Stressed out!!! Please help!

gizmo377777

First off, I would like to say hello to everyone who has been posting on this site. I've read many different posts and in a weird way I feel more comfortable because I finally see that many people are in the same boat as me.

Anyways, here's my deal. I'm going to be taking the 70-270 exam in the beginning of September and couldn't be anymore stressed out about it. I've been studying for about 5 months and feel as if I'm going no where. I have three books that I'm using, the Microsoft book (you know, the one that's about 1200 pages), Exam Cram 2 and Sybex. I've created notes cards, written down key points as I read, have done more practices test then you could possibly believe, printed out the explanations of the correct answers after taking the practice tests and actually recorded my voice while reading then put the audio files on my IPod so I could listen to them later.

Every practice exam I take I get between a 50%-80%. This really blows! I'm sure you all know how frustrating this stuff is when you know you are putting in the effort. It's like very practice exam I do, I always choose the second best answer.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a better way of studying? I really don't have time to set up a virual envirnment for testing since I'm taking the test in about a month. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you all very much.

LukeQuake

Right mate, first thing is first STOP STRESSING.

Now, what practice exams are you using? Have you tried Trancenders? - They are in my opinion the best tests around and helped me through 271, 272 and 270.

Also, are you practicing what you are learning? - One thing that I find is that I cannot just learn the theory, I have to practice in order understand the topic.

If you are struggling with any topics, just ask, people like myself are more than happy to help because we have been there.

On a side note, I got 50-70% on all of the practice exams that I took and then scored 875 on the actual test.

Now head up mate and keep us updated
!

gizmo377777

Thanks for your reply pal. The practice exams I'm using are the ones that come with the Microsoft book. The CD-ROM has over 400 questions and are really in depth questions. I'll take a look at Trancendors. I'll keep you updated. Thanks again.

LukeQuake

Are you in the UK? Chuck me on msn mate, I'm normally about in the evenings.

bcairns

Have not sat in an MS test yet but hope to do 70-270 soon.

The problem with this test is that we use XP every day...but this test is basically "everything you never wanted to know about windows XP".

Some tips I have found a HUGE help with other certifications.

1. Don't stress, treat it like a game...reward yourself for doing better.

2. Slow down, read the question, re-read it, be 100% sure you understand it, sometimes one word can make a difference in which answer is correct.

3. Practice what you study - don't just memorize facts and figures....close the book and do what they talk about...roll back the driver on your sound card and put a new signed driver on it, use remote desktop to connect to another computer, and the whole time stop and understand why you are doing things a specific way.

4. Don't use time as a benchmark for how well you do. Learn at your own pace...alot of people in the forums that breeze through tests have been doing this for years (decades in some cases)...there is only one speed, the one you set for yourself.

eurotrash

Definitely practice what you study, or else you will always remain in this position. When you read about something, go do it on your computer and see how it works.

You might also want to use technet as a study source, to get a fresh view of the subject. If you know what areas you're having trouble with, focus on one area at the time; go read extensively on it, google for articles and tuts, et cetera.
Make your weak point your strong point.

And remember that besides choosing the answer that will work, it typically must be the one that uses the least amount of administrative effort.

royal

You need to practice to get better. You say you don't have time to set up a virtual lab cause you take the exam in 1 month. What is that? I set up 10 virtual labs for my 70-290 which only took me a couple days. If you don't have XP, go download the trial. If you don't have an extra machine, use a different partition or get virtual PC or vmware. 1 month is tons of time.

blargoe

You MUST practice with the product. I repeat... you MUST practice. Or you are wasting your time become another paper cert.

Slowhand

If you feel like you're not getting anywhere with the books, you might want to try doing some video courses. CBT Nuggets (http://www.cbtnuggets.com) and TestOut (http://www.testout.com) are good choices. The CBT Nuggets are straight-up video courses, but done by very talented people. The TestOut courses have videos, interactive lab work, and also tests you at the end of each section. I'd recommend both, if you can get your hands on them.

keywa

All the above comments about practice are very true. What I do is practice on my personal machine... ie offline files, and Google items that I can't or don't want to do on my machine... ie sysprep. Also using more than 1 test prep is a must. The stress you mention indicates to me that this is your 1st test. If so then please realize that going into the unknown is stressful but in reality, not as much as you think. Also keep in mind that if you fail the exam, you get a second chance with MS exams, unlike Comptia, so the worst thing for you is you have to study more, of which you'll know what kind of questions are on the exam. All the best to ya!