msmeyer
Posts: 5
Joined: Nov 2011
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Thursday November 03, 2011 2:23 PM
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Hello World!
I am happy to say that I just passed part 2 of the CIA today, finally. I took it back in June 2011, studied a week for it and then was terribly sick the day of the exam and still got a 572. I didn't think that was too bad of a score (considering you have to get at least 600 to pass and I hadn't studied much). However, this time around I prepared--I may have over-prepared--and the exam was a piece of cake.
I know that there are a lot of people out there with questions about what software to use. I used only exam matrix for parts one, two (the first time around) and three...and plan to only use that for part 4. However this time around in part two I used exam matrix but also bought the Gleim audio review for part 2 the week of the exam to be able to review while driving to and from work. I honestly don't think the Gleim audio helped too much--I remember a couple of questions on the exam for which I remembered the audio talking about those topics but the bulk of the help came from doing practice questions on the exam matrix software.
The exam matrix software has 776 questions for part 2. I've heard Gleim has many more--however, I believe exam matrix chooses the hardest questions to make sure you are prepared the day of the test. The good thing is that after you pick your answer, you can see all the answer choices and an explanation about why they are right/wrong. That is a great opportunity for note-taking and actual learning time.
My strategy consisted of answering all the questions at least once. I chose "study with answers" to get the answers after answering the question and to take notes if I needed to remember something. I think taking notes help you stay focused and learn. When I had seen all of the questions, I went back and re-did the ones I got wrong. Exam Matrix gives you the option of picking whatever questions you want to re-do (I picked "missed last time seen"). I have to admit that I didn't get to complete all the questions I got wrong due to work and family (I work full time, have a husband and a one year old son)--however, I didn't feel it was necessary after today's test.
The last two days before the exam I just made sure to listen to the Gleim audio ($70 at Gleim's webstite) and do some extra "missed last time seen" questions. The day before the test I took a 50 question test in the "study without answers" mode and no restrictions (so it picked from all 776 questions, not just the ones missed). I got a 44/50 (88%) and felt comfortable enough not to keep studying the rest of the night and actually get some sleep before taking the exam.
I do have to say that for this one I opened the book that comes with the exam matrix software to look at the sampling stuff (i.e. attribute, variables, discovery, stop/go, etc). I just read over that portion of the chapter and that was it. For the other two exams (part 1 and part 3) I didn't even carry the book with me. I relied heavily on the software for explanations, etc.
Sounds like a lot of prep but it seemed pretty easy for me (total study time under 35 hours). In today's exam there were about 4 or 5 questions that I had to guess on. The rest I pretty much knew the answers or figured them out easily. I know for a fact that 18 questions came directly from exam matrix. If I had gotten a score in today's exam, I would say I got above a 90%--it felt that easy. It seems like the questions I was answering on exam matrix were much harder, but the explanations on exam matrix help you understand the concepts and then you can easily tackle the questions on the test.
BTW--the Exam Matrix software cost me exactly: $495 (USD). The IIA is trying to sell it for $650 (members) and $695 (non-members)--don't fall for that. If you are interested in the software, the Exam Matrix folks can give you a webinar and show you exactly what the software looks like and its capabilities. Webinar: http://www.ExamMatrix.com/Webinar or contact Exam Matrix directly at 1-800-272-7277. The guy that helped me is called Tony James (Tony.James@ExamMatrix.com).
NOTE: Everyone's study habits/preferences/patterns are different. If you are like me and would rather not have to sit there and read a book to learn the material--this might be for you. If not, don't risk it.
I hope this was of help to some of you and I wish you the best on your CIA exam journey!
BTW--if you want more info regarding the Gleim Audio software for part 2, let me know by replying to this post. ('wink', 'wink').
-Mari
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Archie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sep 2007
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Thursday April 12, 2012 12:13 PM
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Hello to all... this is my first post here...!
I'm an Internal Auditor with about 7 years of auditing experience, 6 in internal audit. I'm no superstar, but I'm pretty comfortable with the kind of work I do. I am a CFE, and am currently working on obtaining my CIA.
I have studied for the CIA exam with Exam Matrix, and passed both sections 1 and 2 without a hitch, on my first attempts. I also used Sawyer's Internal Auditing text to help me with any trouble spots, and did a lot of internet surfing to glean information on topics that I wasn't comfortable with. I don't like the texts that came with Exam Matrix; they're hard to read. I found that the questions in Exam Matrix -- including the explanations for both right and wrong choices -- are pretty helpful; not just to memorize the right answers, but to learn concepts. The vast majority of the questions I encountered on the exam were different than those in Exam Matrix, but I had learned the concepts well enough to answer them with a high degree of confidence.
My biggest complaint about Exam Matrix has to do with the print materials and references to them from the computer questions. Often, the references given for questions did not correspond well. And when they did, the explanations were not very clearly defined or represented. Thus, I ended up looking up (and learning the concepts behind) trouble areas on the internet and in Sawyer's.
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Explorer
Posts: 6
Joined: Aug 2012
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Tuesday August 07, 2012 3:36 PM
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<< Hello to all... this is my first post here...!
I'm an Internal Auditor with about 7 years of auditing experience, 6 in internal audit. I'm no superstar, but I'm pretty comfortable with the kind of work I do. I am a CFE, and am currently working on obtaining my CIA.
I have studied for the CIA exam with Exam Matrix, and passed both sections 1 and 2 without a hitch, on my first attempts. I also used Sawyer's Internal Auditing text to help me with any trouble spots, and did a lot of internet surfing to glean information on topics that I wasn't comfortable with. I don't like the texts that came with Exam Matrix; they're hard to read. I found that the questions in Exam Matrix -- including the explanations for both right and wrong choices -- are pretty helpful; not just to memorize the right answers, but to learn concepts. The vast majority of the questions I encountered on the exam were different than those in Exam Matrix, but I had learned the concepts well enough to answer them with a high degree of confidence.
My biggest complaint about Exam Matrix has to do with the print materials and references to them from the computer questions. Often, the references given for questions did not correspond well. And when they did, the explanations were not very clearly defined or represented. Thus, I ended up looking up (and learning the concepts behind) trouble areas on the internet and in Sawyer's. >>
So true about the ExamMatrix materials!! I gave up on the book, but I found the questions to be very helpful. They are very different that Gleim.
So true abo
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