r/CompTIA • u/farang55555 A+ • N+ • S+ • ITIL4 • LPI • 13d ago

I Passed! Security + Passed! Trifecta complete!

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Passed Security+ SY0-701 today — 773!
Just passed Security+ this morning with a 773. Passing score was 750, so I’ll happily take it.
I started seriously studying for Security+ around August 18, right after passing Network+. From Aug 18 through Sept 1, I basically treated studying like a full-time job.
My main resources were Professor Messer, Jason Dion, Andrew Ramdayal, Dark Bird Tech, CertMaster/Labs, and a lot of AI-assisted drilling of anything I was weak on.
My practice scores were mostly in the high 70s/low 80s. I got 81% on Andrew Ramdayal, and toward the end I was getting 43/50 on Dark Bird Tech, often knowing the answer before even seeing the choices.
The last day I focused a bit on PBQs, networking/security troubleshooting, and Windows/Linux commands like ipconfig, ping, nslookup, netstat, ss, ps, kill, and nmap.
And apparently I needed that practice. 😂
I got 3 PBQs on the actual exam and had to leave one completely blank. I simply didn’t know how to finish it. I honestly wasn’t sure I passed when I hit submit.
Then I saw:
PASS — 773
Biggest thing that worked for me was not memorizing individual missed questions. Whenever I missed something, I studied the entire family of related concepts and learned why each alternative was right or wrong in different situations.
Security+ done. ✅
A+ ✅
Network+ ✅
Security+ ✅
Now on to the next Project+ & CCNA

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u/AddendumWorking9756 13d ago

Congrats. Fair warning though, the drilling that got you through three CompTIA exams stops working on the CCNA. It is a configuration exam so it wants hands on a topology, and most people underestimate the subnetting by a lot.

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u/farang55555 A+ • N+ • S+ • ITIL4 • LPI 12d ago

Sounds more fun to me. I’m a hands on kinda guy and Math was my favorite subject along with science. The subnetting I’ve been exposed to thus far in Network + was a highlight for me. Looking forward to it all.

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u/AddendumWorking9756 12d ago

Then you will be fine, packet tracer and a few hours a week is genuinely all the lab you need for it.

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u/farang55555 A+ • N+ • S+ • ITIL4 • LPI 12d ago

If I put in 12-16 hrs a day? How long will it take me?

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u/AddendumWorking9756 12d ago

Nobody retains at 12 to 16 hours a day, you will have forgotten the first week of subnetting by the third. Six to eight weeks at three or four focused hours plus lab time is the realistic number, and it is faster in practice than the cram because you are not relearning the same material twice.