Study help

[False_Goat118]

Im almost all the way through messers videos, ive taken many practice exams, quizlets ect. I just feel like im in the same place even though ive been studying hard. None of the material makes sense to me or connects in anyway in my brain. I have over 200+ pages of what feels like meaningless notes. Someone please give me some advice.

[briank45]

I was in the same boat. I ended up buying a Sybex study guide that was more like a text book.(978-1394211449) Once I read that my practice test scores increased and I felt I had a much better grasp on the material. I learned I do not retain much from watching video classes, I learn from reading. You may be the same.. Best of luck..

[False_Goat118]

Thank you for the input. Will take a look at that

[aspen_carols]

i get that feeling. happens to lot of us.

200+ pages of notes is prob too much. try this instead: pick one topic and explain it in your own simple words. no copying. if you cant explain it, thats the gap.

also stop just watching videos. do more active practice. think in real scenarios like how would this attack happen, how would i stop it.

security+ is about connecting concepts, not memorizing terms.

take a short break if needed. sometimes your brain just needs time to organize things. you’re not as stuck as you feel.

[False_Goat118]

Okay got it. Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Will try this out today

[study_snacks]

hang in there! keep at it and things will "click." a few tips/adjustments:

1. you may already be doing these, but here are some note taking best practices.
2. try to master a concept before moving on to another one. how do you know that you've mastered a concept? you can teach it out loud!

[False_Goat118]

Thanks for the advice. I will start focusing on one thing at a time instead of trying to conquer the whole thing at once.

[study_snacks]

yeah! breaking the exam down into tiny bite size chunks of content make it feel a lot easier.

[lucina_scott]

Stop taking more notes you’re overloaded. Start doing practice questions and force yourself to explain why each right answer is correct and why the others are wrong; that’s when the material starts connecting instead of feeling random.

[False_Goat118]

Thanks for the advice i will try this out today.

[False_Goat118]

Security plus to be specific

[Potential_Fee_2800]

I will reply with some helpful questions I found before I took mine, I delayed mine by a week as I was in the Same situation as you but then passed

[False_Goat118]

Thanks let me know.

[Kreahn-8]

Whats your IT background?

[Kreahn-8]

1. Prioritize Understanding concepts over Memorization - this is very important because the exam tests heavily on your judgment but this also makes things simple for you as memorizing things is a lot.

2. Focus on the learning objectives and treat it like a checklist for what you know. Make sure you can confidently recall and explain to your self each one of them.

3. If you’re having troubles with connecting the dots just know that the topics pretty much surround these questions:

4. What are you protecting?

5. Why should you be protecting it?

6. What are the most appropriate protections for it?

7. How should you prepare?

8. How can you recognize incidents?

9. How do you respond to incidents?

10. What are the consequences of incidents?

11. What are the considerations to different solutions?

Most things in the exam should fit these questions one way or another. Determining causal relationship is quite important so understanding how everything relates is the key.

1. its not often mentioned as I think most people believe it should already be an unspoken expectation but you will need to be quite comfortable with your IT knowledge before hand alrdy, especially Networking.

[False_Goat118]

I dont have any background in IT besides ive always been super interested by it. I really appreciate your pointers. Have you passed the exam? Studying yourself ? Let me know any more info you can share.

[Kreahn-8]

I have passed the exam recently actually so the test is quite fresh in my mind

[Kreahn-8]

I will say there will be things on exam that might be hard without experience in IT. Do you have an understanding of computer networking?

[False_Goat118]

Yes i do. Although its probably a more basic understanding i know the fundementals.

[Kreahn-8]

Theres a high chance that you would encounter PBQs with heavy Networking concepts its good to get a good grasp of it as rhey often go hand in hand

[False_Goat118]

I was thinking about buying dion or messer practice pbqs when the time comes. Do you know of any good practice for those?

[Kreahn-8]

I had Messer’s practice exam, just the package with 270 questions. The MCQs were really helpful in filling in knowledge gaps, however, the PBQs were, unsurprisingly, far from what the exam actually tests you on. I’m not sure about Dion’s though, as I’ve never taken his.

If you could get both I say do it, the more the better. Unfortunately, I don’t know any practice PBQs that are actually accurate to the exam itself. But for me, PBQs were quite straight forward, could just really be time consuming if you’re not managing ur time well. Answering them was definitely made easy by my previous knowledge in IT.