So I bombed my first attempt back in February — scored a 68 when you need a 75 to pass. Honestly I thought I'd studied enough. I read through the official textbook twice, took some notes on CCPA and GLBA, and figured I was good. Nope. The questions are way more scenario-based than I expected, and I kept second-guessing myself on the FTC stuff and state law preemption questions.
For round two I completely changed my approach. I spent about 6 weeks this time, roughly an hour a day, but I leaned heavily on a CIPP US practice test bank to drill the application-style questions. That made a huge difference — you start to recognize the logic they're looking for, not just the definitions. I also made a one-page cheat sheet for the key federal frameworks (HIPAA, FERPA, FCRA, GLBA) and reviewed it every morning.
Passed with an 81 last month. Happy to share what resources actually worked if anyone's studying now. What's everyone else using for their study guide? Curious whether the official IAPP materials alone are enough or if you need supplementary stuff.