Preparing for 291

bbbngowc

I've been studying for the 291 exam and so far this is proving to be the most tedious one yet. It could be that for the past 6 weeks I've been studying for MS Exams 270, 290 and now 291. I could just be tired. I'm scheduled to take the exam next Friday.

Anyway my question is: How long did it take for any of you to study for this exam?

I'm using- Transcender
Specialized Solutions Videos
Home Lab (2 Servers 2 Clients Cisco 2500 Router)

eurotrash

me = two months, studying circa 6 hrs a day, 4 days a week.

12thlevelwarrior

wow, you da man, for the 270, 290 i studied for three months each. planning on 3 months for 291. it is much more detailed than 270 or 290. you may want to readjust your timeline, but hey you got the second shot offer from MS!

seuss_ssues

I did the 270 in about a week.

290 in about a month.

And like you im feeling burnt out. I was planning on doing 1 MS test a month till i got my mcsa. Im only 1 exam away but i sort of lost interest in any type of studying. Im currently finishing up university finals and i graduate in about 2 weeks.

I bought a 291 book about a month ago and havent really cracked it yet. Maybe after finals are over ill get back into it.

But im really really burnt out on MS exams in general. So i may get my linux+, LPI, or go for my ccna before i try to finish up my mcse.

kalebksp

seuss_ssues wrote:

But im really really burnt out on MS exams in general. So i may get my linux+, LPI, or go for my ccna before i try to finish up my mcse.

Man, I know what you mean. I've only got my design exam left and I can't seem to concentrate on it.


I studied for four days for 291.

jescab

any tips/pointers you can give me for the 290.......

12thlevelwarrior

MS book is all you need for 290, the practice exams are harder than the actual test, which I thought was easier than the 270, questions were much more clear.

K_amisi

I have to admit i do not like the lengthy Ms questions that much. After getting my MCSA by doing security+ i'll most likely rest for a couple of weeks before re-joining the MCSE band wagon again.

If anyone scores highly on the readiness review suites,the chances of them passing the actual exams are higher.

jpasterik

I've been studying for 291 for almost 2 months now. I spent the past year (finished up last January) in a Tech School which covered each section of the MCSE in "2 days a week for 5 weeks" chunks. It's been almost 9 months since we covered 291. I've been using the MS Book I got with the class and TestOut (Which I give a HUGE endorsement to) and also Transcender. In fact, when I took 290, there was a question on it that was literally word-for-word with one from Transcender, as soon as I started reading, I knew what the answer was...it's a nice feeling to have!

I did pass 290 (with only 746 or something) and already passed 270, I am taking 291 on the 29th and after that I plan to hit Network+ to kill 2 Certs with 1 exam since that and A+ will allow me to get my MCSA also.

But, sorry to ramble on here, I'd say that study time just depends on the person and how well you grasp the concept and material and how much daily hands-on you have with Server 2003, which helps a lot.

Anyway, back to my practice exams! Good Luck!

bbbngowc

I know what you mean. Transcender is nice, but I found that the questions are getting really close to the actual exam which would almost make it a braindump, but it's still a fine product.

So far, I've put in one solid week of study for the 291 and I'll finish this week with an intense review, then sit the exam on the 5th. I'll then put in about 3-4 weeks on the Exchange 284 exam and hopefully take that by the end of May.

jpasterik

Wow, I am almost completely embarrased to post this, but I feel I need to: I failed miserably on my first attempt at 291. I only got a 535 on it. The worst part was that I thought I did really well. I was confident in my answers and the Sims that had me scared I thought I did very well on, apparently I did not.

I did have 3 Sims. One was on creating a mail record and changing the priority that it was used, the others actually escape my mind right now (looking at my picture over there, you can see why).

Anyway, the rest of it was mostly DNS related. Some on RRAS. Typically, everything you read in here is how it was (that's why I love this forum). I had 40 total questions with the 3 Sims.

Anyway, It's back to studying and I'm going to try again in a month. I plan to be A+, MCP (already have those), Network+ and MCSA by the end of July. Not too far-fetched, I don't think...As long as I pass 291 the next time. At least now I have my Virtual PC running with Server 2003 so I can practice some more in depth maneuvers.

computertech33

Yeah..I just bomed it today with a 576.

There were 3 sims. One on SUS, one on MX records changing priority of two or three records so that one would receive mail first, etc.