CISSP Certification Exam Prep Course vs Nova's LSAT Prep Course

The course covers all eight CISSP CBK domains as defined by (ISC)²: Security and Risk Management, Asset Security, Security Architecture and Engineering, Communication and Network Security, Identity and Access Management, Security Assessment and Testing, Security Operations, and Software Development Security. Chapple structures each domain systematically, beginning with foundational concepts and building toward the scenario-based reasoning that the CISSP adaptive exam rewards. Learners consistently report that Chapple's lectures decode the conceptual density of the Official Study Guide and reframe key ideas in ways that make the most challenging domain content — particularly risk quantification, cryptography, and PKI — accessible without oversimplifying. His background as both an active security practitioner and academic means domain coverage contextualises theory within real organisational security decisions rather than presenting isolated facts. The main content gap noted by experienced candidates is the volume of built-in practice questions. The video instruction is comprehensive, but most successful CISSP candidates pair it with a dedicated practice test resource such as the Official (ISC)² CISSP Practice Tests, also co-authored by Chapple, or a third-party platform such as Boson ExSim.

Mike Chapple, Ph.D. holds the CISSP, CISM, CySA+, PenTest+, and Security+ certifications and serves as Teaching Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. He co-authored the Official (ISC)² CISSP Study Guide (now in its tenth edition) and the Official (ISC)² CISSP Practice Tests, and has written more than 50 technology books and produced over 150 Udemy and LinkedIn Learning courses. His teaching style transforms dense regulatory and conceptual material into clear, structured instruction without sacrificing technical accuracy. Students consistently describe him as "calm," "methodical," "patient," and "one of the best technical instructors on any platform." His explanation of the CISSP managerial mindset — thinking as a security manager rather than a hands-on technician when selecting exam answers — is cited by numerous first-time passers as the single most valuable insight they received from any study resource. CertMike community testimonials note that his course is "far more helpful than a $2,000 boot camp."

At Udemy's standard promotional pricing of $15–25 (promotions occur near-weekly), the course represents exceptional value relative to the $749 CISSP exam fee and the $2,000–$3,500 price range of in-person boot camps. Multiple learners in Reddit's r/cissp community explicitly describe abandoning boot camp registrations in favour of Chapple's course after comparing outcomes reported by peers who used each approach. The course pairs naturally with the Official (ISC)² CISSP Study Guide that Chapple co-authored, creating an integrated study ecosystem where book and course reinforce each other at a combined cost still well below most single-day boot camp fees. For a credential with transformative career impact — median salaries for CISSP holders exceed $120,000 in the United States — the cost-to-certification-value ratio is unusually favourable.

Multiple learners report that the CISSP preparation process through Chapple's course produced a materially more comprehensive view of organisational security than their prior professional experience had provided. The eight CBK domains together constitute a breadth-first survey of enterprise security governance, and working through them systematically often surfaces gaps in candidates' understanding that were invisible from within their specialised day-to-day roles. Security professionals in roles such as security architect, CISO, security manager, and senior analyst specifically credit the course with reinforcing enterprise security governance frameworks — NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2 — in ways that improved their day-to-day security decision-making well beyond the exam context. The risk management and security assessment domains are cited as particularly rich in immediately applicable content.

Mike Chapple maintains a companion platform at certmike.com where he facilitates free 90-day CISSP study groups. These structured group programmes — featuring weekly schedules, live Q&A webinars, and community forums — are cited by multiple graduates as a significant differentiator that addresses the primary failure mode of solo CISSP self-study: losing momentum across the months-long preparation period. Within Udemy, Q&A response times are variable, a structural issue across the platform rather than specific to this course. The CertMike study group fills much of this gap. Learners seeking broader community discussion also gravitate toward r/cissp on Reddit, which frequently recommends Chapple's resources as a primary study tool. The slight fragmentation between Udemy Q&A and CertMike community is the main friction point noted by learners.

The course delivers 403 lectures across 8.5 hours, working through fundamental logic principles — contrapositives, if-then chains, pivotal words — drawn from Nova Press's 560-page Master The LSAT book. Amazon reviews of the underlying book highlight thorough coverage of analytical reasoning and a clear step-by-step breakdown of argument structure. The critical content issue that every independent reviewer and community discussion now flags is currency: Logic Games (the Analytical Reasoning section) were permanently removed from the LSAT beginning August 2024, and any course built substantially around that section is teaching material no longer on the test. The Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension coverage is more durable, but the absence of an explicit update addressing the format change is a real gap.

Jeff Kolby of Nova Press carries genuine credentials — 20+ years in test preparation, millions of students reached through Nova's print materials, and a bestselling Amazon ranking for the Master The LSAT book. Amazon book reviewers describe the Nova approach as highly analytical and structured, with solid foundations for argument deconstruction. The honest deduction is that Kolby is primarily known as a publisher and author rather than an on-screen LSAT video instructor, and with only 187 Udemy enrolments the teaching format has had limited real-world stress-testing relative to competitors like 7Sage or Blueprint. Community discussions on Reddit do not mention him by name in the way that Blueprint or LSAT Demon instructors are cited.

This is where the course is hardest to argue against. At a typical sale price of $12-20 with lifetime access, it provides the equivalent of a two-month course framework for roughly the cost of a textbook — compared to $699-$1,899 for Blueprint, Princeton Review, or Kaplan. The onlinecoursespro.com review gives it 4.2/5 overall and cites the 30-day money-back guarantee, free course updates, and iOS/Android access as genuine extras at the price. The honest caveat is that the low price also reflects a small enrolled community (187 students) and a curriculum that has not been explicitly updated for the post-August 2024 LSAT format, which is a meaningful real cost in wasted study time if you are sitting the current exam.

The course is built around teaching logic principles through the Nova Press curriculum, not around supplying high-volume practice. There are no embedded full-length LSAT practice tests and no original question bank; Reddit's r/LSAT community consistently warns that effective LSAT prep requires drilling with official LSAC questions from LawHub, and no Udemy course can replicate that. Independent community reviewers note that the most cost-effective practice resource is free — Khan Academy's official LSAC-partnered prep — which raises the bar for what a paid course must add. The practice-materials gap here is the widest of the five criteria.

Nova Press's own marketing claims "your score will improve significantly" if you master the course material, and Amazon reviews of the underlying book include anecdotes of successful law school admission after following the study plan. Community opinion gathered from LSAT forums and Reddit threads is more measured: structured prep courses are broadly credited with 10-15 point improvements versus unguided self-study, but reviewers consistently note those gains require pairing any video course with heavy LawHub official practice. At a competitive level, LSAT Demon, 7Sage, and Blueprint are the platforms cited when score improvement is the primary goal.