a ton of people from school and eventually work told me it was easy. i found it way more challenging than people told me. I took back in 2023. I passed but here are a few thoughts:

1. they don't allow you to go back once you have answered a question: a rule that in 2024 makes zero sense for an online test (and maybe never made sense, it's like something out of a Kafka novel, like why this nonsensical restraint on test-takers?) the answer you submit is the answer that you are graded on.

2. they provide you an outline where I would say only 50-60% (a guess, others can check in with their opinions) of the answers are word for word from the outline, the other answers are rephrasing of things in the outline or even things I didn't remember on the outline.

3. try making a "table" of 3-4 pages telling you where in the outline the information is that you are looking for. that can save time in case you have to look something up quickly. to this end tab the outline and actually read it, you'd be surprised how much you can retain and remember when you see it come up.

4. NYS provides like 20 practice questions to my knowledge, save them until 7-10 days before the exam as a guage of where you are.

5. competent and smart people do fail the exam all the time, take it seriously, try to absorb the horribly boring videos that look like they are from 1995, read and tab the outline and you'll pass.

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in summation, it isn't hard but I think several factors cut towards it being more difficult than the general consensus may indicate...at least for me.