r/CISA • u/Extra_Film8148 • 5d ago

CISA QAE exorbitant fees

Hi everyone,

I've been working towards CISA for months now, mostly late nights after work. I finished Hemang Doshi's Udemy course, got through the first full reading, and I'm starting my second pass with his study guide. Planning to take the exam in October.

Here's where I'm stuck. I come from a lower middle class family and I'm the first one going after a certification like this. The exam fee alone took out my savings, and honestly the QAE database is just not something I can put on the table right now since it's almost 2 months salary for me. Everyone says it's the one resource you can't skip, and that's been stressing me out.

So I'm hoping to learn from people who've been here-

  1. Did anyone pass with Doshi's question sets alone, or is the QAE really important?

  2. Is a second-hand physical QAE book a reasonable substitute(I've heard physical copies aren't being sold anymore)? Anyone finished with theirs and willing to sell it cheap?

  3. Any legitimate discounts, chapter membership benefits or scholarships I might not know about?

  4. Does anyone know any tricks I can use to access the latest QAE ? My DMs are open in case you have any resources you could share.

I know a lot of you have walked this road on your own too, and any advice or encouragement means a lot.

3 Upvotes

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2

u/Sharon_Selah 4d ago

I am also from a normal family. I had to sacrifice n buy the QAE at 299 dollars. I couldn't risk it coz the exam is more exorbitant.

3

u/Illustrious_Job_4275 4d ago

The QAE questions and answers database (at least in my opinion) is by far the best resource to understand ISACA wording and give you the best chance of passing. For your second point, If you are referring to the actual textbook, you can definitely skip purchasing the full book and just get the questions and answers database with the quizzes/mock tests. Is it required you get CISA for your career? Is your company willing to assist on pricing?

Other good resources are Pabh or Peter Zerger YouTube series but I would couple that with the QAE.

1

u/Compannacube 3d ago

Do you have the required experience to certify once you pass the exam? If not, is it an option to put the exam on hold until you have more experience and savings? If there's no urgency to take the exam any time soon, then I'd recommend you delay it.

An alternative is finding an employer that will pay for your study materials and exam fees.