The Exam is fairly robust, and individuals cannot expect to do well with only a few hours of study. The Exam covers an extensive array of knowledge, fully described in the Exam Candidate Manual, and not all individuals will have come in contact with this during the course of their academic work or experience. However, the questions do come from those Knowledge Areas commonly encountered by active GISPs, and it is this minimal level of knowledge that a prospective GISP is expected to demonstrate in order to be approved for GISP Certification.

The most important document to start with for preparing for the exam is the Exam Blueprint.  This contains the 45 KSAs from which every question on the exam comes.