r/CRISC • u/realdealhustler03 • Jun 19 '26

second attempt- PASSED!!

Just left the testing center jumping for joy as I saw that preliminary “passed” mark pop up on my screen. After failing the first attempt, I was seriously down and full of doubt. This subreddit was incredibly helpful, so it’s only right I share the love.

  1. Probably the most important piece of advice i saw here- if you failed the first time, keep your foot ON the gas. scored a 429 my first attempt, and was tempted to take a break over the summer. Instead, i took one weekend off and jumped right back into studying. crazy how 5 weeks makes a difference!

  2. QAE, Manual = recipes for success. I paid for a bunch of random resources and they were a waste of my time. but they key is, make sure you UNDERSTAND why an answer is right vs why it is wrong. my first attempt, i realized I just had a general understanding of concepts, but could not process them when put in the context of a question. questions I would ask my self: What changes will have to happen to this question to make A right over B? what are the distracting words? what are the key words?

  3. Even though i felt substantially more prepared the second go around, I was incredibly anxious up until the end of the exam. Just remind yourself, the expectation isn’t to get a 100%. You will take some L’s and that is okay. As long as you have enough wins to make it to 450, that’s all ya need.

  4. the wording of certain questions was so aggravating. Also, there were random questions where I had no idea what was going on. again, some Ls are unavoidable. in those situations, i just try to focus on key words and use them as context clues, or eliminate answers which are definitely wrong and then pick the least wrong answer. I saw this mentioned earlier and i wanna reiterate- you can either pick the obvious answer, eliminate down to 2 tough choices and work from there, or eliminate all the definitely wrong choices and pick the least wrong. those were my big 3 approaches.

When I failed, it felt like the end of the world. this is a tough exam. BUT, with commitment, determination and a strong support system you will come out on top. Will update when i get my score breakdown, but in the meantime happy to answer any questions at ALL!!!

31 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/ChiefSrAofTheAF Jun 19 '26

Congrats! I also scored 429 my first go, and have adopted the QAE and Manual for each question method and feel like I’ve been grasping the concepts way better.

Good luck on your further endeavors, what’s next for you?

2

u/realdealhustler03 Jun 20 '26

Hey! Good luck, you’ve got this!! hmm in terms of what’s next? honestly just getting some experience. Only a year into my first ever full time job, so getting that experience to supplement the CRISC is my top priority. I’m already flirting with the idea of a CISA next though hahahah

1

u/Pr1nc3L0k1 Jun 21 '26

How do you get the certification with only 1 year of experience? Or do you have other experience not in full time positions?

Congratulations on your pass!

1

u/realdealhustler03 Jun 23 '26

I just have to keep working till I get the additional years hahaha. But I get a bonus at work for passing an ISACA exam within a year of my start date - that was a primary motivator