Confession

undomiel

I did not do any real studying for this exam, and it showed! I can claim some extenuating circumstances but still the burden is upon me. Especially today since I blew off most of it playing video games instead of doing any actual studying aside from flipping a few pages here and there.

But anyhow, that's all water under the bridge. I passed!

Score: 731

Ouch. But a pass is a pass. On to the 290!

Though it was really demoralizing to look at my score sheet and see that Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers I scored absolutely horrible on. That should be my best area!

Exam questions were all over the place, I ended up with a lot of unattended and RIS questions. Not as many permissions questions as I had originally expected. A few security templates and profile questions as well.

Used to study: many years of experience out on the field, the tech notes here, practice tests from here, free-tests.com and mcmcse.com, and Mike Meyer's 70-270 Passport book from the library. I didn't really like the book as it was very hard to focus on and it was way too light on material for the areas I knew I needed improvement in i.e. IIS. I ended up not using the book much except for flipping to random sections while holding court on the porcelain throne. The field experience was what helped the most.

Good luck to everyone still working on this exam! I almost wish I had gone with the Vista one instead, but oh well.

snadam

undomiel wrote:

I did not do any real studying for this exam, and it showed! I can claim some extenuating circumstances but still the burden is upon me. Especially today since I blew off most of it playing video games instead of doing any actual studying aside from flipping a few pages here and there.

But anyhow, that's all water under the bridge. I passed!

Score: 731

Ouch. But a pass is a pass. On to the 290!

Though it was really demoralizing to look at my score sheet and see that Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers I scored absolutely horrible on. That should be my best area!

Exam questions were all over the place, I ended up with a lot of unattended and RIS questions. Not as many permissions questions as I had originally expected. A few security templates and profile questions as well.

Used to study: many years of experience out on the field, the tech notes here, practice tests from here, free-tests.com and mcmcse.com, and Mike Meyer's 70-270 Passport book from the library. I didn't really like the book as it was very hard to focus on and it was way too light on material for the areas I knew I needed improvement in i.e. IIS. I ended up not using the book much except for flipping to random sections while holding court on the porcelain throne. The field experience was what helped the most.

Good luck to everyone still working on this exam! I almost wish I had gone with the Vista one instead, but oh well.

CONGRATS!!! how did you like the test center BTW?

undomiel

I didn't have anything crash on me so I could give it a recommendation. It was a bit hard to find as I almost walked right on by, but it was quiet and cool in there so that was good. Wasn't so impressed with the people working the desks as he told me to take everything out of my pockets and put it into the locker and then he just turns around and walks away. I could easily have taken in whatever I wanted. I'll just assume that he was being rushed or something. I'll go back there though.

Except I did not like seeing two huge accidents on the way up. I was very worried that it was a foreshadowing.

Goldmember

Technotes, free practices tests, mike meyers....

No real studying???

Many people the Windows XP technotes on this site to be real studying.


Johan might take it personally.

snadam

undomiel wrote:

I didn't have anything crash on me so I could give it a recommendation. It was a bit hard to find as I almost walked right on by, but it was quiet and cool in there so that was good. Wasn't so impressed with the people working the desks as he told me to take everything out of my pockets and put it into the locker and then he just turns around and walks away. I could easily have taken in whatever I wanted. I'll just assume that he was being rushed or something. I'll go back there though.

Except I did not like seeing two huge accidents on the way up. I was very worried that it was a foreshadowing.

now that you mention it...I did recall the "empty your pockets part" to lack some security...and yes so far thats the best center ive found so far. I might try the one in scottsdale this time around.

It must have been "drive like $hit day" in phoenix today, because I was getting cut off left and right!

undomiel

Well if I had spent at least an hour a day I would qualify it as real studying but it was more like just skimming things. At least the material for the 290 & 291 is way more exciting!

And yup today was bad bad baaaaaaaad driving day in Phoenix. I felt like I had a target painted on my car!

dynamik

snadam wrote:

It must have been "drive like $hit day" in phoenix today, because I was getting cut off left and right!

If you don't have a bank robbing and gunfire, I'm not impressed: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6156708&version=27&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1


I particularly got a kick out of this quote:

Police were investigating how many times the suspect was shot.

sprkymrk

undomiel wrote:

Especially today since I blew off most of it playing video games instead of doing any actual studying aside from flipping a few pages here and there.

What, video games don't count as studying? Man, you just ruined my day! :P
Congrats on the pass though!

averyjas

Undomiel: Congratulations on the pass! Your method of studying was very interesting, don't think I could get away with playing 'Gears of War' an hour before the exam and pass it though.

Sprkymrk: Hey there! I just moved to S. Carolina six weeks ago and am getting used to the area. I live south of Charlotte, just over the border, near Rock Hill. Can you recommend any testing centers around here, or should I just test up in Charlotte? I think there are a few Prometric and VUE centers, is one better than the other?

Thanks!

Claymoore

Yeah, I used the XBox study method for the 270 exam as well although I tried the Command and Conquer chapter.

I took an Exam Cram 2 practice exam, played C&C for a couple of hours and then read through the O'Reilly MCSE Elective Exams in a Nutshell section on 270 the night before the exam. Imagine my surprise the next day when I started the actual exam and found out the questions were one or two paragraphs long rather than one or two sentences. 10 questions into it I was practically begging for some simulations!

Two good things happened though - I passed with a 797 and I learned not to underestimate future exams and try to rely on experience alone.

sprkymrk

averyjas wrote:

Undomiel: Congratulations on the pass! Your method of studying was very interesting, don't think I could get away with playing 'Gears of War' an hour before the exam and pass it though.

Sprkymrk: Hey there! I just moved to S. Carolina six weeks ago and am getting used to the area. I live south of Charlotte, just over the border, near Rock Hill. Can you recommend any testing centers around here, or should I just test up in Charlotte? I think there are a few Prometric and VUE centers, is one better than the other?

Thanks!

Sorry, my knowledge of SC is limited to the Charleston area and Columbia. I have used 2-3 testing centers here in the Charleston area, and the best to me is at Trident college. It's the biggest and best equipped, but also the least private as they have about 20 computers in there. You can do last minute prep in the student lounge with some snack and coffee kiosks available.

undomiel

Well it is looking like it will be a little while til my next exam. First date available anywhere around here that meets my schedule is on the 2nd of May. Back at the same test center as well. But that will give me plenty of study time to be more than ready for the 290. No more embarrassment like this test! I'll be fully ready this time around. I do have to admit I don't mind the Microsoft form of test questions. They're fairly easy to sift through. I just wish they had better worded answers, and sometimes even better answers. There were a few that none of the answers were how I would accomplish said task. Well for celebration we paid off my credit card and will be taking scissors to it!

snadam

dynamik wrote:

snadam wrote:

It must have been "drive like $hit day" in phoenix today, because I was getting cut off left and right!

If you don't have a bank robbing and gunfire, I'm not impressed: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6156708&version=27&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1


I particularly got a kick out of this quote:

Police were investigating how many times the suspect was shot.

heh, phoenix (let alone the valley) has a pretty high crime rate. Its just a matter of WHERE you live.

Ive seen the bank right by my work (industrial'ish area) get knocked off at least 5 times one year; one of which bullets were flying.

undomiel wrote:

Well it is looking like it will be a little while til my next exam. First date available anywhere around here that meets my schedule is on the 2nd of May. Back at the same test center as well. But that will give me plenty of study time to be more than ready for the 290. No more embarrassment like this test! I'll be fully ready this time around. I do have to admit I don't mind the Microsoft form of test questions. They're fairly easy to sift through. I just wish they had better worded answers, and sometimes even better answers. There were a few that none of the answers were how I would accomplish said task. Well for celebration we paid off my credit card and will be taking scissors to it!

one month of really good studying should do the trick for 290 (with your experience). However, I would recommend that the 'videogame study method' is not going to work well from here on out. I tried a similar method (except I really tuned in to the Halo section) with 290 and I scored a modest 780.

dynamik

snadam wrote:

one month of really good studying should do the trick for 290 (with your experience). However, I would recommend that the 'videogame study method' is not going to work well from here on out. I tried a similar method (except I really tuned in to the Halo section) with 290 and I scored a modest 780.

Don't worry about it. I haven't cared about my exams ever since I got my double-team rank up to a 45

Turgon

undomiel wrote:

I did not do any real studying for this exam, and it showed! I can claim some extenuating circumstances but still the burden is upon me. Especially today since I blew off most of it playing video games instead of doing any actual studying aside from flipping a few pages here and there.

But anyhow, that's all water under the bridge. I passed!

Score: 731

Ouch. But a pass is a pass. On to the 290!

Though it was really demoralizing to look at my score sheet and see that Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers I scored absolutely horrible on. That should be my best area!

Exam questions were all over the place, I ended up with a lot of unattended and RIS questions. Not as many permissions questions as I had originally expected. A few security templates and profile questions as well.

Used to study: many years of experience out on the field, the tech notes here, practice tests from here, free-tests.com and mcmcse.com, and Mike Meyer's 70-270 Passport book from the library. I didn't really like the book as it was very hard to focus on and it was way too light on material for the areas I knew I needed improvement in i.e. IIS. I ended up not using the book much except for flipping to random sections while holding court on the porcelain throne. The field experience was what helped the most.

Good luck to everyone still working on this exam! I almost wish I had gone with the Vista one instead, but oh well.

Well done.

You got through and you learned something so that's the main thing. I would lay off the Xbox for a while if I was you and be careful about NDA regarding your test content.

snadam

dynamik wrote:

Don't worry about it. I haven't cared about my exams ever since I got my double-team rank up to a 45

team slayer lv. 30 but it stopped being so much fun after that.