Passed 70-290

Took the 70-290 exam today and passed with a 940 on 42 questions with 5 sims and 1 drag and drop. The questions seemed to be a pretty even mix, but I only remember getting one question on SUS.

I finished the test and found that I marked 12 question for review. I changed 2 of the answers and felt ok, but not certain, about 7 of the remaining 10. While I was not 100% certain that I passed, I was pretty confident at the end of the exam that I did. My heart was pounding before I clicked 'end exam'. When it ended, and I saw my score, I loudly exclaimed something - I don't exactly remember, but I think it was "Oh, my God!" I tore out of the room to the front desk where the guy had my score sheet waiting and told me congratulations.

I guess I am still kind of stunned.
Thanks for this site and to everyone for their help and support!

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Comments

royal

Same score I got. Congrats! My heart was pumping hard also when I was clicking submit.

sprkymrk

Congrats!

KAEW 1

Congrats.

What materials, books, practice exam,ect did you use? I plan to take it in the next two week?

Thank you

Spur

Congrats!

geekie

Congratz!!

deneb829

KAEW 1 wrote:

Congrats.

What materials, books, practice exam,ect did you use? I plan to take it in the next two week?

Thank you

I used the MS press course book and workbook and exam cram 2 as my primary source of material.

Lots of hands on - set yourself up a server and at least touch the things you did not know. A good example of where this helped me was with backup/restore and ASR. Before I started studying, I did not know what ASR specifically did or how to use it. The test sims asked about the process of using ASR, and I could not remember how to use it from my readings, so I backed up and restored a server using ASR and was able to remember the steps and what it did. I got at least 2 questions on the 70-290 specifically about ASR and probably 4 or more about backups/restore and other disater recovery in general. In fact, looking at my score sheet again, I actually aced "Manage and Implement Disaster Recovery" (and "Manage and Maintain Physical and Logical Devices").

Exam sims and review questions (including this site). Be careful not to count on these as study material - IMO they really should only be used for review. I know a guy who only used review questions and ended up failing twice. Once he went back and hit the books he passed. For as addicted as I was to exam sims and review questions, I really had to avoid putting too much stock in them as actual study material.

I bought the 70-290 (and 70-291) audio CDs from prep logic during their sale. They were ok, but were more of a broad overview, I can only suggest them for someone starting out. Prep Logic had sample training videos on their site which I actually thought were pretty good. I didn't buy the video because they were a bit pricey. Too bad you can't get those videos from Netflicks!

Experience. I realize that not everyone has this - to be honest, it helps and hurts. I have used Server 2000 or 2003 since 2002 - not extensively, but at least on a regular basis. Also, I teach a class on server (as well as workstation and infrastructure) at a local college. The thing is the students are not preparing for the exams, so I am able to teach the material at a very basic level, because they are all pretty much walking in cold. The positive on teaching was it gave me an exposure to the entire range of the MCSA track. The negative is it was not nearly in-depth enough to prepare me for the exam. I mentioned this in another post - where I was shocked at the scope and depth of the material.
I thought teaching the classes was going to be a one time thing, but the college decided they didn't have the enrollment in the program to justify a full time instructor, so they asked me back. On top of that the vocational computer program asked me to be on their advisory committee which includes advising on what certification track is best for students. These were the primary reasons that I was compelled to start the certification process for myself.

Up until 2 weeks before I took the exam, I was really struggling with some of the material. At some point, I think this past Sunday, the dam broke and all of the material made sense. I have heard of people struggling to learn a foreign language and then it seems like all at once they just get it. My advice to student who are suffering from frustration is to stick with it - you'll get it.

RamsesK

Way to go man, and also that is a good score in your exam, congratulations!

gomonn

Congrats man !!!! Told you

gomonn

Congrats man !!!! Told you

Hope u'r gonna keep going ?

OOOPPPPPPPPPSsssssssss ! 2 posts now

!30

Grat's !

deneb829

gomonn wrote:

Congrats man !!!! Told you
Hope u'r gonna keep going ?

Yes, I am looking to take the 70-270 on the 27th of this month. If that all goes well, it'll be on to the network plus just before Thanksgiving. Just after that I'll take a short break while my son is born - my wife's due date is December 5th. Then it's back to the books for 70-291 in late January. That will get me my MCSA - I am not sure where I am going to go from there.

amyamandaallen