r/CompTIA • u/HiMerdock • 7d ago

Community Weirdest Security + journey and study process

I’ve been studying for the security + exam since February, so about 4 months. I work full time and was in a process on moving in and out and back into different apartments and living situations between California and Nevada. I have strong background with computers; pops worked in help desk, I build pcs, done networking in the scope of being a life long gamer; Nintendo ds wpa2 pokemon diamond, made small early Minecraft servers, troubleshooting ps3 network errors as a kid.

I feel like i have a solid grasp of concepts from quizzing and watching videos, and notes but i know if i take the exam now i would either be close to passing or just barely pass. My goal is to pass first attempt. I don’t want to waste time or money retaking it.

Something that I notice is that 1. I second guess myself once I narrowed down the multi choice to two options. 2. I come across an acronym I can’t remember. 3. I honestly just got it wrong; didn’t know or answered wrong. 3 is rare, generally acronyms or wording. Smallest percentage of questions I get wrong.

I’ve been using Messer’s videos and his pdf practice exam in addition to Google Gemini (and now chat gpt because Gemini is lobotomized now). I’ve also been reading Mike Chapple’s Study guide as of late. Taking quizzes and reviewing videos after I watched them all in March. One major implementation is learning how to learn more effectively and prioritizing active recall and spaced repetition. It has really helped a lot.

I feel like I’m close to being able to pass confidently. Aiming to find an efficient way of filling gaps. I just wish there was a point where I know most things well and had some form of mastery even though I started my cyber security journey 4 months ago. lol I’m so impatient.

What was your experience like studying for the CompTIA security + exam? Were you diligent and consistent with your studying? Or were you laid back and gradual? What are some other ways you all learn about cybersecurity? Books, YouTube channels, etc?

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u/llNATEDOGGll 7d ago

I’m kinda in the same boat as you where I’m at a barely passing score on any practice exam I take.

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u/PrestigiousFix244 7d ago

Same here 😭

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u/HiMerdock 5d ago

I’ve been using Google Gemini and chat gpt for quizzes mainly. I feel like there is so much info for each topic. Like ai quizzes veer off if the questions aren’t prompt for the ones that would be on the test. I also do better with theories and concepts than raw memorization.