Taking 1st step with the 70-270 tomorrow...

I feel pretty good about it, but I'm heeding the advice of others in the forum about not taking it too lightly. I'll be using the rest of the day taking practice tests, reading all of the chapter summaries and key points in the MS Press book, going over the tech notes again, and re-reading any weak areas I can identify. Without the second shot I'd probably put this off for another week or two to be as certain as possible to pass.

There will be several good advancement opportunities at work coming in the next few months so I'd like to at least get the 70-290 in hand as well. As much as I would like to have the MCSA title, reading some of the posts here already have me scared of "The Beast"

My time line for 290 is to test by the first week of April and then schedule "The Beast" for one of the last eligible days for the second shot in May whether I'm ready or not. This would give me another three and a half weeks to study for a retake if I fail it.

I don't have a wife or kids so I can study pretty much whenever and if worse comes to worse I can take time off of work to study if I have to.

Does that sound like a feasible time table?

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HeroPsycho

This isn't directed specifically at you, and maybe it makes sense for you to do this because of your specific circumstances I'm not aware of, but...

Why are people still taking 70-270?! I see a lot of people doing that here.

You do realize that you will have to take the Vista exam if you go for MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, right?

Conversely, the Configuring Vista exam counts for both MCSE 2000/2003 and MCITP: Enterprise Administrator.

*shrug* I'd kill two birds with one stone personally unless my boss were requiring me to do the XP exam or something like that.

stlsmoore

The main reason I'm taking 70-270 is because a lot of the clients I deal with has no plans on upgrading to Vista and their are actually two clients who are rolling back to XP! The other reason is that I already have the material for 70-270. I'm shooting for my MCSA now then will probably upgrade that to the new 2008 a few years down, the line I'm in no rush

Tryntotechit

Good luck with the cert. I am a student also and I have used the Transcender disc for each exam. Most schools can get them at a discount and they really get you ready for the exams. I would see if you could get them.

Tryntotechit

Vista hadn't came out yet when I took the 70-270 exam. Oh well....

undomiel

I decided on the 70-270 due to having way more experience with XP than with Vista. Further more I don't see a need to suddenly jump ship from the MCSE to the MCITP. The need for an MCITP probably won't appear until several years down the road. Also since for me the MCSA/MCSE is coming out of my pocket I would rather take exams that I have more applicable experience for. Though if an employer was paying for it I would cast my eyes towards the MCITP.

Go Bucks

The main reason I'm doing it is because I already had the MS Press book and I work with 2000 and XP every day at work. We won't be going to Vista anytime soon if ever. Also, to be honest I have about 5 minutes of use on a Vista laptop and that is it.

The time is fast approaching and it's time to step away and clear my head while driving the hour plus to the Prometric testing center instead of less than 30 minutes to 2 different Vue centers.

Maybe listening to some AC/DC will get me pumped up for the test.

Claymoore

HeroPsycho wrote:

This isn't directed specifically at you, and maybe it makes sense for you to do this because of your specific circumstances I'm not aware of, but...

Why are people still taking 70-270?! I see a lot of people doing that here.

You do realize that you will have to take the Vista exam if you go for MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, right?

Conversely, the Configuring Vista exam counts for both MCSE 2000/2003 and MCITP: Enterprise Administrator.

*shrug* I'd kill two birds with one stone personally unless my boss were requiring me to do the XP exam or something like that.

The Vista exam can also count as an elective for both the MCSA and MCSE 2003.

One of my co-workers is pursuing his MCSA and I talked him into taking Vista as his elective instead of Network+ (he already had his A+). He took XP because he already has experience with it and that helped him get started on his MS track. When he passes his Vista exam, that will count as an elective for MCSA, MCSE and the client exam for ITP:EA.

Go Bucks

Well, I passed with a 783.

Looking at the score report, I scored very high in every category except for "Configuring and Troubleshooting the Desktop Environment" It only goes across maybe 1/3 of the way across the paper (for those who know what the MS score reports look like). Apparently the additional language features falls in that category.

I thought most of the questions were fair, but definitely long winded unlike the A+ or Net+. I definitely liked the questions that had visuals to look at.

Gonna take a few days off before bearing down on the 290. Hopefully, we'll be getting the CBT Nuggets training server at work within the next few weeks. I recommended this to my boss kind of thinking yeah right, but he took it to his boss who loved the idea.

HeroPsycho

undomiel wrote:

I decided on the 70-270 due to having way more experience with XP than with Vista. Further more I don't see a need to suddenly jump ship from the MCSE to the MCITP. The need for an MCITP probably won't appear until several years down the road. Also since for me the MCSA/MCSE is coming out of my pocket I would rather take exams that I have more applicable experience for. Though if an employer was paying for it I would cast my eyes towards the MCITP.

Seriously not trying to be argumentative...

Even if you have XP in your work environment, do you really think anyone is gonna care which client exam you took - XP or Vista? MCSE = MCSE. Get it the best way possible.

I got MCSE 2000 and took XP as the client exam to fulfill that requirement. I thought that would give me a leg up on other MCSE's. No one cared.

The only reasons I'm suggesting people really should be going for the Vista cert as the client req are:

A. It fulfills the client exam just as well as XP does.
B. It gives you a head start for MCITP whenever you go for it if you ever do.
C. You also gain MCTS certification.
D. There are way more XP MCP's than Vista MCTS's. Differentiate yourself. Granted, in the end, I don't think this will matter much, but hey... I foresee more Vista mass deployments/upgrades coming than XP ones - pretty much everyone who wants XP already has XP.

One last point I will make. If you already know XP, but don't know Vista, shouldn't that be THE reason to get certified in Vista? You're gonna learn more. You probably already know most of what you need to effectively work with XP already. Make it worth your time if you're gonna dedicate time to do it.

*shrug* Anyway, that's my two cents.

P.S. Congrats Go Bucks! Regardless which path you choose, it's an accomplishment to pass the exam!