My prep resources
My college provided most of my study material. The main resources I used were:
-
“CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide: Exam CS0-003” by Mike Chapple and David Seidl
-
The companion practice test book by Chapple
-
Jason Dion’s practice exams
-
Mike Chapple’s LinkedIn Learning course
-
The Wiley practice questions that came with the books
The study routine
I treated studying like a full-time job. At the time, I was a full-time student and wanted to get the exam done fast.
I’d usually start around 9 or 10 a.m., take lunch around 12:30, then keep going until about 4:30 or 5 p.m. In the evening, I’d do extra study time on topics I found interesting or areas where I felt weak.
Nineteen days, that’s it. I kept a structured schedule and cut out distractions. No TikTok, no YouTube until I finished my study blocks for the day.
1,200 practice questions
This was the biggest part of my prep. I did roughly 1,200 practice questions and five full practice exams. My last full practice exam was four days before the real test.
About a week before the exam, I scored 76 percent on one of Jason Dion’s practice tests. That told me I was getting close, but I wasn’t fully ready yet. More importantly, it showed me exactly what I still needed to work on.
The reason I leaned so heavily on practice questions is simple: getting questions wrong is one of the fastest ways to learn. You read the explanation, understand why your answer was wrong, and that usually sticks better than passively reading a textbook.
Use resources that give instant feedback. Pocket Prep and the Sybex-style questions were especially useful for that.
The exam itself
The performance-based questions were manageable. The multiple-choice section was rough. I felt like I was failing for most of the exam.
From what I’ve seen, that’s pretty common. If that happens to you, don’t panic. Just keep going.
What actually matters for this exam
Know your security frameworks and incident response steps cold. That’s the backbone of CySA+. If you can walk through an incident response process from detection to lessons learned without having to think much, you’re in a good spot.
If you’re consistently scoring around 80 percent on practice tests without retakes, you’re probably ready.
Don’t burn through all your practice exams at once. Spread them out so you can actually measure progress.
In the last few days before the exam, stop trying to learn brand-new material. Just review the questions you missed. I made flashcards from missed questions and drilled those. At that point, you’re not trying to learn everything, you’re trying to close specific gaps.
Bottom line
CySA+ is absolutely passable in under three weeks if you structure your time well, do a high volume of practice questions, and use resources that give immediate feedback.
It’s not fun, but it works.
From CPTS to OSCP+: Using the…
From CPTS to OSCP+: Using the Sword to Slay the Dragon From CPTS to OSCP+: Using the Sword to Slay the Dragon So I passed the OSCP+ WOOHOO!!!. Now it’s time for me to help…
Penetration Testing Writeup: “Active” (Retired Machine…
Executive Summary This report summarizes a penetration test conducted against a Windows Active Directory environment. The testing identified critical vulnerabilities including the storage of administrative credentials in Group Policy Preferences (GPP) and weak password policies,…
My Methodology for Passing Any Certification…
My Methodology for Passing Any Certification in Under 2 Months Hello! I wanted to share my methodology for earning certifications and learning efficiently without sacrificing quality. Over the years, I’ve developed a system that helps…