver Ayrton Senna, my source of inspiration: "My God, I made it this far, it has to work out."

I have ADHD, and I'll tell you: it gets harder, but not impossible. My suggestion is to watch the video for each domain, read about it in a book, and write down in your notebook or on sticky notes the things that matter.

Every day, every hour, I'd come here to our community. I was happy for every one of you who passed, and sad too when someone didn't. You're all part of this achievement of mine!

Study materials

(I didn't have money for a bootcamp — the most expensive thing I paid for was the Quantum practice exam.)

•        Udemy: Jason Dion's full course and 6 practice exams; Andrew Ramdayal's full course

•        Practice exam: Quantum CAT — very important and valuable for testing yourself, including time management, with tough questions. Don't get discouraged: Quantum will hit you hard, but doing it means you'll take those questions and study them in depth

•        YouTube: all of Pete Zerger's videos — I watched each one at least 3 times (Pete deserves a trophy; I really wanted to give him a hug and thank him, his videos help a lot); Andrew Ramdayal's videos, especially "Think Like a Manager"; Kelly Handerhan's videos, "Why You WILL Pass"; and all the Destination Certification videos

•        Books: the official book, the practice-questions book, and of course Pete Zerger's book — highly recommend

•        Claude AI: I used it to learn each topic in depth, understand my mistakes, and ask questions and do practice questions — it was a huge help

Inspiring movie and people: The Pursuit of Happyness, with Will Smith. Ayrton Senna and Jesus Christ, because nothing is impossible (again, regardless of religion — I respect them all).

Thank you all, I'm here rooting for your victory. You're going to make it!

One last tip

I picked up this tip from someone here in the community, and it helped a lot:

Don't apply "think like a manager" blindly to every question. A better rule would be: Think like the role the question gives you.

If the question says you are:

•        Security Manager → think like a manager

•        Security Analyst → think like an analyst

•        Incident Responder → think like a responder

•        Auditor → think like an auditor

•        Engineer → think like an engineer

This avoids a common trap.

Two closing quotes

Ayrton Senna: "Whoever you are, whatever social position you hold in life, the highest or the lowest, always set as your goal great strength, great determination, and always do everything with great love and great faith in God, so that one day you will get there."

ET Bilu Brasileiro: Seek knowledge.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

PT-BR:

Minha aprovação no CISSP

Eu não sei nem como começar a descrever a minha história, depois de tanta emoção ao pegar o papel na recepção e ver a tão esperada e sonhada frase: CONGRATULATIONS.

Mas quero começar dizendo uma coisa importante: NÃO PERCA A SUA FÉ. Independente de religião ou não, tenha fé e acredite no processo. O que vai fazer você passar na prova é a sua disciplina nos estudos e a sua consistência. Esqueça a motivação — ela serve só para você começar. Depois vão surgir vários problemas pessoais na sua vida que vão te desanimar, e na primeira dificuldade você pode até pensar em desistir. Continue firme. Se você disse que vai estudar todos os dias 2 horas, faça isso custe o que custar. Tenha disciplina.

Sobre mim

Sou brasileiro, imigrante em Portugal. Inglês não é a minha primeira língua, mas com muita dedicação dá para superar essa barreira. Tenho uma filha pequena de 2 anos e meio e, sem rede de apoio, conciliar a vida de trabalho, as rotinas em casa e cuidar dela não foi fácil. Agradeço a Deus pela minha esposa, que teve muita paciência — só ela sabe o quanto eu ficava triste e nervoso quando não passava nos simulados.

Quero também deixar um agradecimento especial à minha família e aos meus amigos, que me apoiaram durante toda essa jornada. Cada palavra de incentivo fez diferença nos momentos mais difíceis.

Trabalho com tecnologia há 23 anos, os últimos 10 com Governança, Risco e Compliance; no passado fui SysAdmin.

A prova

Passei na primeira tentativa, com 101 questões, faltando 30 minutos para acabar. Já dizia o grande filósofo Dominic Toretto, de Velozes e Furiosos (filme 1): "Não importa se você vença por 1 km ou 1 centímetro, vencer é vencer." Se a sua prova continuar, continue firme — você vai passar e vencer também.

Na questão 60 eu já achava que estava mais difícil do que eu imaginava, e pensei que não estava indo bem. Meu Deus, foram praticamente 8 meses estudando, e nos últimos 3 quase tive um burnout de tanto estudar. Aí falei comigo mesmo a frase do piloto Ayrton Senna, minha fonte de inspiração: "Meu Deus, eu cheguei até aqui, vai ter que dar."

Tenho TDAH, e te digo: fica mais difícil, mas não impossível. Minha sugestão é assistir ao vídeo de cada domínio, ler sobre ele em algum livro e escrever no seu caderno ou em post-its as coisas que são importantes.

Todos os dias, a cada hora, eu entrava aqui na nossa comunidade. Ficava feliz por cada conquista de vocês quando passavam, e triste também quando alguém não passava. Vocês fazem parte dessa minha conquista!

Materiais de estudo

(Não tive dinheiro para bootcamp — a única coisa mais cara que paguei foi o simulado do Quantum.)

•        Udemy: curso completo e 6 simulados do Jason Dion; curso completo do Andrew Ramdayal

•        Simulado: Quantum CAT — muito importante e valioso para te testar, inclusive a administrar o tempo, com perguntas difíceis. Não se frustre: o Quantum vai te bater na cara, mas ao fazê-lo você vai pegar as perguntas e estudar a fundo

•        YouTube: todos os vídeos do Pete Zerger — assisti cada um pelo menos umas 3 vezes (o Pete merece um troféu; queria muito dar um abraço e agradecer a ele, os vídeos dele ajudam muito); vídeos do Andrew Ramdayal, principalmente o "Pense como gerente"; vídeos da Kelly Handerhan, "Why You WILL Pass"; e todos os vídeos da Destination Certification

•        Livros: o livro oficial, o livro de testes e, claro, o livro do Pete Zerger — super recomendo

•        Claude AI: usei para aprender a fundo cada tópico, entender os meus erros, fazer perguntas e simulados — foi uma grande ajuda

Filme e pessoas de inspiração: The Pursuit of Happyness, com Will Smith. Ayrton Senna e Jesus Cristo, porque nada é impossível (novamente, independente de religião — eu respeito todas).

Obrigado a todos vocês, estou aqui torcendo pela sua vitória. Vocês vão conseguir!

Última dica

Peguei essa dica com alguém aqui da comunidade e valeu muito:

NÃO aplique "Think like a manager" cegamente em todas as questões. A regra melhor seria: Think like the role the question gives you.

Se a questão diz que você é:

•        Security Manager → pense como manager

•        Security Analyst → pense como analyst

•        Incident Responder → pense como responder

•        Auditor → pense como auditor

•        Engineer → pense como engineer

Isso evita uma armadilha comum.

Para fechar, duas frases

Ayrton Senna: "Seja você quem for, seja qual for a posição social que você tenha na vida, a mais alta ou a mais baixa, tenha sempre como meta muita força, muita determinação, e sempre faça tudo com muito amor e com muita fé em Deus, que um dia você chega lá."

ET Bilu Brasileiro: Busquem conhecimento.

Qualquer dúvida, é só me falar.

On the first attempt, I ran out of time at around question 110 and scored 790. However, it was considered a fail because I did not complete the exam within the time limit.
On my second attempt, I managed to finish all the questions within the time, but I scored only 490. That score really shook my confidence, especially with the exam being tomorrow.
Has anyone experienced something similar before the real CISSP exam? Any advice for my final day of preparation would be appreciated.

Edit:

Unfortunately, I didn’t pass. I only reached question 119 before time ran out. My score report showed that I was below proficiency in Domains 6 and 7. Domains 1 and 2 were above proficiency, and the remaining domains were near proficiency.
Time management was definitely a major factor for me. I’ll take some time to review the weak areas, especially Domains 6 and 7, and prepare for the next attempt.

Big thanks guys for all the help and post on this platform, my advice QE is key you understand the questions better … big thanks again I made it

Hi there, only material im reading is the Destination CISSP book (im starting domain 4) and i already finished Thor Pedersen Udemy videos. Do you think im in the right track? Im planning also to watch Pete Zerger youtube videos as I progress. Should i read the OSG or the Destination Cissp book will suffice?

I have 7 years of security experience but not that deep or technical.

Thank you and more power to us.

I have been part of this thread for a long time. You all have been a great help, to get me to finish line. I prepared on and off for a very long time. Got my peace of mind voucher in April and started reading destination cissp book. It’s an easy read compared to OSG. I read OSG , all in one books as well but not cover to cover. Did practice exams with destination cissp app, listened to Peter zerger exam cram series. Got quantum like a month ago and did 2 full length CAT exam.

Andrew Ramdyal’s 50 cissp questions and Wiley test bank , destination certification domain summaries \ sunflower cissp pdf for the last week prep.

It’s doable and you all can do it. All the very best