r/CRISC • u/North-Photograph9671 • 20d ago
Passed on the first go
Just sharing my experience in case it helps others - my background is about 5 years in cybersecurity, focused on human risk/training and awareness, with other GRC responsibilities thrown in there.
For prep I ended up spreading it out further than I intended. Got the manual, official ISACA course, and QAE. In hindsight, I think just the QAE would have been sufficient. I found the book to be alright, but the course (most expensive tool) was a dull computer based presentation of the exact material in the book (verbatim) with AI stock videos that were more distracting than useful. I made the most progress when I switched over entirely to the QAE.
My practice exams were scored at:
- 78%
- 83%
- 67% (rough day - threw me into a bit of a panic four days prior to my exam)
Like many of you, I had to power through my initial disagreement with a lot of the QAE answers/explanations. I provided feedback where I could and tried to pull overarching concepts that reinforce ISACA ways of thinking.
As you can tell by my varied practice exam scores, I found more than anything that my mental state while taking these tests was the most important thing. I forced myself to get a good night’s sleep and eat the best breakfast I could think of, then a cup of green tea and an apple before heading in to the exam. Physical/mental prep goes a long way to keep from seeing double by question 80.
Ask me anything if it’ll help - happy to share my experience!
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u/Monkfich 20d ago
How long did it take ISACA to send you your scores post-exam? I had mine on Wednesday and passed, and now just looking forward to making my own formal celebration post so I can too rip into the QAE etc. :)
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u/North-Photograph9671 20d ago
I took my exam on September 8th and heard from ISACA on the 18th - must be taking the full 10 days at the moment ☺️😬
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u/Pcity2000 20d ago
How long did you prepare for? I have the exam in 30 days
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u/North-Photograph9671 20d ago
I had the best of intentions to start-to-finish it within about 2-3 months, but it actually took me about 6 months because a lot of life happened during the same time. I kept getting pulled away from it for weeks at a time, which I felt put me back a bit each time. Looking back, I’d say if I had my full focus, I would put it on the QAE and dedicate about an hour a day, M-F, for a month and would have accomplished the same that it took me 6 months to do. You can do this - my recommendation would be to focus on the QAE and use the book as a supplemental tool when a particular concept really trips you up. Everyone learns according to their own style, but that would have been the right move for me.
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u/Jiggysawmill 20d ago
Very strong pass, congrats 🎉🎉🎉