5th attempt being rescheduled LONG Read warning

Hi all,

Here was my posting from way back: http://techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19985

To briefly summarize my situation, I have taken the 70-270 exam a total of 4 times, including today. My past scores were 541 (Nov 5 2005), 587 (Dec 20 2006), 541 (Sep 26 200

and 677 (Oct 24 200

. I indicated in my previous post that I was planning to study after the Christmas holidays. Instead, I found myself a local part-time HelpDesk position to work for a bit while re-introducing extra curricular activities. (Prior, I did not have any helpdesk experience, only a work placement position as a junior admin and eventual network admin position that only lasted 8 months due to me being freshly graduated and immature). Even though it was a long break from studying, the HelpDesk work gave me the understanding and necessary experience I HONESTLY lacked.

Eventually, that led me to build my own PC this past August to test my A+ knowledge giving me the reassurance that I do know some my A+ knowledge as my lonely title indicates on the left side here. Prior, I have never built a computer, only maintained currently existing systems. The HelpDesk work helped me to understand in terms of certifications, computers, etc: the goal of IT individuals is to help people. Smart, dumb, mouthy, ignorant, etc. All people need computers to do their work and IT people are like "physicians" to these important tools. If we lack experience and knowledge, we're going to lose productivity like in terms of neglecting the patient's true root of the problem if physicians lacked the knowledge, training and compassion. The movie "Patch Adams" gave me this understanding during my "journey" up to today.

I was not happy with my 677 result, I had deep down feelings that I was really going to pass this time. After taking some time away from studying, I am now writing this post again for some suggestions to better prepare.

My plan after the 3rd attempt was that I went through all the concepts outlined on the Objective Card from the MS Press Windows XP Training Kit that I did poorly on. My strongest areas from the 3rd attempt was Installing Windows XP and Monitoring & Optimizing System Performance and Reliability. The weaker areas was troubleshooting hardware devices, security, network protocols desktop environment and administration of resources from weakest to strongest order. That MSPress book is dry, heavy, but it filled in so many gaps I had previously even during my schooling.

With today's 4th attempt everything was way more consistent except the weakest area this time was the administration of resources this time. I'm thinking I might've ran out of steam covering the 4 weak areas prior to the exam date. According to Microsoft's website about the Second Shot, I need to wait at least one day for the results to be submitted before I can re-schedule my hopefully-last 5th exam attempt. I also recall there's a rule about needing to wait 14 days to reschedule the exam: well, I'll try to reschedule tomorrow and if I fail, then wait 14 days and get back fighting. I refuse to let anything stand in my way of passing because I need this title to progress in my IT career.

Reading all this, originally I was going to ask for some suggestions. However, writing all this I believe I just answered my own question. Here's my proposal on my plan for tomorrow:

1) Try and reschedule the exam tomorrow or ASAP when permitted.
2) Review the objectives outlined under the Implementing and Conducting Administration of Resources (MSPress, Techexams, forums topics, Online XP Resource Kit, practice questions from Exam Cram and MSPress book)
3) Play with my XP VMs on my new PC (This IS why I got the INTEL Core Dual 2 system: to handle the many VMs)
4) Review Johan's notes on my weak areas and lightly brush up on the other concepts. Also go through this forum group and seek out the old questions to understand the problem. This means understand the TERMINOLOGY and CONTEXT of the stated situation. ***MOST IMPORTANT***

I think #4 tells me a lot: Microsoft's wording of the exam questions is tricky, yes. But the key is to skim out the extraneous details, target the ROOT of the problem and target the key words around that problem. Example: Compression issue: are we talking about NTFS compression or are we talking about FOLDER compression? Then take the necessary course of "troubleshooting" just like I personally do with my HelpDesk work. I fully credit some of the articles other users have posted for getting this into my thick skull, it helped today!

I want to do more than just Level one troubleshooting at the HelpDesk level. I want that MCP title and be ready for all the problems that users/situations throw at me. I want that MCSA 2003 and hopefully I can find the time afterwards to pursue the MCSE 2003.

I apologize for the long discussion, I just had so much in my head to clear out. Also, I wanted to point out to those that failed 1-2 times or even matching my current test record, well look at me: I failed 4 times and I'm going for a fifth time now :P Plus, failing exams is not as bad as me staying up for one night straight to rebuild a telephone server and another night to wait for the failed RAID to come back up and then proceed with backup restoration. Thank goodness for Normal and differential backups for the fastest recovery time 2 years ago or else that would've been a total failure!

Please feel free to leave me any thoughts. Thanks for reading, if you have gotten down to this point, I humbly thank you for your time.

MY

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Comments

bwcarty

What study materials are you using? If you're just sticking with the MS Press book, alternative resources might fill you in on the gaps you're missing.

Transcender tests are pretty good, and the questions are similar in format and wording (but not necessarily content) as the real exam. When I'm taking certification exams, I use Transcender and don't even register for the test until I can answer 100% of the questions on the practice test and understand why each answer is correct.

LarryDaMan

Geesh, you have guts and courage to keep trying. Weaker people would have given up by now. Think about it this way, you have taken 4 VERY realistic practice tests and now you are ready for the real thing. Study, study, study... and then go get er' done. Good luck.

gravyjoe

Physicskid, I admire your courage. With your mentality, you'll definitely be MCSE one day. I agree with bwcarty about Transcender. Transcender will let you know if you're ready for the test or not. I think that would help your situation the most.

I just passed the 270 yesterday. It's not an easy test, so don't feel bad. I don't think that you should just read the MS press by itself. Also, read the Technotes here. That's what I did. If there's something that you don't understand, ask the people here at Techexams. They're very helpful.

When taking the actual exam, be sure to read all questions thoroughly. Microsoft loves to trick people. Also, they love to put information that has nothing to do with finding the solution. If you run into a question that you have no idea about, mark it for review and come back to it later. I had 12 questions marked for review. I started to remember the answers to those questions as I went through the test. Also, I feel that this next tactic helps me out ALOT with tests. Process of Elimination. Most questions have four answers to choose from. Don't look for the right answer, look for the wrong ones. Start by eliminating the answer YOU KNOW that's wrong and ridiculous. Then eliminate the answer that just doesn't add up. Now you're left with 2 answers, which leaves you with a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Pick the answer you feel makes the most sense, or if you have no idea what to pick, flip a coin so to say, and pick one. I hope this helps. Good luck

nielpeel

This isn't an easy exam. After you have thoroughly read the MS Press text, you need to do as many practice questions as you can, Exam Cram and Transcender are good for this. Make sure you are scoring 90% + on these exams before you take the real test. I normally go through at least 1000 questions worth of practice exams before I attempt the real test, more if needs be.

Hope this helps you and, don't give up.

Previous posters have provided invaluable advice so take note, and keep practising on those labs - go through all of the labs in the MS Press books again! (you might need to download and install a trial version of Server 2003 for the areas on RIS, this will help set you up for your next MCP tho, probably 70-290!).

dynamik

Well, it could be worse

I guess that makes me +4 for Transcender. I have terrible note-taking/review skills, and I really need something like that to beat the material into my head.

As stated earlier, 270 is a difficult exam. Many people assume that it'll be easy since they use it on a daily basis, but it goes well beyond daily-use. I think your biggest problem is that you've been rushing into it unprepared. Don't get down on yourself and get discouraged or anything like that. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, and you'll get through this. Just hang in there

physicskid

Thank you humbly for the response. I look back to my previous two postings before I posted this monster of a post and like looking hard at myself in the mirror, I have to work on my maturity. It was about 1AM in my timezone when I posted here, but I found that I slept A LOT better today than all the other nights.

To answer bwcarty's question about the preparation software I was using, I'm using the Microsoft Press Readiness Review Suite provided from MSPress and MeasureUP Certification Preparation provided from Exam Cram.

At the moment of this posting, I'm downloading a demo of the Transcender software to get a preview of what it's like in comparison with the other two prep software I've been using. I have to do this because I see that to get the Transcender, it'll cost about $109 give and take for the online access. Though, if I have to, I'll bite the bullet and get this most likely. It's expensive, but in the name of learning and understanding, it's worth it, right?

Thanks for the encouragement. The posting about the 10 attempts have given me some perspective, so I just have to keep trying until I pass then. Though, in the working world, do you all feel that future employers may have something against people as myself who had to retake an exam many times over before ultimately passing?

dynamik

physicskid wrote:

At the moment of this posting, I'm downloading a demo of the Transcender software to get a preview of what it's like in comparison with the other two prep software I've been using. I have to do this because I see that to get the Transcender, it'll cost about $109 give and take for the online access. Though, if I have to, I'll bite the bullet and get this most likely. It's expensive, but in the name of learning and understanding, it's worth it, right?

Most people think Measure Up is garbage; their products have a terrible reputation here. I'm not sure how much you'll be able to differentiate the products based on the demo. I haven't used the MS Press Readiness Review Suite, but I can tell you Transcender is significantly better than Measure Up. Thinking about how much you're spending on failed tests may help justify the costs as well. At the same time, it's by no means necessary. Plenty of people pass without using any practice exams. It really depends on how you learn and what your budget is.

physicskid wrote:

Thanks for the encouragement. The posting about the 10 attempts have given me some perspective, so I just have to keep trying until I pass then. Though, in the working world, do you all feel that future employers may have something against people as myself who had to retake an exam many times over before ultimately passing?

I don't think this ever really comes up. In your case, you'll either be an MCP or you won't. Your score and number of attempts aren't public. I guess some employers might ask for the specifics, but I don't think that's too common. Plus, you're going to pass all your future exams on the first try, so it's not like this one is going to matter to much in the grand scheme of things, right?

bwcarty

If Transcender is too expensive, Self Test Software is owned by the same parent company, and you might want to look into it. I downloaded a demo once, and the format was basically identical to Transcender. Self Test doesn't include as many questions as Transcender, but they're also much cheaper.

RobertKaucher

bwcarty wrote:

If Transcender is too expensive, Self Test Software is owned by the same parent company, and you might want to look into it. I downloaded a demo once, and the format was basically identical to Transcender. Self Test doesn't include as many questions as Transcender, but they're also much cheaper.

I used selftest for the 270, 290, 291, Sec+, 293, 298 and one of the Server 2008 exams (forget which one). Thought they were very good. I also used Measureup (provided with the books) on every one. I purchased the online version of MeasureUp for the other one of the Server 2008 exams and thought it was very good.

I know I keep banging this drum, but I think it works:
Fast test/long review! Get the MS Press book and use the included MeasureUp test to do a fast test. Either you know the answer or not. Do not answer questions you do not know the answer to, just go to the next one. Use these questions to zero in on areas you have yet to master. Print them and research the topics deeply. Understand clearly why each answer is right or wrong. I am doing this for the SQL Server 2005 exam right now. Once I am done I will start doing real test simulations with a combo of PrepLogic and TestOut.

physicskid

I just got to my system after completing today's 5th attempt. I can't believe my eyes 'cause I scored 747 which is sufficient for the 700 passing score. I still feel some of the tears 'cause I think back now and realize that I was battling more than just trying to pass this Windows exam.

I chose to follow with Robert Kaucher's suggest with the Fast Test and long review sessions. The only adjustment I made was that I chose to cut the time down to 2 weeks instead of the 3-4 week suggestion he proposed. I found this very effective because it forced me to sit down and concentrate to understand the problem given in *any* questions. To try and further back this up, I incorporated this concentration with my calls in my evening part time job on the HelpDesk.

I found by doing this, I begun to see that yes, Microsoft's phrasing and wording is a real pain, but it's worth it to understand those pain wording because users from all walks of life will describe their problems and they may throw in words which totally don't make sense at times.

I bit the bullet and went with Transcender and the 30 day package. I didn't review my notes too much because I chose to put my foot down and say confidently that I may not be able to recall the information immediately, but the words will provide me the clues to reach the eventual solution.

I'll say it again: FINALLY! I can put to rest the Windows XP Professional Training Kit and Exam Cram 2 books and finally move onto 70-290. The next challenge is to figure out how to construct a domain with VMware Server Console, set up a study schedule perhaps for each month until I eventually reach the MCSA and perhaps eventually MCSE titles.

I thank everybody that took the time to provide me their suggestions and some guidance during this ordeal.

MY

bertieb

HUGE congrats to you. Thats some way to stick at it and get through and you should feel really proud of you efforts and achievements.

You just need to update your certifications on your profile now

Edit: and now I see you've done it!

Congrats and good luck on the 290!!

RobertKaucher

Congrats! Glad you found the method helpful.

neathneathneath

congrats

I found this exam hard work and had to re-take it twice, failed with a 654 the second time.
First time was without study just to test the water as it were with Microsoft tests.