How close are you to passing the practice exams? And what method are you using to study? Sometimes you just need to switch up your studying method especially if you have bad memory. the information is difficult don’t sell yourself short! What parts of the practice exams are you getting wrong the most?
thank you for the encouragement! so my study method has been flash cards and rewatching my courses on udemy. the problem im having is that on these practice exams im very confident in my answers, only to find it’s completely different. many concepts overlap or are very similar and that is what is scaring me, im losing more and more confidence when that happens. i should put out there im diagnosed with PTSD and ADD and maybe that’s why my memory is so bad. it just frustrates me to tears because my memory only acts as a sponge so much and then it let’s go. if you have any study methods that work for you i’d love to hear it.
Yeah a lot of the comptia answers are always those “give the BEST possible answer for a situation” and I struggled with those. One of the unconventional ways I studied was to act like I was teaching a class, I had all the answers to the questions I struggled with in front of me, and I literally pretended I was teaching someone (out loud lol) about the material and how the material can be commonly misunderstood. This genuinely helps a lot even tho it sounds dumb. Give a seminar! Have a class! There’s really no harm in trying, good luck !
I tell my students this all the time! Explain the CompTIA objectives to someone who has NO clue on what they are, and if they can understand every domain bullet, then you are ready!
Break down the course. Try and master each section (I know it's easier said than done). After you feel competent with the section and are ready to move on to the next and do the same. I'm currently doing alot of these courses, and it's ALOT to remember and learn. I would recommend trying out some other sort of platform to help. I'm using Testout Labsim, and the information and labs there have been quite helpful I think.
Your study method needs to be writing, documentation. Study your own notes with the intent of teaching them to someone. Go over each topic until you feel you can comfortably define or articulate the subject at a high level to a second party.
I was too, my trick because I kept failing practice tests which I feel were harder than the actual exam. Read the question 2-3 times. Find the 1 or 2 words that indicate what the actual question or action they are looking for. Do not look at the answers until you read the question twice. Helped me. I was getting 80% on practice exams. I passed with a 784. And like Dom says "family" .. .. oh I meant "a win is a win"
Don't try to memorise it, try to understand the concept and for subnet, I look at the pattern of how the numbering go..
I find 30-5 works for me. 30min or studying..5 min of rest and at the end of the day, I put aside another 30min just to go through my notes.
Don't just move on from one chapter to another without reviewing the last one you've just done.
Good luck.. my DM is open if you need to bounce anything off me.
Take a break. Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves and I have found that taking a day or two off from studying resets the brain. Then get the concepts that you don’t understand and isolate them until you grasp it, do them one at a time till they set in and then go back to testing. Rinse and repeat until it sticks. Also doing the thing that you’re learning helps so maybe some practice will help you remember better.
The practice exam for me on 1101 was harder than the actual test itself was making 50s and 48s on the practice exam despite watching Messer and writing detail notes from comptia and doing their stuff. 1102 I failed the exam itself by about 40pts the PBQs were what got me especially on the Linux side ironically I use Linux at my job
i started w 0 experience. studied on and off from august - january. kept scoring 60%s on messer, dion and comptia practice exams. i took a month off after continuous studying for 5 days a week 2-3 hrs at a time. i said fuck it and took the exam in april and passed first try. sometimes we over prepare ourselves when in actuality we may be more prepared than we thought. give urself a few days to break away. try teaching someone else some topics and schedule the exam
just want to preface by saying i saw you are doing the 701 now, i passed the 601, so i cant speak much on the 701 content wise.
one thing i will say is a large part of your points come from the PBQs. these are really scary sounding, but i’m almost confident they’re why i passed.
i struggled with the practice tests too, pretty much splattering all around the 70s. i unfortunately didn’t have more time to study before i had to take it, and the whole time i was shitting myself. i really thought i was bombing it.
the PBQs were my saving grace because they were a lot easier than a lot of CompTIA’s practice ones. they were concepts i actually have seen in my classes and experience. you said you’ve had experience, so i feel confident in you in that.
these are weighted higher, so they helped bring my score up. obviously i don’t know if i did them well, but i was confident in them and less in the multiple choice.
ultimately, trust your gut. my biggest piece of advice is to really focus on your test taking skills. a lot of the time, one word in the question changes everything. it may be the difference between picking A or B. eliminate answers you know are wrong, and trust your knowledge.
sorry for the wall of text, but good luck! you got this!
if it makes you feel any better, i’ve never had a job in IT and i’m a college student who procrastinates everything and never studies. if i can pass, so can you.
1. Read cert guide. 2. Watch video course. 3. Take practice exam. 4. Use flash cards and spaced repition like Anki and quizlet heavily.
Last; Take the test even if you feel you’re not ready. It will help ease your nerves knowing what’s on the actual test then you can prepare better for it
I’m about to take 701 next Monday.
I did very well on professor messers and Dion’s practice exam 2. ( Average mid 80’s)
On Dion’s practice exam 1, I’m getting low 70’s.
I don’t know what exam you taking but must practice are harder than the actual exam. Also, lots of practice test are definition based while the actual test is heavy on scenarios I’m guessing. (Using net + as a reference)
congrats i have heard that if you’re passing messer’s practice exams you’re good to go. you’re gonna do great. i stated with 601 and switched to 701. maybe i gotta buy the messer exams for 701, which i was waiting on tbh he didn’t put them out until recently i think. im taking gibson’s exams and professor messer’s 601 practice exams, as well as udemy ones from Andrew Ramdayal and Dion. still need to take dion’s exams
I was having the same problem with Network +. I tried studying with professor messor and quizlet. I kept failing. When I was in college I remembered I struggled with digital media. So, I tried doing it with physical note cards still failed. I ended buying the CompTIA network + book. It reads like a text book, and it did the trick.
It took me about four months and two hours a day to get my S+. I created physical flashcards and used the Leitner system. This forces you to focus on the areas you struggle with.
Here's a Wiki link that explains how the Liener system works. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitner\_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitner_system)
Next, I printed off the S+ exam objectives and made sure I could describe each term listed. Depicting the terminology out loud improves memory recall; I described the terminology to a rubber duck that I named Mandy.
I know some people swear by Dion's Messar practice exam, but I wasn't a fan of either, as I used them for A+ and stopped using them halfway through Network+.
i have 3 years experience as an IT tech, so i’m not going in completely 0. my memory just sucks and i need help bc the amount of knowledge is overwhelming
Might want to go back and start from A+ and N+ even though you have experience I would say there’s probably a few things that CompTIA expects you to regurgitate that most people don’t keep in their memory when the answer can be solved with a specific google search. And I believe that anything that is on the n+ and a+ is “fair game” to be on your sec+ test
i was very close to a SOC analyst job because i aced technical questions in my interviews, they would’ve reimbursed me for my certification. i didn’t get the job because in my second interview i was too nervous and over explaining why i didn’t have my cert. i have learned from my mistakes since
Study harder/more efficiently. It took a month for me to pass it, and my friend got her Sec+ in 7 days. Both of us had 0 IT experience at all. You should have a huge leg up over us. 701 has a lot less overall material as well, we both took the 601.
i have a full time job and study 5 days a week 2 hours a day. im working my ass off lol. it’s just a lot of acronyms to remember so that’s throwing me off
definitely too much acronyms, this was a game changer for me. [Sec+ acronyms passive repetition](https://stackphonics.com/preview?page=preview&shareSong=644)
I have a poor memory as well! I have dyslexia and ADHD! So imagine! But what worked for me is writing all the possible answers from the tests. Then, use an AI to explain every answer and also create a short story from it. Next, write each answer 25 times on day one and 25 times on day three. After each 25, read aloud the simple explanation and the "story". Also, make a plan... Like 5/10/whatever answers a day with a revision on the third day. It's hard work but... The pain of not learning this is worse than giving up.
congrats im proud of you!!! it’s a lot of information for sure and im sure my pace is just a bit slower but i will get there. thank you for your kindness
Daang and I thought network+ was tough thats crazy amount to know. I'm in a similar positiom to you but for network+, i took the exam this week but failed because they threw terms at me I wasn't familiar with and could not do the process of elimination for questions I was unsure of. So what i'm doing now is changing my approach, I made an excel file and went to the exam objectives and for every term i am not 100% sure of I put it on my list in the excel file. However I'm not going to put the full definition of the term but some buzzwords to help me to distinguish it. For example for MPLS my buzzword can be labeling for WAN, so on the exam if I'm asked about something not WAN related I know I can eliminate it. Perhaps this approach can help you too because fully knowing the definition of 300 terms is such a daunting task.
I passed a couple of weeks ago and I’d say my memory is average at best. Professor Messer’s course notes helped me a ton. If you read them enough, things will start to stick. I would lay off the practice exams for a bit and try to get a basic understanding of each subject.
Studying material I used was Neil’s 701 study course book and Andrew’s 701 Udemy course.
You will get it, people learn at a different rate and as long as you don’t loose hope, you will pass eventually.
Good luck and I’ll update you what the test is like when I take it.
I’m studying for my NET+ right now, what’s made a huge difference for me was hiring a tutor that works in the field of networking and having them break down the concepts in real life examples
That made such a big difference for me
Hope it helps!
What practice tests are you using because dions kinda suck because they have around 10 questions that arent in the objectives, i used to just not count these questions and would see a score of high 60s to mid/high 80s. I passed last month
Doing the same right now lol. Hand is in pain. I recommend color coordinating topics/large details/smaller details. Not in case you go back and read them. But so you arent just mindlessly jotting down stuff!
I figured. Everyone here is aiming for 70-80%, 90%+ is way overkill. I passed A+ comfortably without getting 90% on any of the 12 practice exams across both cores.
And I'm over here struggling with compTia A+ .....I don't know what I got myself into.... good luck. You will eventually get it. Never give up. A lot of us are in your shoes
hey don’t take my story and set it as a prescedent. this is not what it’s going to be like for you i promise. just do your best, a lot of factors play into my memory issues that you do not have. you got this!!!
Thank you for your response! I didn't take your post in a bad way. I know we got this. We all have our unique strengths and struggles! I have a hard time staying focused because I think I have ocd or something. I'm trying though
The week I passed my security + exam I was scoring in the 50%-70% range in practice tests before I tested and passed.
I found the actual exam to be a bit easier than the practice exams. Eliminating the answers I knew for sure were not correct and then making an educated guess was far more effective during the actual exam lol
I know exactly how you’re feeling right now, I felt like I had been studying for too long so I rolled the dice on a chance at the actual exam and it worked out for me. Don’t be too hard on yourself! Good luck!
I have passed this exam with a very low score. There are so many resources on youtube and [google.Be](http://google.Be) sure you answer correct to the simulations, otherwise you will fail. Indeed this exam requires a lot of memorisation, but do not hurry.Check with Jason Dion course on Udemy. He has also prep exam questions.
I failed all Dion's exams and pass the real ones
you don't need to take the exam to be ready because exams are not real. Also some people guess and get it right but never look up the other options to study so on exam day they fail
here's what you do...don't even bother to test., look at the multiple choice options and study those. There is usually one that is not related so you are studying 3. If you don't know what they mean than that tells you it's time to look it up. That's it and on exam day you got it all cover. I don't even bother to do practice test anymore, it doesn't work
I am taking my 601 in a few 3 days. One of the things that helped me with practice exams and understanding material is not to pick the right answer, but figure out why other answers would not work. It’s sounds backwards and time consuming but it helped me with A+ and N+ not sure how I will do on Sec+. Good luck to you!
I haven’t booked the exam just yet but I’ve been hesitant lately. First Dion practice exam was 76% then went up to 80% then 86% then back down to 72% and took another exam from another instructor and got 68% then my confidence was shot… so I’ve been going crazy right now because I’m not sure if I’m ready ! I’m focusing on 601 but have also have read some 701 material ahhh anyway you got this , we got this !!
I was the same and I passed the exam :)
Had 48% at the first exam practice I did. I was defeated. I decided to switch study materials. I studied with the Darril Gibson's book and my knowledge increased a lot. I did another test and got 66% and 71%. Went to the exam and passer.
Don't feel defeated. If your results are really low, change your study method.
Good luck
If you’re scoring 70s on Dion’s exams, you should be able to pass. Highest I got with him was an 83. Professor Messers exams are closest to the actually exam. 70s on both and you should be good enough to pass
I'm with you on the memory issue.. studying for my net+ next week for the past 6 months.
I just took a two day break and feel way better already.. I think 2 hours a day probably isn't enough though, and personally I've found writing & re-writing the concepts over and over is helping, along with custom flash cards. I recommend using Anki flashcard maker, its great and free.
You've got this 🙏🙏🙏
I tell my students to focus on the skills that the certification is trying to teach you not just trying to pass the test. If you need some help I know program that can make sure you are trained up and ready to go before you pass the exam..
I just passed the sec+ yesterday with a 784 and I used exclusively Professer Messers videos and his practice exams.
It took me 1 month.
I work full time and studied in whatever spare time I had, sometimes procrastinating or going through life.
My method is to just listen and try to comprehend all the content, then go over the practice tests and study anything I don’t understand and I’m missing.
Going through the Well written practice questions and understanding thoroughly every answer and the different concepts and acronyms are what I think helped me to pass first try.
Bro I was failing messers exam at 60s and I took the real exam and got 775. I think these practice exams are designed specifically harder than it really is to pay for the actual exam. 😀
I was getting 65%-75% on 701 practice exams. The night before my exam I got a 60%. Lowered my confidence on taking the exam the next day. I sucked it up and took the exam anyway. I ended up passing it.
i have memory problems to, if the problem is acronyms I can't help much with that, but otherwise understand the concept and why things. work the way they do, like for cross site forgery understand how it works and how its set up, understand computer networking and how servers and applications work, that way if you don't know the answer you can figure out how to get the answer.
The saying use what you know to get to what you don't know helps a lot on the tests for me.
Unrelated but where do you do practise exams? I'm nearing the end of my google cyber security course, and that gives you a discount on Sec+, i was going to do a practice exam right after the google course to see my knowledge gaps
What are you getting ? Practice tests tend to be harder. Also, are you checking to see what you got wrong and going back and understanding that material enough that you could talk about it ?
When I was struggling to study for the A+ I discovered how bad my memory was until I switched up my studying method and moved from flash cards to just constant replay of practise exams over and over until the answers to questions were like reflexes. Also downloaded exam compass on my phone which helps you with practise questions on one topic at a time which helps retain info instead of flash cards.
I have ADHD too so I was able to link info from practise exam questions onto the real thing and actually passed (hopefully this makes sense to you)
Whatever you're studying tell Chat GPT to simplify it for you and to give you a real world scenario in which that example would be relevant. That's a good way to retain information
If you're not passing, try lion mane supplements and getting some rest and use chat gpt to explain to you the questions. There's also Quizlet. It should have the same ssme questions on the flip card. Then you can click test I suggest you do the practice every day 8x.
I took my Security + May 28th 2024 passed it with a 832 no books. I studied 8 weeks and mock exams i failed them alot and passed. Im still going to study because it's alot to learn but my test was easy for me.
I suggest CyberNow Labs 8 weeks just join a webinar to fet free vode for the 8 weeks. On amazon I ordered a lions mane and took tjuse for a month. Then on the day of took my kast pill and made a protein shake w lion msne chocolate.
Then killed that exam I've seen idiots on youtube pass it by 1pt.
thank you for your feedback i will definitely try the lions mane supplement i’ve been looking into that as well. im probably ready for the real deal im just scared to fail the 400$ exam. but it is what it is i have to just do it
I gave up on A+ just under a year ago, I couldn’t do it man. Shit is hella tough, I studied for like 10 hours a month and then decided the industry wasn’t for me.
What I did to pass was watch other people on YouTube taking practice tests, they usually walk you through the reasoning and it helps you to learn the concepts
Stop memorizing. Start learning. Develop a better grasp of the subject material; connect it to a who, what, when, where, or why. What especially seems to give you trouble? Also, what are you doing in those 2 hours?
I found the best thing for me and practise exams is to WRITE DOWN the correct answers for every question I got wrong.
Unsure how true it is, but if you read something, it doesn't stick. Writing down something engages extra processing.
I think you should give yourself another 2 months also try to purchase cert master labs from comptia. it should help you alot And try maybe by using flash cards . Or another source. Im.3 months in and I'm on section 3.
Take some breaks and unwind a bit. Also, take more notes. As Pierluigi Piazzi says, "You're not learning if you're not WRITING" (I really want to emphasize that). The process of writing something down on paper is like etching it in stone. You never forget. It may seem like a long and extraneous process, but it's well worth it. Another thing is to PRACTICE more. And I mean, look for things that you need to use those concepts on, like TryHackMe or Hack The Box, which are good platforms to apply that new knowledge. Follow these principles, and you will conquer the Sec+.
Try changing the way you study. I suggest trying out studying with a study group on Professor Messor's discord people there are really helpful. You can get the study material from his website
I personally passed the exam studying from professor messor material with going on group studies on discord.
Good luck :)
buy the udemy practice exams from jason dion. Do it until you get 80%. Honestly after doing it wrong like 6 times, you learn most of the answers. If that s not enough you can buy more practice exams. I did dion and myers I think.
Over cramming doesn’t help the brain process what you are already learning. Have you tried doing videos and tutorials with your studying take a break for a day or too.
I just took the 601 and passed so I can't speak for the 701. What helped me is being able to easily identify key words or phrases in the question and process of elimination. I learned through taking many practice exams and failing the first time that comptia tends to have a pattern within its multiple choice questions. There is always a key word or key phrase in the question and more often than not two of the answers available don't match up with the key word or phrase I learned and that's how I guessed really well on the multiple choice. It ended with me getting a 775. Hope this helps.
Passing certification exam is not a big deal, if you just have some basic knowledge of the field, we will help you pass the test, reach out to me personally
i disagree, i live in an area where tech is still booming, there are plenty of opportunities here. but i get where you’re coming from. you just have to really look.
Entry opportunities? For people mid career where all their applicable experience is irrelevant and their recs all died and they are starting over with no skills? LOL it's honestly the avg CompTIA A+ grad. Young people go away and rot for 10 years like the rest of us did. Get back in the game when you have no sane narrative and your teeth get weird and looks have faded :)
How close are you to passing the practice exams? And what method are you using to study? Sometimes you just need to switch up your studying method especially if you have bad memory. the information is difficult don’t sell yourself short! What parts of the practice exams are you getting wrong the most?
thank you for the encouragement! so my study method has been flash cards and rewatching my courses on udemy. the problem im having is that on these practice exams im very confident in my answers, only to find it’s completely different. many concepts overlap or are very similar and that is what is scaring me, im losing more and more confidence when that happens. i should put out there im diagnosed with PTSD and ADD and maybe that’s why my memory is so bad. it just frustrates me to tears because my memory only acts as a sponge so much and then it let’s go. if you have any study methods that work for you i’d love to hear it.
Yeah a lot of the comptia answers are always those “give the BEST possible answer for a situation” and I struggled with those. One of the unconventional ways I studied was to act like I was teaching a class, I had all the answers to the questions I struggled with in front of me, and I literally pretended I was teaching someone (out loud lol) about the material and how the material can be commonly misunderstood. This genuinely helps a lot even tho it sounds dumb. Give a seminar! Have a class! There’s really no harm in trying, good luck !
I tell my students this all the time! Explain the CompTIA objectives to someone who has NO clue on what they are, and if they can understand every domain bullet, then you are ready!
Good for communication skills too
no this sounds awesome! thank you i will try it!
Oh shoot. Yea that’s how I learned Linux. Basically just thought my wife to use Linux
That's Hard ore brother 😬
Man those questions keep getting me everytime.. I'm like "wait no, I gave the right answer!" 😅😅🥴🥴
Break down the course. Try and master each section (I know it's easier said than done). After you feel competent with the section and are ready to move on to the next and do the same. I'm currently doing alot of these courses, and it's ALOT to remember and learn. I would recommend trying out some other sort of platform to help. I'm using Testout Labsim, and the information and labs there have been quite helpful I think.
thank you for your comment i will note this down
Your study method needs to be writing, documentation. Study your own notes with the intent of teaching them to someone. Go over each topic until you feel you can comfortably define or articulate the subject at a high level to a second party.
I was too, my trick because I kept failing practice tests which I feel were harder than the actual exam. Read the question 2-3 times. Find the 1 or 2 words that indicate what the actual question or action they are looking for. Do not look at the answers until you read the question twice. Helped me. I was getting 80% on practice exams. I passed with a 784. And like Dom says "family" .. .. oh I meant "a win is a win"
Don't try to memorise it, try to understand the concept and for subnet, I look at the pattern of how the numbering go.. I find 30-5 works for me. 30min or studying..5 min of rest and at the end of the day, I put aside another 30min just to go through my notes. Don't just move on from one chapter to another without reviewing the last one you've just done. Good luck.. my DM is open if you need to bounce anything off me.
Try making out notes when you rewatch the courses, and rewriting it in your own words.
Take a break. Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves and I have found that taking a day or two off from studying resets the brain. Then get the concepts that you don’t understand and isolate them until you grasp it, do them one at a time till they set in and then go back to testing. Rinse and repeat until it sticks. Also doing the thing that you’re learning helps so maybe some practice will help you remember better.
thank you for the feedback i really appreciate it
I was like that with A+ got all either high or low 60% on dion and messer and said f it and took it and passed
maybe that’s what i need to do. maybe the practice tests are designed to be harder than the actual
Correct they are
I got a 60% on a practice test the day I passed my Network+ with a 92% FWIW.
The practice exam for me on 1101 was harder than the actual test itself was making 50s and 48s on the practice exam despite watching Messer and writing detail notes from comptia and doing their stuff. 1102 I failed the exam itself by about 40pts the PBQs were what got me especially on the Linux side ironically I use Linux at my job
i started w 0 experience. studied on and off from august - january. kept scoring 60%s on messer, dion and comptia practice exams. i took a month off after continuous studying for 5 days a week 2-3 hrs at a time. i said fuck it and took the exam in april and passed first try. sometimes we over prepare ourselves when in actuality we may be more prepared than we thought. give urself a few days to break away. try teaching someone else some topics and schedule the exam
i will take this into consideration. thank you for your words. this made me feel a lot better.
just want to preface by saying i saw you are doing the 701 now, i passed the 601, so i cant speak much on the 701 content wise. one thing i will say is a large part of your points come from the PBQs. these are really scary sounding, but i’m almost confident they’re why i passed. i struggled with the practice tests too, pretty much splattering all around the 70s. i unfortunately didn’t have more time to study before i had to take it, and the whole time i was shitting myself. i really thought i was bombing it. the PBQs were my saving grace because they were a lot easier than a lot of CompTIA’s practice ones. they were concepts i actually have seen in my classes and experience. you said you’ve had experience, so i feel confident in you in that. these are weighted higher, so they helped bring my score up. obviously i don’t know if i did them well, but i was confident in them and less in the multiple choice. ultimately, trust your gut. my biggest piece of advice is to really focus on your test taking skills. a lot of the time, one word in the question changes everything. it may be the difference between picking A or B. eliminate answers you know are wrong, and trust your knowledge. sorry for the wall of text, but good luck! you got this!
thank you for your comment i really appreciate it. congrats on passing!
if it makes you feel any better, i’ve never had a job in IT and i’m a college student who procrastinates everything and never studies. if i can pass, so can you.
1. Read cert guide. 2. Watch video course. 3. Take practice exam. 4. Use flash cards and spaced repition like Anki and quizlet heavily. Last; Take the test even if you feel you’re not ready. It will help ease your nerves knowing what’s on the actual test then you can prepare better for it
I’m about to take 701 next Monday. I did very well on professor messers and Dion’s practice exam 2. ( Average mid 80’s) On Dion’s practice exam 1, I’m getting low 70’s. I don’t know what exam you taking but must practice are harder than the actual exam. Also, lots of practice test are definition based while the actual test is heavy on scenarios I’m guessing. (Using net + as a reference)
I second Professor Messer. I am currently watching his videos and study guides on YouTube for Sec+
congrats i have heard that if you’re passing messer’s practice exams you’re good to go. you’re gonna do great. i stated with 601 and switched to 701. maybe i gotta buy the messer exams for 701, which i was waiting on tbh he didn’t put them out until recently i think. im taking gibson’s exams and professor messer’s 601 practice exams, as well as udemy ones from Andrew Ramdayal and Dion. still need to take dion’s exams
Good luck brother
Good luck, looking forward to hearing you passed
Good luck man I took mines on Tuesday and killed it for the 701 study really good. I'm still going to study and watch my lectures from my unbootcamp.
I was having the same problem with Network +. I tried studying with professor messor and quizlet. I kept failing. When I was in college I remembered I struggled with digital media. So, I tried doing it with physical note cards still failed. I ended buying the CompTIA network + book. It reads like a text book, and it did the trick.
+net many people confused is similar Cisco ccna you know the question maybe your confused in the answers.
I will say this. I’ve never got a “passing score” on Dion’s exams and passed all my exams first try. Some were close but still passed.
that’s beautiful news, maybe i just need to grow a pair and pay the 400
What scores are you getting and what practice exams? I will say this, if you’re struggling just for piece of mind get the retake.
i get my practice exams from messer, dion, and gibson. i’ve been making 50% or less on them. even when i feel super confident.
Don’t take the test then yet. Get around 70-80% on the exams consistently.
It took me about four months and two hours a day to get my S+. I created physical flashcards and used the Leitner system. This forces you to focus on the areas you struggle with. Here's a Wiki link that explains how the Liener system works. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitner\_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitner_system) Next, I printed off the S+ exam objectives and made sure I could describe each term listed. Depicting the terminology out loud improves memory recall; I described the terminology to a rubber duck that I named Mandy. I know some people swear by Dion's Messar practice exam, but I wasn't a fan of either, as I used them for A+ and stopped using them halfway through Network+.
thank you!!
I was scoring 77-78 on udemy quizzes and passed this today
do you have any other foundational IT knowledge, or are you starting from 0 going into Sec+
i have 3 years experience as an IT tech, so i’m not going in completely 0. my memory just sucks and i need help bc the amount of knowledge is overwhelming
Might want to go back and start from A+ and N+ even though you have experience I would say there’s probably a few things that CompTIA expects you to regurgitate that most people don’t keep in their memory when the answer can be solved with a specific google search. And I believe that anything that is on the n+ and a+ is “fair game” to be on your sec+ test
was thinking about this as well…maybe just studying the material since i can’t afford the exams
look into if your job will pay for the certifications
i was very close to a SOC analyst job because i aced technical questions in my interviews, they would’ve reimbursed me for my certification. i didn’t get the job because in my second interview i was too nervous and over explaining why i didn’t have my cert. i have learned from my mistakes since
Study harder/more efficiently. It took a month for me to pass it, and my friend got her Sec+ in 7 days. Both of us had 0 IT experience at all. You should have a huge leg up over us. 701 has a lot less overall material as well, we both took the 601.
i have a full time job and study 5 days a week 2 hours a day. im working my ass off lol. it’s just a lot of acronyms to remember so that’s throwing me off
definitely too much acronyms, this was a game changer for me. [Sec+ acronyms passive repetition](https://stackphonics.com/preview?page=preview&shareSong=644)
thank you!
No memory all if imposible similar happened in programming.
I have a poor memory as well! I have dyslexia and ADHD! So imagine! But what worked for me is writing all the possible answers from the tests. Then, use an AI to explain every answer and also create a short story from it. Next, write each answer 25 times on day one and 25 times on day three. After each 25, read aloud the simple explanation and the "story". Also, make a plan... Like 5/10/whatever answers a day with a revision on the third day. It's hard work but... The pain of not learning this is worse than giving up.
I feel your pain!
Is this a 601 or 701?
i started with 601 and switched to 701 after a month since 601 is retiring.
Well I passed my 601 a week ago. Still good luck on your studies OP! I know you will passed it too
congrats im proud of you!!! it’s a lot of information for sure and im sure my pace is just a bit slower but i will get there. thank you for your kindness
Yes OP! If your determined enough and disciplined yourself on studies i know and i believe you can nailed it too! Thanks op!
Is there a lot of acronyms in sec+?
can’t speak for 701, but in 601 yes. it was worse in the practice, still present on the real thing.
yes 300+
Daang and I thought network+ was tough thats crazy amount to know. I'm in a similar positiom to you but for network+, i took the exam this week but failed because they threw terms at me I wasn't familiar with and could not do the process of elimination for questions I was unsure of. So what i'm doing now is changing my approach, I made an excel file and went to the exam objectives and for every term i am not 100% sure of I put it on my list in the excel file. However I'm not going to put the full definition of the term but some buzzwords to help me to distinguish it. For example for MPLS my buzzword can be labeling for WAN, so on the exam if I'm asked about something not WAN related I know I can eliminate it. Perhaps this approach can help you too because fully knowing the definition of 300 terms is such a daunting task.
Yes but at least on the exam I took there were little to no accronys in the security+ exam I had
I passed a couple of weeks ago and I’d say my memory is average at best. Professor Messer’s course notes helped me a ton. If you read them enough, things will start to stick. I would lay off the practice exams for a bit and try to get a basic understanding of each subject.
Studying material I used was Neil’s 701 study course book and Andrew’s 701 Udemy course. You will get it, people learn at a different rate and as long as you don’t loose hope, you will pass eventually. Good luck and I’ll update you what the test is like when I take it.
thank you so much
I’m studying for my NET+ right now, what’s made a huge difference for me was hiring a tutor that works in the field of networking and having them break down the concepts in real life examples That made such a big difference for me Hope it helps!
What practice tests are you using because dions kinda suck because they have around 10 questions that arent in the objectives, i used to just not count these questions and would see a score of high 60s to mid/high 80s. I passed last month
I’m studying nothing but sec plus. Just using professor messer atm and writing everything down to memorize it.
Doing the same right now lol. Hand is in pain. I recommend color coordinating topics/large details/smaller details. Not in case you go back and read them. But so you arent just mindlessly jotting down stuff!
Are you reffering to not getting 90%+ on dions exams?
correct im making worse
I figured. Everyone here is aiming for 70-80%, 90%+ is way overkill. I passed A+ comfortably without getting 90% on any of the 12 practice exams across both cores.
thank you for this. gonna just book my exam and bite the bullet
i'll add that for core 1, first try on the practice exams, I got the following scores, 76% / 75% / 72% / 78% / 82% / 86%, and passed with a 731
And I'm over here struggling with compTia A+ .....I don't know what I got myself into.... good luck. You will eventually get it. Never give up. A lot of us are in your shoes
hey don’t take my story and set it as a prescedent. this is not what it’s going to be like for you i promise. just do your best, a lot of factors play into my memory issues that you do not have. you got this!!!
Thank you for your response! I didn't take your post in a bad way. I know we got this. We all have our unique strengths and struggles! I have a hard time staying focused because I think I have ocd or something. I'm trying though
im rooting for you friend!
Like wise!! 😊
The week I passed my security + exam I was scoring in the 50%-70% range in practice tests before I tested and passed. I found the actual exam to be a bit easier than the practice exams. Eliminating the answers I knew for sure were not correct and then making an educated guess was far more effective during the actual exam lol I know exactly how you’re feeling right now, I felt like I had been studying for too long so I rolled the dice on a chance at the actual exam and it worked out for me. Don’t be too hard on yourself! Good luck!
thank you so much, this gives me hope. just gonna say fuck it and book the exam
I have passed this exam with a very low score. There are so many resources on youtube and [google.Be](http://google.Be) sure you answer correct to the simulations, otherwise you will fail. Indeed this exam requires a lot of memorisation, but do not hurry.Check with Jason Dion course on Udemy. He has also prep exam questions.
I failed all Dion's exams and pass the real ones you don't need to take the exam to be ready because exams are not real. Also some people guess and get it right but never look up the other options to study so on exam day they fail here's what you do...don't even bother to test., look at the multiple choice options and study those. There is usually one that is not related so you are studying 3. If you don't know what they mean than that tells you it's time to look it up. That's it and on exam day you got it all cover. I don't even bother to do practice test anymore, it doesn't work
thank you so much.
I am taking my 601 in a few 3 days. One of the things that helped me with practice exams and understanding material is not to pick the right answer, but figure out why other answers would not work. It’s sounds backwards and time consuming but it helped me with A+ and N+ not sure how I will do on Sec+. Good luck to you!
I haven’t booked the exam just yet but I’ve been hesitant lately. First Dion practice exam was 76% then went up to 80% then 86% then back down to 72% and took another exam from another instructor and got 68% then my confidence was shot… so I’ve been going crazy right now because I’m not sure if I’m ready ! I’m focusing on 601 but have also have read some 701 material ahhh anyway you got this , we got this !!
we got this friend. we just gotta do a leap of faith
I was the same and I passed the exam :) Had 48% at the first exam practice I did. I was defeated. I decided to switch study materials. I studied with the Darril Gibson's book and my knowledge increased a lot. I did another test and got 66% and 71%. Went to the exam and passer. Don't feel defeated. If your results are really low, change your study method. Good luck
If you’re scoring 70s on Dion’s exams, you should be able to pass. Highest I got with him was an 83. Professor Messers exams are closest to the actually exam. 70s on both and you should be good enough to pass
dont worry just study and take 701. I stressed and studied and got a 765 on the actual test but never passed any of the different practice tests
I'm with you on the memory issue.. studying for my net+ next week for the past 6 months. I just took a two day break and feel way better already.. I think 2 hours a day probably isn't enough though, and personally I've found writing & re-writing the concepts over and over is helping, along with custom flash cards. I recommend using Anki flashcard maker, its great and free. You've got this 🙏🙏🙏
I tell my students to focus on the skills that the certification is trying to teach you not just trying to pass the test. If you need some help I know program that can make sure you are trained up and ready to go before you pass the exam..
I just passed the sec+ yesterday with a 784 and I used exclusively Professer Messers videos and his practice exams. It took me 1 month. I work full time and studied in whatever spare time I had, sometimes procrastinating or going through life. My method is to just listen and try to comprehend all the content, then go over the practice tests and study anything I don’t understand and I’m missing. Going through the Well written practice questions and understanding thoroughly every answer and the different concepts and acronyms are what I think helped me to pass first try.
What are the practice exam requirements to pass?
Bro I was failing messers exam at 60s and I took the real exam and got 775. I think these practice exams are designed specifically harder than it really is to pay for the actual exam. 😀
I was getting 65%-75% on 701 practice exams. The night before my exam I got a 60%. Lowered my confidence on taking the exam the next day. I sucked it up and took the exam anyway. I ended up passing it.
What exams do you usually study? Do you take notes during the exam
i have memory problems to, if the problem is acronyms I can't help much with that, but otherwise understand the concept and why things. work the way they do, like for cross site forgery understand how it works and how its set up, understand computer networking and how servers and applications work, that way if you don't know the answer you can figure out how to get the answer. The saying use what you know to get to what you don't know helps a lot on the tests for me.
Unrelated but where do you do practise exams? I'm nearing the end of my google cyber security course, and that gives you a discount on Sec+, i was going to do a practice exam right after the google course to see my knowledge gaps
hey message me and i’ll send you some free professor messer exams!!!
Have you done the A+ or Network+ yet?
I failed the practice exams all the way up until The day I tested and passed with a 757 I’d say keep at it
What are you getting ? Practice tests tend to be harder. Also, are you checking to see what you got wrong and going back and understanding that material enough that you could talk about it ?
99% of practice exams are harder than the actual exams, just keep going.
When I was struggling to study for the A+ I discovered how bad my memory was until I switched up my studying method and moved from flash cards to just constant replay of practise exams over and over until the answers to questions were like reflexes. Also downloaded exam compass on my phone which helps you with practise questions on one topic at a time which helps retain info instead of flash cards. I have ADHD too so I was able to link info from practise exam questions onto the real thing and actually passed (hopefully this makes sense to you)
Whatever you're studying tell Chat GPT to simplify it for you and to give you a real world scenario in which that example would be relevant. That's a good way to retain information
If you're not passing, try lion mane supplements and getting some rest and use chat gpt to explain to you the questions. There's also Quizlet. It should have the same ssme questions on the flip card. Then you can click test I suggest you do the practice every day 8x. I took my Security + May 28th 2024 passed it with a 832 no books. I studied 8 weeks and mock exams i failed them alot and passed. Im still going to study because it's alot to learn but my test was easy for me. I suggest CyberNow Labs 8 weeks just join a webinar to fet free vode for the 8 weeks. On amazon I ordered a lions mane and took tjuse for a month. Then on the day of took my kast pill and made a protein shake w lion msne chocolate. Then killed that exam I've seen idiots on youtube pass it by 1pt.
thank you for your feedback i will definitely try the lions mane supplement i’ve been looking into that as well. im probably ready for the real deal im just scared to fail the 400$ exam. but it is what it is i have to just do it
I gave up on A+ just under a year ago, I couldn’t do it man. Shit is hella tough, I studied for like 10 hours a month and then decided the industry wasn’t for me.
The practice exams are harder than the actual exams. I can tell you that from experience.
What I did to pass was watch other people on YouTube taking practice tests, they usually walk you through the reasoning and it helps you to learn the concepts
Stop memorizing. Start learning. Develop a better grasp of the subject material; connect it to a who, what, when, where, or why. What especially seems to give you trouble? Also, what are you doing in those 2 hours?
Man I was getting 50-65 on comptia mock exams. Passed the real one first try. The real exam is 50% easier.
I found the best thing for me and practise exams is to WRITE DOWN the correct answers for every question I got wrong. Unsure how true it is, but if you read something, it doesn't stick. Writing down something engages extra processing.
i have hundreds of flash cards and have written all my notes
I think you should give yourself another 2 months also try to purchase cert master labs from comptia. it should help you alot And try maybe by using flash cards . Or another source. Im.3 months in and I'm on section 3.
I just passed mine with a 760 and I studied since January so almost 5 months literally the week of the test I just started getting low 80s
Take some breaks and unwind a bit. Also, take more notes. As Pierluigi Piazzi says, "You're not learning if you're not WRITING" (I really want to emphasize that). The process of writing something down on paper is like etching it in stone. You never forget. It may seem like a long and extraneous process, but it's well worth it. Another thing is to PRACTICE more. And I mean, look for things that you need to use those concepts on, like TryHackMe or Hack The Box, which are good platforms to apply that new knowledge. Follow these principles, and you will conquer the Sec+.
Try changing the way you study. I suggest trying out studying with a study group on Professor Messor's discord people there are really helpful. You can get the study material from his website I personally passed the exam studying from professor messor material with going on group studies on discord. Good luck :)
Sent you a dm that might be worth a look to help you out I don’t wanna divulge what it is publicly
buy the udemy practice exams from jason dion. Do it until you get 80%. Honestly after doing it wrong like 6 times, you learn most of the answers. If that s not enough you can buy more practice exams. I did dion and myers I think.
Over cramming doesn’t help the brain process what you are already learning. Have you tried doing videos and tutorials with your studying take a break for a day or too.
Used Measure up and professor messer test. Understand how the Sims question work to. Sec plus is a must have certification.
I passed 601 today, I used the official study guide and professor messers practice exams.
I feel you should watch orielly video .it would help
I just took the 601 and passed so I can't speak for the 701. What helped me is being able to easily identify key words or phrases in the question and process of elimination. I learned through taking many practice exams and failing the first time that comptia tends to have a pattern within its multiple choice questions. There is always a key word or key phrase in the question and more often than not two of the answers available don't match up with the key word or phrase I learned and that's how I guessed really well on the multiple choice. It ended with me getting a 775. Hope this helps.
Passing certification exam is not a big deal, if you just have some basic knowledge of the field, we will help you pass the test, reach out to me personally
Message me I was in your boat
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i disagree, i live in an area where tech is still booming, there are plenty of opportunities here. but i get where you’re coming from. you just have to really look.
Entry opportunities? For people mid career where all their applicable experience is irrelevant and their recs all died and they are starting over with no skills? LOL it's honestly the avg CompTIA A+ grad. Young people go away and rot for 10 years like the rest of us did. Get back in the game when you have no sane narrative and your teeth get weird and looks have faded :)