A Good Plan?

So I just wanted to post to get everyone's opinion on this method/plan of attack for this exam. I've attempted it once before and failed -- scored 679 (about 8 months ago), but then got a new job, moved, finished up school, etc -- so studying had to take a back seat for a little bit. But now I'm back at it...

I was thinking of going down this route...

1.) Watching the CBT Nuggets
2.) Going through the MS Press 2nd Ed. (completing exercises in the book with VMware)
3.) Possibly going over CBT Nuggets again?
4.) Transcender for practice test
5.) Take Exam

I know successful study techniques vary for everyone, but has anyone had good success with this test and something similar to the order above? Should I incorporate another product (LearnKey, TestOut)? Should I alter the order?

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!

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Comments

straightflop

Sounds solid to me.

Here is what I do for most exams but 291 I did almost what you are talking about with an added kick i guess.

CBT Nuggets - I do 2-3 nuggests then read the chapters in the book that corespond and so on and so on. MSPress Book.

I take notes and Google everything i was not 100% sure about. This will then lead you down the path of even more information and you will be learning even more than you thought.

Then I do the Testout's Less detail than CBTNuggets, but they cover some things in a different way. i usually only go over the stuff I'm not so certain about.

Then it's off to Transcender. if I score 90% or better i'm off to the test. If not i look at where I need to improve and read EVERY explenation for every question and that pretty much makes you solid for any exam.

JdotQ

straightflop,

Thanks for the reply

I was considering the point you made about only watching a few nuggets then reading the corresponding chapters in MS Press -- glad to hear it was a successful tactic for someone else. My only concern with this is watching the nuggets, then finding the section/chapter in MS Press, and the exercises not lining up properly by not going through the MS Press in order; ex. chpt 4, then 2, then 3, etc -- since it seems the MS Press seems to build on the previous chapters for the walk-through exercises. Did you run into anything like that?

And yes, Google is my friend for an unknown/difficult topic

Sounds like a pretty comprehensive study path you have -- what was your timetable for completing this for the 291 exam?

Slowhand

Sounds like a good plan, to me. As for the material not lining up exactly, don't worry about it too much. For one, no book or reference material is going to be tailor-made to another. And, of course, you're supposed to be learning the material from different viewpoints anyway, so seeing things that aren't exactly matched or layed out the same way will probably help you understand the material a little better (in leau of feeling like you're memorizing canned responses to Microsoft-created scenarios). I'm sure you'll be able to pass if you follow your current study plan.

straightflop

I had 3 weeks to get 291 done.

Not to say don't do them, but I rarley follow the excersises in MS press book. I find them very novice and leave you even more confused.

That's just me though. I would rather take somethjing I know nothing about and go at it on a VM and tear it apart and break it and pull my hair out trying to figure it out.

Like Slowhand said, if you follow your plan it won't matter if they are lined up. I like this approach only because I go crazy doing the same thing for too long. I like 2-3 CBT's then 2-3 chapters or however it is setup. I know 291 had a lot more CBT info that was not in the book.

Things like WSUS/SUS were covered more on the CBT's and I think I recall not seeing much of anything in the book.