XP Exam Nerves!

Initially before I started studying for the 70-270 exam I assumed it would be a breeze, being a user and admin of XP for a good few years how hard could it be? So I studied up and took a test exam, then followed a massive reality check! I've gone through the MS study guide and Exam Cram 2 but the test exam still tripped me up.

I really don't like the fact that the questions are like novels! some of them are a good 10 or 15 lines long when in reality they could be cut down to two sentences, this just takes up valuable exam time in my eyes. Another thing I hate is the "order of events" based questions, do these crop up in real exams? I hope not!

So, anyone got any tips on taking the exam? after a good two months of studying on and off I only managed 64%, I found the whole thing a little soul destroying if I'm being honest.

Oh, on a positive note, I really like this site, very useful.

Thanks,

Rich

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Comments

Mishra

Sure, post a question that really has you confused and we can break it down for you the Microsoft way.

sprkymrk

Welcome to the site Rich.

There is no easy way to take a MS exam. Try to weed out the useless information, and focus on the important stuff. Sometimes it helps to skim the question quickly, looking for key facts like Service Pack levels, and the actual question you need to answer. Then read through the choices, and go back to the question one more time to read what you need. Unfortunately, it's like being a forensic detective, looking for those little clues and peices to the puzzle.

If MS exams were all Sims, they would be much easier.

roolee

Thanks for the comments guys!

And your right, life would be a lot easier if they were sim based, maybe with the occasional multiple choice thrown in for good measure.

Megadeth4168

Back when I first took the 270, I did so because the second shot promotion at the time was running out.... So, I decided to take advantage of it. I did no studying, but figured with my experience it should be a breeze. Needles to say, I failed the first attempt. I then picked up the Sybex book and after finishing that book I took the 270 exam again an destroyed it.

There are 2 things I've learned about MS exams. Number one is, read the entire 5 million paragraph problem.... Ok, a bit of an exaggeration I know. The problem is that they often times throw a word somewhere in the problem that will completely change how you answer the question.
my biggest thing with recent exams was watching if they were asking about a Member Server or a DC... Big difference on some topic on how you would answer a question.

Second thing I learned about MS exam (This is after you have read the entire question).. If it looks like you have 3 absolute garbage answers and 1 "Too good to be true" answer... Then it is the "Too good to be true" answer... I sometimes think, that can't be it! It's too obvious, they have to be trying to trip me up somewhere. then I realized that they were tripping me up by throwing in the random questions where there every answer but 1 is obvious garbage. It makes you over think and reread.