Passed CISA!

Got the results a week early! Passed!

512....will post a follow up on study methods and materials shortly!

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Received my results too. Passed with 531. Next will be CISSP and CISM.
I used ISACA CRM 2010 and the questions and supplement publised by ISACA.

cabrillo24 wrote: »

Got the results a week early! Passed!

510....will post a follow up on study methods and materials shortly!

eMeS

Congrats!

MS

ibcritn

Great job!

JDMurray

Congratulations on passing the CISA exam!

rogue2shadow

cabrillo24 wrote: »

Got the results a week early! Passed!

510....will post a follow up on study methods and materials shortly!

Congrats cab!!! Well earned.

the_Grinch

Any suggested reading for auditing in general?

cabrillo24

Thanks for the kind words. As I stated earlier, posting a more detailed account of my CISA Journy:

Date of Exam: 12/11/10
Place of Exam: Richmond, VA
Results Received: 1/28/10
Results of Exam: Passed
Attempt: First

Materials used:
CISA AIO
CISA AIO (Kindle Edition)
ISACA Questions Database v10 (900 questions)
CCCure Practice Exams (93 questions)
Certified Information Security 2010 CISA SuperReview

Out of the material used, the Certified Information Security 2010 CISA SuperReview (certifiedinfosec.com) was probably my most valuable resource; however, it's a little pricey, I think it was $450. It wasn't my only resource, so I probably spent nearly $800 in study materials for this exam.

Without a doubt, the ISACA Questions Database is another great resource.

CCCure Practice Exam is another good resource but I believe they were limited to only 93 questions at the time I was studying for the exam.

As for what reading material to use. Even though I liked the CISA AIO, I'd probably read the official guide (which I am doing for the CISM exam). You can never go wrong with reading official guides, seeing as they are centered around the test itself.

I studied for about 2-3 hours a day for a 3 month window. CISSP experience definitely helps in terms of understanding certain concepts; however, where CISSP tends to focus on best practices, CISA tends to focus on the scope of an auditor and business objectives. It's almost hard to explain the difference to colleagues, but once you study for it, you'll understand the difference.

This test isn't as technical in nature as the CISSP, but I would still consider this a technical exam.

On the day of the exam I got there about an hour early. I stayed in the testing city the night before at a hotel that I reserved months in advance (paid in advance, got a great price and a great room). Once you arrive in the testing room, you cannot leave the room, so I would recommend you find out where your room is, take your time (within reason): go to the bathroom, finish off your breakfast, stretch etc.

I finished the exam in under 3 hours if I remember correctly. As you're taking practice exams, learn to pace yourself, as you don't get as much time as you did for the CISSP and time goes by very quickly.

I actually ended up receiving my results a week early. Just last week I had received an email from ISACA stating the results would be released the week of the 31st at the earliest. This was definitely a good surprise.

I was hoping for a higher score, but a pass is a pass. From what I've been reading the passing rate for this exam is under 50%.

I am now studying for the CISM which I will take in June.

John.Feist

Well that makes 3 of us that passed. I did better than I thought with plenty of room to spare. Main material was the ISACA Study Guide, Both the Question review and Supplemental, and the Question software Database. The QA Database being the most impact. I did take a 4 day course for lots of $$$ and found it to be minimal benefit.

Congrats to you and the other gentleman.

down77

Awesome job and some great study tips that you posted. I still have to take the CISA this year and am planning to use the CISA AIO. From your experience and without breaking the NDA... did the AIO have any gaps that either were not covered or need clarification for subject matter.

Again, wonderful job!

cabrillo24

down77 wrote: »

Awesome job and some great study tips that you posted. I still have to take the CISA this year and am planning to use the CISA AIO. From your experience and without breaking the NDA... did the AIO have any gaps that either were not covered or need clarification for subject matter.

Again, wonderful job!

I believe the AIO is sufficient, but I felt that it wasn't necessarily driven towards exam preparation. Seeing as I already passed the CISSP last year, I felt that I was going over a lot of redundant topics that weren't necessarily related to the exam, but giving the reader a background. As I stated though, I feel that the AIO is adequate; however, this time around for the CISM I'm going to utilize the official review manual.

I HIGHLY recommend that you get the CD/download questions from ISACA.

coffeeking

I came to the site to post about my CISA pass and noticed that there is already one running here.

Congrats to all other who have passed.

I got 537, and really did not have any idea of how well I had done, it took me by surprise. Glad to be over with it!

JDMurray

Congratulations on passing the CISA exam too!

coffeeking

cabrillo24 wrote: »

I believe the AIO is sufficient, but I felt that it wasn't necessarily driven towards exam preparation. Seeing as I already passed the CISSP last year, I felt that I was going over a lot of redundant topics that weren't necessarily related to the exam, but giving the reader a background. As I stated though, I feel that the AIO is adequate; however, this time around for the CISM I'm going to utilize the official review manual.

I HIGHLY recommend that you get the CD/download questions from ISACA.

I would 2nd cabrillo24's thoughts here. AIO should be more than enough to cover the domains, off course you can always use a reference but in my case I didn't. After taking the exam and especially after receiving the results I realized that it 'common sense' that will help you more than anything in this exam....as you might have heard about these exams that "there are no wrong answers".

justanotherday

I passed the CISA as well with a 581. I agree that knowing CISSP material helps alot as well as the using the CRM. I thought the CISSP was actually more difficult where I hear some people say it is the other way around.

I too am considering taking the CISM later this year.

coffeeking

justanotherday wrote: »

I passed the CISA as well with a 581. I agree that knowing CISSP material helps alot as well as the using the CRM. I thought the CISSP was actually more difficult where I hear some people say it is the other way around.

I too am considering taking the CISM later this year.

congrats man! that is good score. I am trying to find out what the maximum possible score is, does anyone know this?

tpatt100

Good job! I keep procrastinating on this exam and when it is only available twice a year that's not a good thing.

darkladdie

Max score is 800.

stiks47

what percentage right did you guys/gals get on the CD rom practice questions before taking the exam? i'm all over the map from a low of 40% to a high of 80%, but average around 70%. I usually do 10 questions at a time. Thanks

Dakinggamer87

Congrats!!

JDMurray

stiks47 wrote: »

what percentage right did you guys/gals get on the CD rom practice questions before taking the exam? i'm all over the map from a low of 40% to a high of 80%, but average around 70%. I usually do 10 questions at a time. Thanks

I've never studied for the CISA/CISM exams, but on practice questions for any cert exam you should be scoring in the 90%'s the first time you take it to consider yourself ready for the actual cert exam. Practice exams are only teaching questions to help you learn the cert's objectives. Consider that the questions on the actual cert exam will be much more difficult.

colemic

JD normally I would agree with you, but I used the sample question database for CISA and at best, I scored 70-75% on those practice tests. They were useful I guess since I passed, bt damn frustrating for sure. I actually thought the test itself was a touch easier than the practice questions, and weren't near as nitpicky or deceptive or tricky. JMO.

stiks47

Thank you both for your feedback. JDMurray, you had me super worried about a 90%. I don't think there would be any way for me to get that high. Colemic, I hope the test is more like you say.

colemic

Just remember it is NOT easy, and I was referencing the ISACA study questions test engine, which was not cheap.

JDMurray

And I was referring to practice exams that are constructed to be teaching aides to learn certification material. Practice exams that are attempting to simulate an actual certification exam will be purposely more difficult than necessary--unless it's a poorly written practice exam.

Remember, your primary goal when attempting any certification is to learn far more about the material than is necessary to pass the exam(s). Do this and you will not only easily pass, but you will be all the more knowledgeable in the cert's subject matter and retain far more of it after the exam is over. I have to remind myself of this from time-to-time as well.

swild

cabrillo24 wrote: »

This test isn't as technical in nature as the CISSP, but I would still consider this a technical exam.

Happy to see this as I thought that the CISSP was not technical enough. I will probably skip the CISA and CISM as I don't think I want to go down the management track. I will probably go for one of the CISSP concentrations.
When studying for that exam I used the cccure quiz engine and was scoring around 70% all the time. When I got to the test I finished in less than 3 of the 6 hours and passed. I wish they would tell you your score when you pass.

rhaynal

I also passed the CISA with a score of 528. I used the Sybex CISA Study Guide along with the ISACA Database. I thought the database was very helpful in that it not only went over objectives but gave experience in the type of questions that the real test uses.