It is worth taking classes for MCSE?

RZetlin

I'm just starting out with MCSE and I was wondering if it is worth the money to enroll into MCSE night school courses to speed up the process of obtaining my certification.

keatron

RZetlin wrote:

I'm just starting out with MCSE and I was wondering if it is worth the money to enroll into MCSE night school courses to speed up the process of obtaining my certification.

Factor in cost, your current knowledge level, and reasons for getting it "fast". I would suggest trying a cheaper route to start with. For example buy and book and frequent this site. Take some of the practice exams here and abroad. See if you're catching on and completely understanding the concepts. Once you determine you have, and feel you're ready, go take the first test. If you pass repeat the same thing for the other tests (you will need some form of a simple lab, especially when you get to the networking exams). If you do these things and still feel like you're not catching on or feel overwhelmed, then consider a class. As I spend from 40 to 60% of my time every year teaching, I can tell you that some people in the classes definantly needed to be there, and some are really already prepared for the exam when they get there. My opinion is this, it's really not worth spending 2500 to 3500 bones on a class if you really don't need it.

Another thing to consider is whether or not you have any experience in the environments and exam objective areas. If you've been building active directory (correctly) in a 2003 server environment for two years, then you probably don't need a class. On the other hand, if you've never heard of active directory, then a class with an instructor who has real world experience could be very beneficial.