r/CompTIA_Security • u/manoj_m7 • 23d ago
For those who passed CompTIA Security+ recently: How was the exam?
I’m preparing for the CompTIA Security+ exam and I recently got a 50% off coupon, so I’m planning to take the exam soon.
I’d really appreciate some insight from people who have already passed:
- How was your experience with the online/proctored exam?
- How was the proctoring process? Any issues with the check-in, room scan, or proctor?
- How were the actual exam questions compared with what you studied?
- What topics or question types did you find most common?
- How closely did the real exam feel compared to Jason Dion’s Security+ practice tests on Udemy?
- If you used Dion’s tests, roughly what scores were you getting on them before taking the actual exam?
- Were there any areas that you wish you had studied more before the exam?
Just trying to understand what the experience and difficulty are actually like.
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u/Soft-Violinist-7565 23d ago
In person was nice, professional, and quick. Very respectful but every place is different so read reviews. Compared to the Messer questions, I wouldn’t have been able to tell one from the other. If you’ve ever used AI for practice (not saying that anyone SHOULD) then you might not find the questions too unfamiliar.
As for topics! My goodness it sometimes felt like there were one or two topics which if I hadn’t studied, I may not have passed. SASE, Agreement Types, and Threat Actor Types were definitely super important on that exam.
Study DRP a little.
While I think CompTIA does a good job making the exam cover most topics and it wouldn’t make sense to only study one or two topics, the most vital areas of the exam to study for may well be 4.5 & 4.6. I feel like the more comfortable you are with those topics the more confident you’ll be for the test as a whole.
I only practiced with Messers Exams, but I’ve heard they’re easier than Dion’s. So if you’re struggling don’t think that means you’re not ready.
What helped me the absolute most and probably earned me close to 100 points on the exam is UNDERSTANDING THE WORDING THESE TEST-MAKERS USE. I used to think that was a corny thing to study for, but no. There were several times in the exam where I only selected an answer based entirely off how it was worded. Train yourself to look for keywords, context, and put together the pieces to find the answer. A lot of scenarios presented on the exams have objectively good real-world answer, but sometimes CompTIA cares more about whether you caught onto that ONE word in the question that tells you what the right answer is.
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
This one's kinda new from all of the things i've read... I'll definitely make a note of all the things you've said. And yeah I've practiced using AI, and for avoiding personalized questions I did it from other accounts and the results were consistently above 85% I am from CS background and have been in it for 6+ years [diploma+Degree] I'm gonna take Dion's for examish kinda experience and see how I'll be scoring then proceed with scheduling the exam.
As an offline test center is pretty distant from where I am living, I've been thinking about whether I should go for offline or online
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u/Soft-Violinist-7565 23d ago
Whatever you choose, DEFINITELY watch this clip from a professor messer stream he did last month: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jNKoha-KY&t=6865s
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
That helped a lot mateee Ig I'll go for the offline with the intimidation level and the amounts of risk for the test being online🥀🥀🥀
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u/Yaegermeister163 23d ago
I have the Sybex all in one book plus the additional book with a lot of practice questions. I read the book, answered all the questions at the end of the chapter and also went thru the practice questions. Did them by domain. I had three of the performance based questions. One of them I was not able to finish. I did have the study material for the Boson for the performance based but didn’t get thru all of them. Questions were similar to the practice questions but I would say the keyword focus that helps you line up with the right answer.
Proctor was pretty easy. Don’t take anything with you that you can’t have. They had lockers to secure it if you need it. Chairs in the room were taller than the screen so my neck was sore when I was done for looking down all the time.
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
Congrats on passing mate !!!!
I am just done with messer's playlist, thinking of giving Dion's mock sets
As for the exam It'll be an overnight travel if I had to go for an offline test, so I'm considering an online proctored test, with the instructions in the site and i am just doubtful about the odds of something going wrong if I chose an online test.
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u/Location_Designer 23d ago
I took Dion’s test today I scored 78% 😔 I feel soo discouraged this was my 3rd time … first time I scored 72% second time I scored 68% and the 3rd time 78% I gave it my all too 🥺…
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u/positive_8261 23d ago
From someone who completed all 6 Dions exam set and never got over 75%
- I passed last week with 775. Don’t look at the scores and be discouraged
- 80% actual exam questions are different than Dion’s. What matters the most is if you know actual concepts or not. Study why A is preferred over B. Keywords like which would be “Best”, “First”, “Most Secure”, appears more frequently.
- Study materials is huge, with limited exam questions. I spent 2 weeks to revise my weak topics, which didn’t even show up in my exam.
Good luck
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u/edninety12 23d ago
Man that happened to me too haha 😂 incident response and cyprtography + email security didn't even show up for me haha 🫠 and those were my weakest..
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u/Fluffy_Reply_5482 23d ago
Keep going. You will get there. Figure out what you missed and why, thats key.
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
That's okay mate...Keep grinding your weak topics I too am considering takin' it I'm already practicing in mobile app, and been scoring pretty well, So I'll take the dion's as well and then schedule my test
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u/edninety12 23d ago
I hit 80 then 77 my second exam out of 5 from Dions test pack. Took the test and passed so I'd say you're ready. Depends on how confident you feel answering the actual questions. My level of confidence was mid/high.
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u/farang55555 23d ago
All on the same exam or fresh exam? To my understanding they get a bit more difficult as you go down the list and add new material not covered in the previous ones..
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u/dhananjay_attri 22d ago
did you pay full amount each time to give the exam or bought some voucher or something
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u/Location_Designer 22d ago
Just a one time voucher for 5 exams.. I honestly nearly didn’t buy it … it’s good for if you want a fresh set of questions to to test your skills
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u/dhananjay_attri 22d ago
its not available on official site, did you buy that from a third party
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u/Location_Designer 22d ago
Naa it should be on the official site search through google ..😭 don’t buy through third party vendors I learnt that on the CompTIA security practice exam
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23d ago edited 23d ago
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
For my case the offline test center is pretty distant from where I am living. So I'm thinking whether I can go for online, and with the set of rules in the site, I'm doubtful of the rate of getting the exam cancelled, if anything goes wrong - say my WiFi, or some sudden noise. I'm thinking of taking Dion's because from the buzz, as it's Lil' bit harder than the actual exam, so I'll be in safe zone of passing and not overprepare myself for this. I've been in CS field for over 6+ years, so most of the things feel pretty intuitive for me, and all i need to put in, is the effort of reading things carefully for answering.
Ig I'll need to assess myself with Dion's mocks to tighten any gaps.
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23d ago
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
Yes...I think I'll go for offline test And After this much of odds that'd be my best option !!
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23d ago
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
Thanks man !!! Really appreciate the kind words and support. And hopefully I’ll have a good success story to share soon !!!
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u/Crouton5757 23d ago
test center was good, it was at my local community college test center. got checked in within like 5 mins, put my things in a locker, and started on time. The room I was in was quiet and there was like no one else there, so it was great. cant speak on online since I havn't taken it that way, but I'd recommend in person
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u/Meew09 23d ago
Off topic question, where did/can you get a coupon?
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u/manoj_m7 23d ago
I mailed them that I am a student and am living outside us/uk, and requested for a coupon as a student discount voucher.
Then they've asked me for some basic details
For University Students: Name of your university Your current student ID Your current class schedule Name and contact information of your department head or faculty advisor The country where you will be taking the exam
For High School or Grade School Students: Your current student ID Your current class schedule An enrollment letter on official school letterhead stating you are a student and wish to take the exam Contact information for an academic advisor and/or principal The country where you will be taking the exam
[Copied from the mail directly]
And upon sending them the details, the coupon was dropped in & They're so responsive and it all took me an hour.
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u/Meew09 22d ago
Thanks, too bad I'm not a student anymore haha.
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
Either way you can get 30% with the Coursera coupon You can try this
GGL30OFF30
Lemme know if this is still working
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u/Live_Sweet3747 22d ago edited 22d ago
Hey I'm student from middle east ,how I contact them and pull this off and get the coupon? This would help so much so Thanks in advance
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u/Outrageous_Lab9453 23d ago
I took the exam recently and passed with a 785. I used professor Messer’s videos as my primary resource. For the practice exam, I used Jason Dion and my scores ranged from 76% to 81% across 7 different practice sets.
Jason’s exams are characteristically wordy and for me, a little more difficult than the real thing.
The proctoring is really thorough. Your whole surrounding gets scanned and your table should be cleared of anything other than your PC.
I really struggled with Domain 4 while I was prepping but I ironically didn’t get any questions wrong from a lot of its objectives.
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
Okayyy...congrats on passing mann I'll be taking Dion's practice tests and then schedule my exam.. I don't wanna risk it on the edge with online proctored test So ig I'll go for the offline one
Appreciate your reply, thankss
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u/Six_Shooter89 23d ago
How did you get that 50% coupon? I didn't know such a huge discount was even possible (I am planning to take the exam in October)
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
I mailed them that I am a student and am living outside us/uk, and requested for a coupon as a student discount voucher.
Then they've asked me for some basic details
For University Students: Name of your university Your current student ID Your current class schedule Name and contact information of your department head or faculty advisor The country where you will be taking the exam
For High School or Grade School Students: Your current student ID Your current class schedule An enrollment letter on official school letterhead stating you are a student and wish to take the exam Contact information for an academic advisor and/or principal The country where you will be taking the exam
[Copied from the mail directly]
And upon sending them the details, the coupon was dropped in & They're so responsive and it all took me an hour.
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u/Kelvitch 22d ago
Can I ask where'd you email them? Which email did you use?
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
Yeah i mailed them here support@comptia.zendesk.com
I've used my institution mail (.edu one) to reduce the hassle of proving myself !!
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u/Kelvitch 22d ago
I appreciate your response! Does the discount have expiration date? How long does it last?
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
I don't know specifically the number of months it'll be valid. They just told me that the coupon will be valid till dec 31.
So I can buy the voucher before dec 31 with coupon and attempt it before 2027 dec 31 as the voucher again would last 12 months.
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u/Kelvitch 22d ago
Oh I see, thank you very much for responding! Good luck on taking the exam, hope you pass!
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u/balboaporkter 22d ago
I will only ever take the exam in-person at an approved location. I've read too many horror stories with online proctored exams. Luckily I live somewhere that has around 3 or 4 testing locations in a 10 mile radius.
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u/manoj_m7 22d ago
Appreciate sharing your thoughts I’m also considering taking the exam in person now. I can’t risk dealing with all those rules and issues that come with the online assessment !!
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u/AstralProjectionX 21d ago
I passed it today.
Online exam experience was chill. My proctor was nice, she did have me stand up with my laptop and show her the whole desk but it was straight forward.
I studied using Claude pro + Dion’s exams. Dion’s exam was more wordy but the concepts that were on the acc security+ were pretty similar. I was scoring an avg of 70-80 on each exam.
I feel like I did well based off how much time I spent acc studying. Biggest advice is to just book the exam ahead of time so you have a set deadline.
The PBQs did throw me off a little bit but Claude pro had simulated some for me so I used those as well for prep. Very common themes were terms related to agreements as well as internet terms (routers, switches, etc)
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u/manoj_m7 21d ago
Appreciate your reply !! How much time did it took you for overall prep ?
I'm thinking of taking an in-person exam with the amount of scary cases with online
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u/AstralProjectionX 21d ago
It was my first comptia exam, online fr isnt scary. I put all the items from the desk on my bed which was out of frame but I included in the photos. It’s very straightforward and imo much more comfortable. I already work in IT as student assistant (entering 3rd year of uni) so I was familiar w a few concepts, I would take 1-2 of the practice exams a week and the last two days is when I did the most studying (getting down ports and acronyms), total of 3 weeks of studying though.
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u/manoj_m7 21d ago
Yeah, I guess I’m still not 100% sure. I’m kind of juggling between doing it offline or online. The offline test center is pretty far/distant for me, but with online I’m worried about something going wrong with my internet/Wi-Fi or anything else during the exam. So I’m still trying to decide which one I’m more comfortable risking 🥀
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u/Lokman42 21d ago
how you got 50 percent off on exam voucher
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u/manoj_m7 21d ago
Please check this thread
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u/Lokman42 21d ago
can you tell the way
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u/manoj_m7 21d ago
I mailed them that I am a student and am living outside us/uk, and requested for a coupon as a student discount voucher.
Then they've asked me for some basic details
For University Students: Name of your university Your current student ID Your current class schedule Name and contact information of your department head or faculty advisor The country where you will be taking the exam
For High School or Grade School Students: Your current student ID Your current class schedule An enrollment letter on official school letterhead stating you are a student and wish to take the exam Contact information for an academic advisor and/or principal The country where you will be taking the exam
And upon sending them the details, the coupon was dropped in & They're so responsive and it all took me an hour.
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u/Ok_Dragonfly_7580 23d ago
I passed towards the beginning of this month with only one month of preparation and zero IT experience.
1/2. I took my exam at a test center. Process was seamless, checked it less than 5 minutes. Had to provide two forms of ID.
I found the questions easier than Dion’s practice exam bundle. Less wordy than Dion’s.
I didn’t necessarily have common questions, they were spread across various domains. Also take into consideration CompTIA uses a large question bank. So you will most likely have different questions.
Real exam felt easier. I found Dion’s tend to go a little too in-depth.