Your success on this exam begins before you even get to the testing center. Before you take the exam, make sure you have studied the CISA review manual as thoroughly as possible. This guide will help you know what you will be tested on. Also take as many pretests as you can. This will help you learn exactly how the test is set up.
Arrive at the testing center early to make sure you are relaxed and in the right location. (Running late will only make you stressed, which will keep you from performing your best.)
Be sure to eat a filling breakfast, too. This test can last up to four hours, and you won't want to be hungry halfway through.
Most importantly, make sure you go into the exam understanding basic IS auditing principles. This, more than anything else, will help your confidence going into the exam.
There are many different strategies for passing this 200-question test. First of all, don't worry if you don't know the answer to a question. With so many questions covering a broad range of topics, it's almost impossible to be able to answer all of them correctly.
When you come to a question you can't answer, you can either try to answer it, or skip it and come back to it later. If you decide to answer it right then and there, you may feel rushed and get it wrong, but leaving it blank may also leave you with a nagging feeling about unanswered questions. However you decide to deal with this, make sure you stick with it the whole way through the exam.
Also, try to tackle all of the questions in order. You might feel inclined to skip around to answer the questions you know, but this could cause you to unintentionally leave some unanswered. The test does not have negative marking, so you will not lose points for a wrong answer. You are only scored on questions you get correct. An unanswered question, however, will give you no opportunity to earn points, so it's beneficial to make an educated guess even if you're not 100 percent sure of your answer.
Finally, watch the clock! The time limit on the test is four hours. That means you should be answering 50 questions every hour. Try to keep this pace as you go through the test. If you are faster, you have the luxury of spending time on harder questions. If you are slower, try to speed up so you can answer all of the questions on time.