Finally passed the SRT after failing twice — here's what actually worked

I'm not going to sugarcoat it — the SRT kicked my butt the first two times I sat for it. I went in the first time thinking my on-the-job experience would carry me, and I scored a 68 when I needed a 75. Second attempt I just re-read the same materials and got a 71. Classic definition of insanity, right?

What finally flipped things for me was actually doing structured practice instead of passive reading. I found a decent SRT practice test online and started timing myself — turns out I was hemorrhaging points not because I didn't know the material, but because I was spending too long on the scenario-based questions and rushing the technical ones at the end. That pacing awareness alone probably got me 4-5 points.

I also put together a study guide covering the domains I kept missing: risk assessment frameworks, interview protocol specifics, and the ethical standards section (which I'd basically been skipping). Third attempt I scored an 83. If anyone's prepping right now or has specific exam tips that helped them, I'd love to compare notes — especially on the ethics portion.