I'm not gonna lie, this exam humbled me. Failed twice before I finally cleared it last month, and both times I thought I was prepared. First attempt I scored a 68 when I needed a 75. Second time, 72. I was ready to give up on the whole certification path.
What finally turned things around was ditching the official prep book and switching to a solid GCAT practice test routine instead. I did timed sets of 30 questions every morning before work for about six weeks. The repetition forced me to stop guessing on the network security and compliance sections, which were killing my score. I also found a decent GCAT study guide that broke down the domain weighting — turns out I was over-studying the stuff that's only 15% of the exam.
For anyone just starting out, my biggest exam tip is to treat the wrong answers as seriously as the right ones. I kept a notebook of every question I missed and why. Sounds tedious but that habit alone probably added 8-10 points to my final score. Happy to answer questions if anyone's in the thick of studying right now.