Most accurate practice exams for CISSP

[Dao]

Hello everyone,

I have my CISSP exam scheduled for the end of the month using the new CAT format (fully aware of that so not too concerned - fatal last words I know!).  However I was wondering, based on the experiences of those who have passed, what the best and most accurate practice exams are?

I have used:

1) Questions that came with the Official CISSP Study guide Book

2) Questions that came with an online course I bought (uCertify based on the above book with more questions added)

3) Pocket prep CISSP iPhone App

4) CISSP Practice Questions iPhone App

I have searched the forum here but could not find a definitive list.

Thanks in advance

David 

[Pista]

I shared my experience from beginning of the December here.
IMHO there is not definitive list of practice test. There are many online services offering exam preparation, but I was not using those.
Although I took very similar set of practice tests as you listed, not even single question appeared in real exam.
I heard some good feedback on Shon Harris publication, but I haven't used that.

[Flyslinger2]

I failed my first attempt and I really hit hard every practice exam I could get my hands on.

I only referenced the Sybex book, the Kelly Handerhan videos on CyberIT and read the NIST pubs and blew the exam away on the second attempt. 

I personally believe and share that practice exams steer you in the wrong direction.

[dreastans]

---

@Flyslinger2 wrote:

I personally believe and share that practice exams steer you in the wrong direction.

---

I am inclined to believe that as well.  I passed on the first try.  I only took one type of practice exam- a simulated CAT exam offered by a course I was taking.  Even with the simulated exam, the most I got out of it was the format and how to approach the questions.  But a mistake that people often make with this exam from what I've read is that they want to take as many practice questions as they can.  This test isn't something you can memorize or even come close to finding "right answers" if you don't know the subject matter in each domain.  Don't set yourself up to fail, don't memorize questions and answers.  Practice questions and how you will approach them.  Then know the content.  🙂

[ammo335]

I used a combination of Boson, Wiley Online, and PocketPrep for iPhone. All of these provided value in my studies. These should be used as a tool to help identify weak areas and not necessarily a gauge of when you are ready to take the exam. Boson was really good at this, and the full detailed explanations were awesome. PocketPrep was perfect for studying on the go and for keeping your mind engaged. In total, I took over 2000 practice questions.

[rslade]

> Dao (Viewer) posted a new topic in Member Support on 01-07-2019 07:20 AM in the

>  However I was wondering, based on the experiences of those who have
> passed, what the best and most accurate practice exams are?

Bad news time, I'm afraid. The answer is: there are *NO* sets of practice
questions available that will really represent what you will see on the actual exam.
Zero. Zip. Not a sausage.

>   I have used: 1)
> Questions that came with the Official CISSP Study guide Book 2) Questions that
> came with an online course I bought (uCertify based on the above book with more
> questions added) 3) Pocket prep CISSP iPhone App 4) CISSP Practice Questions
> iPhone App

At one time ISC2 sold sets of practice questions (don't know if they still do), but
even those, although the closest that I have seen, weren't quite up to snuff. I
imagine some of them got into the "official guide," so that might be your best bet.
As for the rest, as I have noted over and over again, writing actual exam questions
is really hard, and none of those who are selling "practice tests" are willing to do
all the work necessary to create sets of questions that match the actual exam in
style or difficulty.

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[Thilak]

pls send me a copy

[rslade]

Check out the CISSP questions topic.

[emb021]

@rslade Bad news time, I'm afraid. The answer is: there are *NO* sets of practice
questions available that will really represent what you will see on the actual exam.
Zero. Zip. Not a sausage.

> I have used: 1)
> Questions that came with the Official CISSP Study guide Book 2) Questions that
> came with an online course I bought (uCertify based on the above book with more
> questions added) 3) Pocket prep CISSP iPhone App 4) CISSP Practice Questions
> iPhone App

@rslade "At one time ISC2 sold sets of practice questions (don't know if they still do), but
even those, although the closest that I have seen, weren't quite up to snuff. I
imagine some of them got into the "official guide," so that might be your best bet.
As for the rest, as I have noted over and over again, writing actual exam questions
is really hard, and none of those who are selling "practice tests" are willing to do
all the work necessary to create sets of questions that match the actual exam in
style or difficulty."

Me: 

I think part of the problem is that you have people out there that want to get or think they can get copies of the actual test questions, to study or memorize.  (you know, the folks asking for "official dumps" of exam questions)

What they don't understand is that ISC2's certifications are ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 certified (like ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, etc), and as such, there is a separation between the training and the testing.  The people who develop the exam questions are NOT the same people who develop the sample questions provided with or alongside the training (such as the Sybex book of practice questions).  But both are written against the CBOK/BOK.

I think practice questions are an important part of preparation.  I've used ISACA's QAE (Questions Answers Explanation) in preparing for their exams, and used the practice questions for my ISC2 certs.  But they are important in helping you understand the style of the questions, and how they are answered, not memorizing them.

FWIW, in my preparation for CCSP I will be using the ISC2 practice exam book from Sybex.

[rslade]

> emb021 (Contributor III) mentioned you in a post! Join the conversation below:


>   I think
> part of the problem is that you have people out there that want to get or think
> they can get copies of the actual test questions, to study or memorize.  (you
> know, the folks asking for "official dumps" of exam questions)

I remember, back in the day, an awful lot of products and sites would promise you
exam dumps. At one point, ISC2 got really serious about examining such sites,
products, and claims. All were fraudulent. Nobody had actual exam questions.

>   What they
> don't understand is that ISC2's certifications are ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 certified
> (like ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, etc), and as such, there is a separation between
> the training and the testing.  The people who develop the exam questions are
> NOT the same people who develop the sample questions provided with or alongside
> the training (such as the Sybex book of practice questions).  But both are
> written against the CBOK/BOK.

An important point to make, but one that does seem to be lost on most of those
who are looking for exam dumps.

>   I think practice questions are an important
> part of preparation.  I've used ISACA's QAE (Questions Answers Explanation) in
> preparing for their exams, and used the practice questions for my ISC2 certs. 
> But they are important in helping you understand the style of the questions, and
> how they are answered, not memorizing them.

A point I have tried to make in the "CISSP questions" topic at
https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exams/CISSP-questions/m-p/18626

Which brings up something I would like some of you to take on. As noted
elsewhere:
https://community.isc2.org/t5/I/O/m-p/37466#M4741 and particularly
https://community.isc2.org/t5/I/E/m-p/37467#M4742
my "community" account is now completely inaccessible. That means I can't
post any more "CISSP questions" in that topic. However, reply-via-email still
seems to be working (in some weird fashion). That measn that, if those of you
who want more questions will post something to the "CISSP questions topic (even
if it's just, "hey, how about another CISSP question?"), then I will get a
notification via email, and I can reply to it, and post another question.

(Reply-via-email" only works once per posting, and is unreliable about a third of
the time, so, if you want more CISSP questions you will have to keep
posting there on a semi-regular basis.)

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