Barely passed...but passed none the less

Rising Techie

Hey guys. I passed 70-217 last night with a score of 700! Ouch! 43 questions, every last second of the 125 minutes provided. This isn't the first time I've just passed with the minimum score. The experience was pretty much what I had expected from what everyone on this forum had said. Lots of GP, DNS, and security configurations. Now I'm off to tackle the beast. However, I do have a few questions for some of you veteran exam takers.

70-217 was my 4th Microsoft exam (5th if you count the 70-210 that I failed) and my 8th exam in general. Ever since I started this whole certifcation endeavor with the A+ exams, I've spent a great deal of time studying the material and getting hands-on experience. After all, I'm the one shelling out the cash for these tests, not my employer, so I wanted to make sure I'd pass the first time. I used Passport books to get a handle on the important stuff and to direct my studying and I'd use QUE Publishing preparation books to go more indepth on the areas I felt I needed work in. I'd take my time and read a chapter a day taking impecable notes and then I'd formulate my own questions from those notes to help me commit them to memory. (For this test, I had nearly 30 pages of questions that I made myself). However, despite all this work and memorization of details, A+ were the only exams that I did exceptionally well on. It's not uncommon to see many people in this forum say they pass their exams with a score in the 800 range on the MS exams and most seem to only have read through the study material once or twice, practice hands-on some, and then take a few Transcenders (seems to be the practice test of choice). On the last few exams I've taken that actually gave me a score, I only achieved the minimum passing score. It seems to me that fairing well on these exams has far more to do with the practice questions you use than the material that you actually study with. To this end, I did use some practice tests in preperation for this exam. I used the ones on the CD with my Passport book and I used 30 or so free ones from a website I have bookmarked a few hours before my test. I figured it couldn't hurt since this was supposed to be one of the harder exams. You know, at least 6 of the questions on my exam were word for word, the EXACT same questions that were on that web site! I don't just mean they were the same scenario or the same basic concept. They were the exact same questions...from the peoples names in the problem right down to the very answer choices given. Verbatim. Period. I couldn't believe it. I new the answer before even reading the whole question! And that was just out of 30 practice questions. What if I had done more? Half the test could have been a given for me. I'm seriously considering a drastic change in study strategy. I spend over a month on average diligently preparing for an exam using my current method and for all the stress and hassle, I only get mediocre results. I think if I dedicated more of that time to doing practice questions, I'd save a ton of time and stress and do far better on the exam. What do some of you guys think? Is my experience on this exam typical? Do you think prepared practice exam questions may be a better core study strategy for me than making my own? Any help would be appreciated. In the meanwhile, I'll be in my shop sharpening my sword for the beast. Thanks guys.

janmike

Rising Techie wrote:

You know, at least 6 of the questions on my exam were word for word, the EXACT same questions that were on that web site! I don't just mean they were the same scenario or the same basic concept. They were the exact same questions...from the peoples names in the problem right down to the very answer choices given. Verbatim. Period. I couldn't believe it. I new the answer before even reading the whole question!

Well.....you've unfortunately stumbled into a brain ****. These are illegal and are all too common. CompTIA and M$ have been after these and some have been shut down, the owner put on trial and jailed and/or fined for stealing copywrite materials(intellectual property, it you would)--they somehow gain possession of or somehow steal actual exam questions.

It's pretty serious. The certification process is a lot of labor for many. It has been for me. But, in the process, you actually learn the information and, with the hands on work, you can actually truthfully say that you are able to do the work. But brain **** really are cheating and if a person gets certified just by memorizing answers he/she won't be able do do the work or even have a working grasp of the required knowledge base.

About the only practice tests I have used since I found out what a "BD" is come from Transcenders and from the accompanying CDs supplied with exam guides. Pretty sure that these will be honest-to-goodness legal.

Anyway, the practice of getting certificates from dishonest practices greatly cheapens the certificates that are gained by really honest hard work. That irritates me a lot more that spending an appropriate amount of time in studies to assure a pass.

Enuff said. Good luck on upcoming exams.

Rising Techie

Thank you for your response. I’ve known what a Brain **** was for a long time and I know they are illegal and that they cheapen our trade. I’ve never used a brain **** before because I thought they were a waste of time and were a vain and desperate attempt to circumvent a legitimate testing policy. Like you said, they cheapen the trade and, even if I didn’t care about that, I figured that by the time those brain **** were compiled, those questions would be useless anyway since Microsoft would have since produced another set of exam questions. I thought that their main means of combating brain **** was to simply change the tests on a regular basis in conjunction with fining and prosecuting the offenders. So, brain **** seemed to me a total waste of time. In fact, that is what motivated me to use the particular site that I did. It had interactive test questions and it didn’t claim to be a brain ****. All I wanted to do was get some fresh questions before the exam to see whether I was truly prepared for it. And even at that, it was only 30 questions. Imagine my surprise when I found that 6 of those 30 questions were actually on the exam. Coupled with this fact, I’ve also heard that Transcender questions, although legal and not word-for-word verbatim, are still remarkably similar to the real exam questions. Couple that with the fact that everyone on this site who posts a pass with a score considerably above the minimum only mentioned reading a book and getting some hands on experience and finally taking a few practice exams (mostly Transcender). I have done considerably more than that for all 8 of my exams (minus the Transender questions) and still barely pass. So, this makes me wonder just how much Transcender exams (or any practice test that can gurantee a passing score) are really like Microsoft’s and if they are really the deciding factor in how well you do on these exams. I suppose that latter is my most relevant question. I wonder if the only real difference between a “brain ****”, and a commercial practice exam is the business politics and exchange of money that are involved in producing them. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is come out of this with my MCSE feeling like I didn’t deserve it because I used brain ****. To the contrary, I feel that I’ve earned every single certification I have so far because until this point, I’ve never used anything other than the practice tests that came with my study material. However, I also don’t want to waste enormous amounts of time, money, and anxiety needlessly by trying to do something noble, when in reality, that’s not really the expectation at all and that’s not what anyone is really doing anyway, whether they realize it or not. I tend to think that anyone who uses a commercial practice exam that can guarantee a pass is, in actuality, practically using a brain ****. The only difference being that the one you get charged for is only legal because it’s not exactly word for word and the producing company has some political connection or agreement with the exam vendor. I could be wrong. I don’t know. All I’m trying to do is find the most efficient study strategy that’s not going to make me feel like a cheater and a fraud when I finish my certification. Just for the record, I believe the only true test that matters to employers is how well you perform in the field and how well you can learn new things. Credentials are only a means of breaking into the field by identifying your self from the rest of the crowd on paper as someone who can complete a long term goal related to the field and all employers realize that. After you’re in the door, what really matters is your work ethic and your ability to learn.

janmike

Just for the record, I believe the only true test that matters to employers is how well you perform in the field and how well you can learn new things. Credentials are only a means of breaking into the field by identifying your self from the rest of the crowd on paper as someone who can complete a long term goal related to the field and all employers realize that.

Absolutely. The completion of long-term goals doesn't cease at certification. Your employer will always have goals that he expects you to pursue. When I took my present job a few months ago, I was actually given a list of goals to try to meet within six months of my hire date. I believe that this is also a practice at yearly evaluations.

Anyway, I don't think that there is anyone on this forum who doesn't have respect for anybody who passes his/her cert exams by honest effort--totally without regard to scores. As far as I know, neither the scores ever come up again nor the amount of time spent in preparation is every known --a pass is a pass as we're fond of saying. We just have to trust the exam organization to determine what score is sufficient to prove the level of poficiency for which the exam is devised.

Well, I'm more than 6 months in studying for W2k Pro now and I'm sticking with it until I am confident that I can pass. I'm sure that I'll eventually have MCSA--someday.

Again, best of luck on your future exams.

Mindraker1

Yeah, they could be a little better on varying the questions on the test, though. When I retook the 216 exam, 3 of the exact same questions that were on the test previously showed up again. One of them had a rather bad typo, as well. Now, if you want to prevent people from remembering test questions, vary the test question bank more... criminy, I don't have a photographic memory, but I can remember the gist of those 3 questions because of repetition.