70-271: Would you change your approach?

I'm taking 70-271 a week from today and was wondering if anyone who's already taken this exam can provide some feedback.

I worked my way through the MS Press Self-Paced Training Kit, and for the past 3 weeks I've been reviewing the material and taking and re-taking practice tests in all different combinations (# of questions, objectives covered, etc.).

This afternoon I went through all 146 of the Objective Questions in the book and got 95% correct, although I know for a fact that I only got some of them right because I recognized the answer.

Anyway, I have a couple questions:

1) How would you have prepared differently?
2) Was there anything on the exam that caught you completely by surprise?

Thanks in advance. I've found these forums to be an incredibly useful resource!

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GLeung

I found the exam pretty straightforward. Couple of simulations but nothing major. I used the Sybex book, CBT Nuggets and Transcender. I haven't used the MS books before although I'm getting one for the Vista exam. I also had Virtual PC with Win XP installed so I can play around with it.

Good luck.

Devilsbane

GLeung wrote: »

I found the exam pretty straightforward. Couple of simulations but nothing major. I used the Sybex book, CBT Nuggets and Transcender. I haven't used the MS books before although I'm getting one for the Vista exam. I also had Virtual PC with Win XP installed so I can play around with it.

Good luck.

Also if you have Windows 7 professional you can download xp mode which is esentially xp installed in virtual pc. And you don't need an xp license.

laloosh

T-minus 15:40 until I sit for the 70-271 exam.

I'd appreciate any good mojo vibes that people can spare!

miller811

laloosh wrote: »

T-minus 15:40 until I sit for the 70-271 exam.

I'd appreciate any good mojo vibes that people can spare!

good luck

earweed

Good Luck!

laloosh

Well, I went ahead and did it this morning: I passed 70-271 with a score of 750.

Definitely not setting the world on fire with my score, but I'm pretty ecstatic about it. I had never seriously considered an IT career until about 3 months ago, so I feel pretty good about going in there without any formal IT education or experience and passing.

The exam itself was about as difficult as I thought it would be and there were several times I was positive that I was going to get the lowest score they'd ever seen. I finished with about 3 minutes to spare, which included going over all the questions I had wanted to go back and review.

Nobody was more surprised, relieved or elated than I was when I saw I had passed! Now on to 70-272 and the MCDST.

pennystrader

Congrats on the pass. Keep learning and testing on PC's and servers so you can learn the reasons why things work like they do and break stuff and fix it so you can see and understand the results.

Nice work on your pass.

Devilsbane

laloosh wrote: »

Well, I went ahead and did it this morning: I passed 70-271 with a score of 750.

There is no difference between 750 and 1000, other than some potential bragging rights. I have never heard of an employer ask for a score. (They rarely, if ever, ask to prove the cert at all)