Humbled by the beast

tonermonkey

Hi all,

I'm new to the site, seems like a great resource. I took the 70-291 exam yesterday and failed with a score of 657. I knew from reading up on it that it's supposed to be one of the more difficult MS exams, so I crammed like hell the week before but still no dice. It's the first cert exam I've failed and I'm trying not to get too discouraged. According to the sectional results my weak areas are Routing and Remote Access and Network Security. I used the MS press book and Mike Meyers Passport book, and set up a lab of 3 computers at home (2 2k3 servers, 1 XP pro). Does anyone have any suggestions as far as what I can do to ensure a passing score the 2nd time around? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Slowhand

I can't give you any other advice than this: take that sheet that the testing center printed out, go over your weak areas in your books, and get as much hands-on practice as you can. With a score in the high 600's, I'd say that you should be able to give yourself two, maybe three, weeks' studying, then retake the exam. Re-read your current books, for starters, then it's time to go find some alternate study material.

You mentioned that your routing & switching and security areas were weak, I'd recommend reading up on RRAS and Windows security, by themselves. Go to the bookstore, grab a stack of books (and a cup of strong coffee), and do some reading. Specifically, don't look at books that are aimed at the test, look at books that are aimed at the technology, itself. See if you can find some info on RRAS, by itself, like a "configuring RRAS" kind of book for example. You'll also find lots and lots of books on Windows security, which whill help you out with things like the security templates and the "best practices" kinds of topics you'll see on the test. If you spend enough time going through the computers & technology section at a larger place, like Barnes & Noble or Borders, you'll find something that speaks to you and is easy for you to read and absorb.

Of course, don't forget to go over your other areas of study, too, and make sure you pay attention to all the little notes on that print-out, to see what types of questions you missed. You don't want to take the exam a second time, do fantastic on security and routing, and end up with a non-passing score because of a bunch of DNS questions, or something.

tonermonkey

Thanks for the advice Slowhand. I wasn't sure if I should just study the hell out of the areas I'm weak at, or go over all the objectives. I don't know how large the pool of questions is so maybe next time I'll get questions in the other areas I don't know. Some new materials might be nice as I'm getting a little tired of looking at the books I have. I'll check to see if I can find anything on RRAS and windows security specifically. We have the "Mastering Windows Server 2003" book by Minasi here at work so I think I'll borrow that one also.

Slowhand

No problem. Study the stuff you were weak at, then do a bit of review on everything else before the exam. You should be able to pass with at least a high 700's score, if not in the 800 - 900's, if you give yourself about two weeks or so to nail down those weak areas.