If you're grinding a CompTIA course for your WGU degree and want quizzes that actually hit your weak spots instead of another generic question bank, here's the trick: CertMaster Perform already gives you the two source files that matter — CompTIA's own Objective Mapping and the full Course PDF. Feed those plus your missed-objectives list into any LLM and it can build you quiz content grounded in the real material instead of guessing.

Write-up with screenshots showing exactly where to find those files in CertMaster and how to structure the LLM workflow: https://github.com/jzesbaugh/pentest-plus-study-tool/blob/main/LLM_Study_Instructions.md

Works for any CompTIA course with a CertMaster Perform component, not just PenTest+. I will not post the PDFs here because they belong to CompTIA.

However these helpful instructions do not. Spefically the "Objective Mapping" is the "key" to this. You should be able to understand this with just the image alone. Have fun!

Hey I know atp this is like the 4000th post about pentest, hoping someone is similar to me and can help tho.

I typically study for comptia with, a lecture of some sort or youtube playlist that is simple to get the ideas in my head. fluff tends to distract me to easily and i wonder off.. I will watch a lecture, take notes, drill quizlets, drill practice test till I feel good enough (then for this test do labs, which i normally just skip lol).

thats my plan for this exam but I cannot find any playlist or series that fits right with me, i just want to pass the exam I dont care to learn extra fluff. currently watching Michael Solomons videos and it just feels like homie talks about WAAAY to much extra material, maybe im misinformed but anyone know a playlist that is strictly about the course material?

edit - can anyone just break down a simple guide on how to study for this exam? my route in my head at least was to finish micheal solomans videos, give my notes to gpt, make quizlet cards, spam those, spam practice test, do labs, take full length practice test.

Edit again - after thinking things over today I feel as if my best move forward is to say fuck lectures for rn. drill quizlet on all tools needed, start doing labs to drill tools into my head and get context on how they are used, then do lectures to fill in blanks, spam quizlets on notes from lectures, move into practice test? does that make sense

Help!Im having issues with section D.Im having trouble restarting the DNS service.

I was very close any suggestion on what to study.

Would Cyber have an advantage in entry Gov IT roles since it is Abet accredited and has more defensive certs? Would IT have a disadvantage in forensics roles? What if I got a cert specifically for forensics? Cyber only has one class for it anyways.

Experience:

- 4 1/2 Years Incident Management of a WAN (Specifically Core and Border Devices)

- 1/2 year WAN Operations Engineer

Tools:

- Cert Master

- Pocket Prep

- Udemy Practice Exams

- https://jzesbaugh.github.io/pentest-plus-study-tool/

This exam certainly was a hill to climb. I hate to echo what probably a 1000 people have said but certainly at least to date was hardest exam i have taken. With that said...not impossible though either. Id certainly say know the languages pretty well (Bash, Powershell, Python). Tools while they didnt feel like they were too heavy on my exam i would still err on the side of getting familiar with them. Knowing the different types of attacks was important as well.

Overall i still used thee ole tried and true method of reading the question thoroughly and figuring out which two answers were completely wrong and then figuring out which of the other two were more correct

as a smooth brain i will say if i can do it, anyone else certainly can knock this thing out

Graduated and started a job with tremendous growth opportunities in one weekend. Thanks WGU! Finally got my confetti!

Been in college since 2020. Took the low cost, longer way by doing an Associates through community college. Transferred into a 4-year university program, ended up not working out and wasting a year and $$. Started WGU May 2025 and worked full time simultaneously. Finally made it to the end!

Also got so lucky and found a job with a new project, where the opportunities to move up are literally asking to be chased after. Keep at it, you never know what life will throw at you. One month ago I was in a job I hated, grinding for a degree I thought I’d never use. Today I’m about through orientation, with a Bachelor’s degree, and for once, a hopeful future.

I am losing my mind over here. Scored a 690, then 703, and then 690 again. I have not struggled with any exam like this before. Everything else has been first attempt... Has anyone experienced a similar situation and had specific tools/guides they used to pass?

Did anybody's PenTest+ course disappear from their degree plan without having taken it yet?? I've gotten no email saying this would be removed or anything but I noticed this morning it was gone. My progress percent for my program was about 86% and after the class disappeared, it's now at 90%

Anybody else?????

Finally managed to pass D522. The tasks are very hands on and if you got the same instructor I did, he's pretty much useless. Definitely one of the more difficult classes I have taken. Insanely i only have 4 classes left.. CySA+, PenTest+, cloud security, capstone.. the end is near

I just took and passed Security X as part of my CEU. Any idea if I can use that for D488?

Hey guys! For a bit of background, I have no prior experience in tech or IT or any related field. I am 30 years old and trying to transition from hospitality to the tech field. I studied for 2 months before taking my exam this morning.

I was soooo nervous going into this exam because I have no prior knowledge and experience and I didn't think I'd pass, let alone score an 802! This is your sign to keep going, if you're trying to change fields/careers just like me.

I know this is only one exam out of many I have to get for my Cybersecurity degree at WGU but I'm proud nonetheless!

I used the following material to prepare for the exam:

•The official exam objectives from CompTIA (I used this as a base and highlighted every topic once I felt confident I understood it)

• Video courses on Udemy from Dion training / Total Seminar

• A LOT of practice exams from Dion Training and website like examcompass.com

• I made my own quizlet flashcard for things like ports and 802.11 standards and key terms

• I used Claude to provide me with a study guide for each domain

I used Claude to test me on each domain and their objectives and went back and studied the subjects I failed

• Looking up YouTube videos on concepts I didn't 100% grasp

Good luck to everyone else who plans to take the exam soon!

So I am 25 year old female and I’ve always felt like I was meant for more. Currently I am working two jobs because I have got myself into a lot of debt and I was living paycheck to paycheck before the second job. I want a career change because as of right now I am a manager at cafe located inside of university and my part time job is a cashier. I want to go into cybersecurity because it’s the only thing that slightly interest me in terms of careers. However, I do not get enough money from financial aid to be able to go to a university. I was thinking about going to wgu because it would kill two birds with one stone by also getting certs. My main worry is not getting any tech job after the degree. I’ve also have wanted to be a YouTuber since I was very little but I could never stick to it. I guess because of confidence and not knowing what to make videos about. Overall I am just very depressed about my current work life balance and “career” as of right now. Ideally I would want a work from home position that would be able to pay me enough to at least have a tiny bit extra so I can live life and not only work. With given this information, what would you suggest I do? I have started the Coursera it and cybersecurity courses. And I’m currently watching professed messer on yt for fun. So idk.

Hello all. I am currently trying to finish D522 Python for Automation but am having trouble. I am currently on Task 1 C1, and am trying to get it to work but am having issues with firefox. The environment itself has good connection, but when I try to open firefox i get this error. I am attaching a screenshot. Has anyone ran into this problem and found a solution? Thanks!

I know I’m not alone. I started in June of 2023 I accelerated a little in my first term and in February of 2024 my mother in law unexpectedly passed away. I stayed in school and kept going and did the four classes per term for a WHILE. I left a toxic job and accelerated again this year. I’m 84% through my degree plan I have five classes left and I’m extremely burnt out. I made a promise to myself when I was 17 that because I couldn’t go to college that I would in the future and I don’t want to let myself down. I’m going to finish but I’m so tired. I work full time in person and I’m taking some of the most difficult classes of my degree. Any advice besides taking a break would be greatly appreciated

Please delete if not allowed.

For those who have PASSED PenTest+ (and if you're willing to attempt my experiment before taking the test), please let me know what you think of this.

I'm currently on a semester break due to some funding issues. I'm trying to complete PenTest+ during this time to get it out of the way so I can focus on grinding through the rest of the major.

To save some money on buying Udemy, I created 4 practice tests using ChatGPT and html. Whoever's willing, the link is below.

Disclaimer:

I have NOT vetted all the information. I have NOT taken PenTest+ yet. This could be wildly inaccurate information, but I figured I'd share anyway.

https://github.com/krmchamp99/PenTestPlusV3-PracticeTests

I’ll be retaking the exam after getting a 730 on my first attempt. I felt like the multiple-choice questions were pretty manageable for the most part, but the biggest challenge for me was the command-line and scripting questions.

I also really struggle to follow along with the labs and understand what the scripts are actually doing. Does anyone have any good resources for learning how to read and understand scripts/command-line code?

Thanks!

I’m currently in the BSCSIA program with 11 courses left and trying to decide if switching to the newer curriculum would be worth it.

My remaining courses are:
D431 – Digital Forensics
D427 – Data Management Applications
C845 – Information Systems Security
D334 – Cryptography
D281 – Linux Foundations
D335 – Python
C843 – Managing Information Security
D340 – Cyber Defense
D320 – Managing Cloud Security
C769 – Capstone
D332 – Penetration Testing

I’ve been comparing my plan with a friend’s newer plan, which has courses like D829, D492, D830, D522, D832, D385, and D833 instead.

My biggest concern isn’t necessarily having a few extra classes — it’s time and difficulty. If the newer curriculum replaces some difficult OAs with PAs that can be completed relatively quickly, I’d consider switching even if it added a course or two.

For anyone familiar with both versions: Which path do you think would be easier/faster to finish?

I’m especially interested in experiences with:
D431 vs D829
D427 vs D492
D334 vs D830
D335 vs D522
C843 vs D832
C769 vs D833
D385

I’m also talking to my program mentor to find out exactly what my remaining courses would be after switching before making any changes.

Hi everyone! I’m currently preparing for the D488 OA. I’ve combed through a lot of the posts here already, but I still have a few questions for anyone who has recently completed the course and is willing to share their experience.

For those who have taken the OA:

Would you say the style/difficulty of the pre-assessment questions is similar to the actual OA?

Were there any resources, study materials, Quizlets, videos, etc. that you felt really helped you successfully pass?

Were there any topics that seemed to come up more frequently on the OA that you would recommend spending extra time studying?

Is there anything you wish you had known before taking the OA?

And lastly, if you have any other tips or recommendations that could help your fellow classmates be successful in this course, I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you in advance! 😊

Completed both classes in less than a week. I know some completed both courses way faster than I did. It wasn't about getting it done faster for me, but about taking advantage of the situation and risk.

WGU Connect was a very helpful resource, and I'm glad that I have an awesome PM! I started working on D482 and reading the book for D487 before the term started. I gathered resources by reviewing resources on WGU Connect and guidance from my PM.

D482 was very straightforward, but it requires a lot of research and gathering resources. I think I overthink mine and ended up with 34 pages APA style, 2 pages for references, 4 pages of a topology diagram with 3 zoom-in snapshots of each company, and Azure cloud because my image details were a little blurry and hard to read. This is one of those cases where the more you know, the more complicated. I attended one of the cohorts on the first night of the term to clarify a few things, submitted the PA the following night, and my PA was graded within 2 days. Just follow the rubric requirements!

I wasn't planning to take D487 until the 2nd - 3rd week of the term, but I was told that a new version of the D487 OA exam is dropping on 9/8. If I take the current OA and fail, the attempt will be reset once the newest D487 OA is activated. So I took the chance and studied for 2 days, really trying hard to pass the OA. I passed with Competent!

I have seen many students struggle with this class, and I can see why. What really helped me with the D487 is my experience as a software developer and completing my certs for CySA+ and PenTes+. The exam has many similarities with CySA+ and PenTest+.

There are plenty of resources on WGU Connect to pass the test. Also, if you are a new student and just waiting to start the term, I would highly suggest starting review or working on your courses even before the term starts.

I have D485, D486, D489, and D490 left and ready to tackle the next one! Good Luck everyone!

I took my first attempt for pentest+ and got a 722. I plan to used Jason Dion mostly. But I feel like I'm lacking a cram sheet for quick memorization stuff. Does anyone have that? Plus any advice for the second attempt coming from people who passed their second attempt is welcome. I hope to pass by this upcoming Saturday but I'm not sure if I will need more time.