So I just got my results back yesterday and I PASSED. Honestly didn't think it would happen after I bombed my first attempt back in February. That first time I went in way underprepared — skimmed a few PDFs, took maybe one or two practice questions, and thought my on-the-job experience would carry me. Scored a 61 when I needed a 70. Embarrassing.
Second time around I completely changed my approach. Spent about six weeks this time, roughly an hour a night on weekdays and two to three hours on Saturdays. The biggest difference was actually drilling with a proper IMST practice test instead of just re-reading material. Doing timed question sets forced me to recognize where my knowledge had real gaps versus where I just thought I understood something.
The measurement systems and signal integrity sections wrecked me on attempt one. For anyone else struggling there, I'd say get a solid IMST study guide that breaks those domains down conceptually before you try to memorize formulas. Anyone else here gone through this cert recently? Curious what resources people found most useful.