Finally passed my CDASA after failing twice — here's what worked

by Carlos B. 76 views3 replies
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Carlos B.OP
May 27, 2026

Okay so I've been putting off writing this post for a while but I feel like I owe it to this community since you all helped me so much when I was struggling. I sat for the CDASA for the third time last month and finally passed with a 78. First two attempts I scored a 61 and a 64 — close but not close enough, and honestly I didn't really understand where I was going wrong.

What changed this time was being way more systematic about it. I spent about 6 weeks using a CDASA study guide that actually broke down the domain weights instead of just throwing content at me. The biggest unlock was doing timed CDASA practice test sets under real conditions — like phone away, no pausing, the whole thing. My weak spots were the data governance and compliance sections, which I'd been glossing over because they felt dry.

Anybody else here prepping for their first attempt? Happy to share my study schedule or talk through which topics tripped me up most. Also curious what exam tips others have found useful — I feel like there's stuff I still would've liked to know going in.

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Preethi N.
May 28, 2026
This is really encouraging to read. I'm scheduled for my first attempt in about three weeks and I'm honestly not sure if I'm ready. How many practice questions do you think you went through total? I've done maybe 200 so far but I'm not sure if that's enough. Also did you find that the actual exam questions were worded similarly to the practice ones or was the phrasing pretty different? That's the thing that always gets me on these kinds of exams.
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Preethi N.
May 28, 2026
Congrats! I passed mine about four months ago and the timed practice thing is so real. I kept practicing in "open book mode" basically and then panicked during the actual exam when I couldn't find things fast enough. Once I switched to simulating real test conditions my scores jumped like 12 points. The compliance domains are brutal if you haven't worked directly in that space — I made a one-page cheat sheet just to drill the framework names before test day.
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rachel_s
May 28, 2026
Third time's the charm! Seriously though, two attempts takes guts — a lot of people just quit after one fail. The data governance section tripped me up too, worth spending extra time there. Good luck to everyone still prepping.

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