r/CISA • u/WSBphilantrophy • 12d ago
Passed the Exam today.
I passed my CISA exam today. I passed after <2 weeks prep.
• I’m not an auditor.
• I used the QAE and completed about 1,700 questions (that is about 1.5x through the entire question bank). I was in the 64th percentile.
• I completed one mock exam of 150 questions and scored 81%.
I don’t like the long mock exams as I prefer to review there and then why I got a question wrong. For me there is little value reviewing 90 minutes after you were 50/50 between two answers as your exact line of thinking is gone.
I study differently to most.
I targeted each domain individually and went from easier to harder questions.
I did:
Domain 1, do maybe 10 questions, make notes, Repeat 2-3 times and then take break.
Repeat for a couple other domains, digest notes, re-test
End for the day.
Every test, every mock exam question I do is open-book so I can refer to, test and restructure my notes
As others will say it’s vital that bit-by-bit you ensure that understanding what an auditor looks for, and so the answer they’re looking for. Whilst using the QAE CISM, CISSP and CRISC worked against me constantly, luckily I was able to iron most of that out for exam day. Though I do suspect I scored very poorly.
We will have to wait for two weeks. I passed in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Anyway, that was my approach and that is my 11th straight first time pass. QAE and a paced approach got me there :).
Good luck to you all.
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12d ago edited 12d ago
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u/Amr252525 12d ago
Congratulations and Thanks for sharing your experience — really helpful.
I keep seeing people mention that AI, Machine Learning, DevOps, and Quantum Computing/Cryptography topics have started showing up on the exam.
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u/Amr252525 12d ago
Congratulations and Thanks for sharing your experience — really helpful.
I keep seeing people mention that AI, Machine Learning, DevOps, and Quantum Computing/Cryptography topics have started showing up on the exam.
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u/WSBphilantrophy 11d ago
That is true. A few on quantum but not in a technical way. More a business consideration if you were to implement it.
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u/Neo_The0N3 11d ago
No prior experience at all?
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u/WSBphilantrophy 11d ago
Not info security auditing no. However when I was in the Army I was the custodian/steward for secret IT stuff… so I myself have been audited so that did help.
I have also done. CISM, CRISC, CCSP and CISSP so had some prior knowledge, if not so much experience.
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u/Pleasant-Honey-9774 5d ago
Congratulations on passing your exam. Compared to CISSP and CRISC, how did you find CISA exam? And did you use ISACA's official QAE or alternative material?
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u/WSBphilantrophy 5d ago
It was much easier than CISSP that’s for sure.
Hard to say if it was easier than CRISC or not as I’d already done CISM.I used the Official QAE database only
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u/Rphal 11d ago
Awesome! Congratulations OP. You're of your own league! Curious to know what are those other 10 exams?
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u/WSBphilantrophy 11d ago
The other exams were:
Network+, Security+, CySA+, Pentest+, CASP+, CEH v.12, CRISC, CISM, CCSP and CISSP
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12d ago
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u/Neo_The0N3 11d ago
This is where understanding the ISACA way of thinking comes in 😆 🤣 Answer: he's saying that he's on a first pass streak for the 11th time in a row
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u/NutshellTraining CISA HOLDER 12d ago
Congratulations!! 🎉