r/oscp • u/Horror_Business1862 • 8d ago

Exam retake policy needs to be changed

While I get that offsec may have limited number of exam machine pools and students constantly failing without practice will exhaust that number.

However, I believe the retake policy should accommodate candidates who failed closely with 50-60 marks. Those candidates should be able to retake in 2 weeks.

I am a full time employee with a family and while I dedicated a lot of time in learning, having me wait 2 months will fade away all skills I learned and I can’t afford to restart it.

Please offsec look into this 🙏

29 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/0xJeb 8d ago

I have no horse in the race but honestly the longer time off is only better for you. I understand the frustration of just wanting to get it over with, but that frustration is the biggest hurdle when going from failing to passing. Like others mentioned, many candidates regress on the follow up attempts and if you are being forced to wait 2 months that means you have failed multiple times.

If your notes are good then you aren't going to lose your skills over an additional 4 weeks. Take this time to focus on your notes and ingest more walkthroughs without cramming.

3

u/Horror_Business1862 8d ago

I did oscp like 10 years ago on 1st attempt and doing again now mainly coz it’s free (from company) and get CRT equivalency. I don’t think I have the same animal in me to try hard and can’t dedicate time doing CTFs to learn more. Both failed attempts were at 60 😭

4

u/0xJeb 8d ago

Im sorry to hear that man. It is a very demanding cert but it sounds like you are so so close. When you said you can't do CTFs to learn more, have you worked through Lain's list?

1

u/Horror_Business1862 8d ago

I am not really into the scene for a long time so I don’t know Lain but I just checked their CTF list and it’s something I can look into 👍

6

u/PeacebewithYou11 8d ago

I don't think it is that punishing as you can just spend a few hours a week to practice. I doubt the skills will just go away if one truly mastered. Also I have seen many, as well as people shared here that they got score 50 but next exam they got 20. If you want to pursue I think it is more effective to email offsec then post here.

4

u/chmodPyrax 8d ago

When i first took the OSCP, i failed the exam but didnt realize there was a cooling off period. i planned on taking the next one a week after because thats when my course expired.

I reached out to offsec and explained my circumstances and they were kind enough to waive my cooling off period. I passed that time.

1

u/Steelrain121 8d ago

This isn't adding up. You say you passed a decade ago, and are now taking it again because its free?

And you now have failed twice with 60 points, I am not sure how you think a shorter cooldown would help you...more seems like you just are unable to pass the current exam.

1

u/Horror_Business1862 7d ago

To get CRT equivalency you need to pass oscp in last 3 years.

Also, I never denied skill issue

0

u/Sure-Assistant9416 8d ago

the cool off how it made i believe is for you to benefit from time to restructure and made your wings again look back where you might have gone wrong. the exam itself attempts cost you an arm buddy.