Bombed the VCP510 Exam

mguernsey

256 out of 300. Disappointing to say the least. The worst part was the questions were nothing like what I was expecting, so I got hammered into the dirt by networking and storage questions – a LOT of networking and storage questions. Not sure how much in the way of details I can provide, but I’ll be honest and state to not bother with the MeasureUp or Sybex practice exams. Maybe 5% of the material their practice exams covered was on the actual exam, so doing well on them doesn’t mean a hill of beans. I really need to sit down and do some notes to guide my studying for Round 2.
Fortunately I used a discount voucher for the exam and only paid $67.50 for the test, but the failure still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I hate failing exams.

Cable_guy

Sorry to hear, but I agree the test wasn't was I was expecting either. Much harder than I expected and a lot of situational questions which were pretty tough.

I did pass, but I still agree it was tough for what the class offers and practice tests offer.

iBrokeIT

<sup>Sorry to hear about your fail. I agree with you that failing an exam sucks!

I would recommend Master VMware vSphere by Scott Lowe if you haven't already read it.</sup>

ande0255

What materials did you use? And did you do a lot of labbing? I see this post a lot on the vmware forums

mguernsey

Read the Sybex Study Guide, the Official VMware Study Guide, MW Preston's study guide, and parts of Scott Lowe's book. There was also another study guide and a few white papers thrown in there along the way. I built a few labs and ran through some labbing exercises, but I didn't do much with storage since I only had Workstation and an SSD and a spindle drive to work with. Obviously that came back to haunt me. I need to go back and work on the labs a lot more apparently, and I definitely need a lot more hands-on time with storage and networking.

ande0255

Could I ask how long you've been studying for, and what frequency you studied if you don't mind me asking? I'll be due for this exam end of July, and I have been slacking at the front end of the summer.

QHalo

The class is not enough. The Mastering book is great, but if you follow the blueprint and lab each section multiple times, you'll have a much better chance at success. I can't stress it enough; lab, lab and lab some more. Practice exams are worthless IMHO. Follow the blueprint!

mguernsey

Several hours a week reading, plus I forgot to mention that I bought a month membership of Trainsignal (now Pluralsight) and watched their VCP5 video. That was another 12 hours or so over a 2-week period. I also did my own study guide, but right after I hit page 57 and was only up to Section 5.2 of the Blueprint I decided there had to be a better way. Hopefully this doesn't break the NDA, but after my experience I would have to say that lab lab lab is definitely the way to go, as the test is more about situational and practical knowledge than theoretical.

locastro

Would agree with qhalo, practice exams are pretty worthless. Real world experience helps, spend time labbing, get back into that Scott Lowe book and use the configuration guides. IMO, the documentation for vSphere was the most helpful besides the Scott Lowe book and the labbing. Good luck!

tstrip007

I failed the first the time too. I was blown away by how difficult it was. It was the official vsphere documentation and the blueprint that got me over the hurdle. Good luck on the retake..you got this.