Need Suggestions Tackling The Beast

Drak

Yea so I just got back after taking the 291 a second time. The first time I scored a 676. This time I scored 693. I almost snapped turned green and said, "Hulk smash" to the crappy CRT operating at 60hz as it displayed my score.

Anyway my strongest areas seem to be RRAS and Network Security with full or almost full bars both times. Everything else if pretty mediocre. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions as far as what I should hit.

I have CBT Nuggets, STS, Transcenders, Official Course Books, and a 5 server virtual build using vmware. Any suggestions would be great other then wait 2 weeks .

BeaverC32

You're very close to passing, so don't give up!

I suggest you really master DNS and DHCP. If you have these 2 topics down cold, you will have a much better chance of passing the exam. I used TestOut video training, which I found to be excellent exam preparation. The simulation excercises alone are priceless. I also used the MSPress book, which is actually very good for this exam.

Good luck, you'll get it next time!

jkstech

keep practicing the tasks and use your scoresheet to focus your studies, also refresh the things you feel you know well

much practice is the best thing, just play with your servers and the different functions, run through the objective sheet and on each objective make sure you understand it and play with it on your servers, not just structured simulations but just going through exploring all the functions and different ways to do stuff

you'll get it next time!!!!

nel

get a copy of mastering server 2003 by mark minassi. its a v good book. and covers alot of good areas regarding 2003 technology. this is a very good reference material.

royal

Drak wrote:

I almost snapped turned green and said, "Hulk smash" to the crappy CRT operating at 60hz as it displayed my score.

Sounds like you took your exam at Prometric!

Sorry to hear about your unsuccessful attempts. We've all been there, and my suggestion is always to revise your study method and look at your unsuccessful attempts in a positive way. Positive as in knowing you will see your weak spots from the exam score report, and the next time, you will learn that much more because of it.

As for study method, this is the study method I use to study. Perhaps it will give you an idea or two of things you can add/remove/modify to help tweak your study methods to assist in passing your exam:

1. Get my feet wet with CBT Nuggets regardless if I am familiar with the material or not.
2. Begin reading my main/first book
3. While reading, I will use sticky notes and use them as a bookmark when I want to review information that spans >1 page. If the information is a paragraph or so, I will summarize it into my own words and write it into a notebook.
4. Every so often, even while I'm reading, I will go back to my notebook and read what is in there as well as review the pages that have sticky notes.
5. I will always do the chapter questions. If I get something wrong, I make sure I understand why, and if needed, I will go back and review that information. I also try to understand why the wrong answers were incorrect.
6. I then finish the book and then do a skim to make sure I review sections that I felt like I was forgetting.
7. I then begin reading my secondary book if I feel the need to. Repeat steps 3-6.
8. I then review any CBT Nuggets when I want some extra clarification.
9. I then use a practice exam package such as Transcenders which tests me on my readiness. I'll warn you though, do not use this unless you feel you are completely ready. After the 1st usage, you have many of the questions/answers in your head which won't properly test your readiness your second time around.

Good luck on your next attempt! Be sure to let us know how it goes for you.

Drak

Wow thanks for the tips guys. This should help point me in the right direction. Yea the running joke with my score of 693 is I spelled my name wrong . My boss said that was probably as close to not passing as I can get.

I've also been told it is kind of downhill after the 291 is that true?

royal

Drak wrote:

I've also been told it is kind of downhill after the 291 is that true?

It all depends. 291 is definitely the most difficult, but the other exams are not to be taken lightly. 70-293 introduces some complex topics such as Wireless Security, PKI, Certificates, etc. A lot of the 70-291 stuff caries over so I would definitely focus on 70-293 next. I feel that 70-294 was a lot easier than it should have been, and I know others feel the same way. 70-297 is a different style exam as you are given 4 case studies that have approximately 10 questions each totaling around 40 questions. You also don't have a whole lot of time compared to the other exams. The case study format throws a lot of people off. But as I said, if you passed 70-291, you can definitely pass the other exams as 70-291 is the most difficult. Good luck with the rest of your exams!

Technowiz

nel wrote:

get a copy of mastering server 2003 by mark minassi. its a v good book. and covers alot of good areas regarding 2003 technology. this is a very good reference material.

With all due respect I have to disagree with this. I was really disappointed with the Minassi book. There are a lot of cases where he states that he simply doesn't know why something is the way it is in server 2003. One that comes to mind is his coverage of domain local groups. I don't have the book in front of me but he says something to the effect he doesn't understand why not just use all global groups. And that is just one example. Of all the server 2003 books I have my favorite is Windows Server 2003 Inside Out by William Stanek. He is also the author of many other Windows books and everyone I have read so far has been really good. Just my opinion for what it is worth.