MCSA Study Timeline

johnIT

I want to get my MCSA as a nice Christmas Present for myself. Since I've never taken a Microsoft Exam before, I've been studying for the 70-410 exam for a few months casually. Now that I scheduled my first test for Nov 9, I've been studying a good 5-8 hours a day since last Monday. It's ten days away and I'm still very nervous because I'm a horrible test taker, but I'm trying to stay positive.

So with that in mind, I was planning to take the 70-411 near Thanksgiving. Probably the Nov 23 or something. That gives me only one full week (14 days) to study for the 411. Is that enough time in between the two tests? Then I was planning on scheduling the 70-412 around Christmas. Which is a lot more weeks between the 411 and 412. Is 411 the easiest of the tests?

If my studying does not pay off for my first test and I fail, of course I will not be doing this timeline, and I won't schedule the 70-411 until I see how well I do on the 70-410.

srocky26

I found the 411 to be the most difficult of the three exams, it was the only one I failed and I work with some of those technologies. I believe I spent a month studying before my first attempt and then another week prepping for my second attempt. The exam topics themselves aren't difficult, but you need to know how they work, how to configure them, and how to troubleshoot.

poolmanjim

First, in my opinion, you have a pretty crazy timeline. However, if you have lots of work experience with Server 2012 or have previous certifications with Microsoft, I can imagine that this may be doable.

Which test is harder? That is a tough question because each person has different passions and ambitions. I have heard from some the 410 was the hardest, others say the 411, I found the 412 to be the hardest. I think the 410 is the most straight forward as far as material goes but it is also your introduction to how Microsoft does things so that is always a challenge. The 411 covers some outdated technologies that I found to be almost a waste of time. The 412 covers a whole lot of different, and complicated, technologies which made it hard to focus study on any core area.

Don't get me wrong, passing one test a month (or a test every few weeks) is possible but it is a lot of work and something that a lot of people aren't equipped to do. Make sure you include lab time in your studies. That helped me more than anything else.

johnIT

poolmanjim wrote: »

First, in my opinion, you have a pretty crazy timeline. However, if you have lots of work experience with Server 2012 or have previous certifications with Microsoft, I can imagine that this may be doable.

Which test is harder? That is a tough question because each person has different passions and ambitions. I have heard from some the 410 was the hardest, others say the 411, I found the 412 to be the hardest. I think the 410 is the most straight forward as far as material goes but it is also your introduction to how Microsoft does things so that is always a challenge. The 411 covers some outdated technologies that I found to be almost a waste of time. The 412 covers a whole lot of different, and complicated, technologies which made it hard to focus study on any core area.

Don't get me wrong, passing one test a month (or a test every few weeks) is possible but it is a lot of work and something that a lot of people aren't equipped to do. Make sure you include lab time in your studies. That helped me more than anything else.

I love labbing. If I could get paid to lab, I would do it in a heartbeat, so for me it's the terminology that kills me. I don't have any Certs at all, but I have been working with server 2012 for three years and for those three years all I was doing was playing around with the servers.

johnIT

srocky26 wrote: »

I found the 411 to be the most difficult of the three exams, it was the only one I failed and I work with some of those technologies. I believe I spent a month studying before my first attempt and then another week prepping for my second attempt. The exam topics themselves aren't difficult, but you need to know how they work, how to configure them, and how to troubleshoot.

Well then, I might have to adjust my timeline. Though if I get a 900+ score then maybe my study habits were successful and I can streamline them a bit.

pizzaboy

How did the exam go