So I just got my results back yesterday and I'm honestly still in shock. Passed with an 84 on my second attempt after bombing it pretty badly the first time around (got a 61, which, yeah, rough). I want to share what changed because I wasted so much time the first time doing stuff that just didn't help.
First attempt I basically just read through the NIMS materials and figured that'd be enough. It wasn't. What actually made the difference was grinding through an ICS practice test repeatedly — not just taking it once, but reviewing every wrong answer and understanding the "why" behind it. The command structure questions and the difference between unified vs. single command tripped me up constantly until I really drilled them.
I probably put in around 40 hours total for attempt two, spread over about three weeks. I focused especially on span of control ratios, the incident command system components, and resource management. If you're just starting out, don't skip the study guide sections on finance/admin — I almost did and those questions showed up more than I expected.