What is better?

iliri

Hey guys one question?
I am going to NEW HORIZONS career center to take the mcsa course and they are charging me 3000$ is that fair and does anybody know how is this center because is my first time to go there,or you think is better to buy the books and learn by myself.
What is bette?

pandimus

I would just go ahead and try to learn yourself. Most likely they are only going to give you the basics to pass the test.

Heck just start at the bottom and work on up

Just my 2 cents

Pandimus

skardos

Iliri,

As a person who started learning at a teaching facility and now teaches at a technical facility, I suggest you look for an alternative ‘location’ from New Horizons. I’ve attended classes at New Horizons and the only way I can describe it is as a “meat grinder”. Being a big organization doesn’t mean that it is good or better than all other alternatives. I know this is somewhat prejudiced but I am not alone in this belief. At many training facilities, including New Horizons you basically sit through a week or two of 9-5 classes that run through the subject matter at a break-neck pace. If you are new to this level of technical information then you will very likely be disappointed. If you are not new to this then you can very easily learn it on your own and save some money.

If you are new to certification classes then you should negotiate with the Career Counselor (Sales) at New Horizons to allow you to evaluate the instructor, the facilities, the equipment, etc. You should be able to sit in on a class for a few hours if not a full day without any obligation what so ever, so you can get a taste of what you are considering.

Once in class pay careful attention not so much to the subject matter but rather the way the class is conducted. You are there to evaluate the instructor and his/her technique and not the subject matter at hand. Besides you won’t get a whole lot out of a few hours worth of class if the course is scheduled to run for 35+ hours and you’re there for a few hours.

You should be in class before it starts as this is the most important part of your evaluation. A good technical instructor will start the class with an outline of what will be covered, what tasks will be performed, how long they should take, what is expected of the students, and then a quiz (usually verbal) throughout and at the end of the day to see if the students understand what they were presented with.

Also pay attention to how often the instructor takes what I call an “in-class break”. The instructor should ‘stray’ from the ‘technical’ every 15 minutes or so for a few minutes. The brain works in a funny way when learning new information, especially when it comes to technical information. The brain can effectively absorb about 15 minutes worth of information and then it needs a few minutes to ‘let it sink in’ otherwise the information never makes it into “long term memory” and the majority of that day’s information is lost by the time the student gets home.

Although a little long winded I hope this helps. As for going the self-study route that is whole other discussion, which if you’re interested in I can get into another time.

Steve

Stone Cold

Good Post

I would be tempted to study long and hard myself for my first exam, and i would suggest 70-215, and see how you go! If you find you pass the exam comfortably then why pay out $3000?

There are so many resources online now that if you have access to the net you are pretty much covered

Hey at the end of the day its your money but i know of many many people who have/are taking MS exams without attending one of these centres!

mikiemov

I agree, I have come across a few who have done instructor led courses - and all they really know is how to pass the exam. Ask them anything "out of the box" and they dont have a clue.

Personally, and it is only my opinion the best way is a good base of experience, lab work, and practice exams for the "edge".

In my local test centre, they were promoting a course for the 218 exam, 5 days for £1,000GBP. Personally the exam cost me about 3wks studying and a £20 book !

If people are willing to pay £1k for the exam, im in the wrong job !

Ghent

New Horizons has a gaurentee that you'll pass the first time or they'll pay for you to re-train/take the exam. Put your probably only getting the bare minimum knowledge to pass the exam. My work paid for me to take some Macintosh training via new horizons, and it really wasn't that great. I learned the basics of using a mac, but the instructor was clueless on anything like hardcore system administration. So you will learn, but only what you need to.

Todd1225

I couldn't have said it better Starkos....