Taking "The Beast" Tomorrow

smg1138

So, I finally scheduled my 70-291 and am sitting for it tomorrow. I've been studying mostly with Test Out, Exam Cram, and a couple of free study guides I found online. Does anybody have any suggestions for me on my last day of studying? I'm pretty nervous about this one.

CompuTron99

smg1138 wrote: »

So, I finally scheduled my 70-291 and am sitting for it tomorrow. I've been studying mostly with Test Out, Exam Cram, and a couple of free study guides I found online. Does anybody have any suggestions for me on my last day of studying? I'm pretty nervous about this one.

I take the 291 soon myself. I found that doing the SIMS with TestOut is a good way to keep that sharp on your mind.

Good luck tomorrow and let us know how it went.

eceric01

smg1138 wrote: »

So, I finally scheduled my 70-291 and am sitting for it tomorrow. I've been studying mostly with Test Out, Exam Cram, and a couple of free study guides I found online. Does anybody have any suggestions for me on my last day of studying? I'm pretty nervous about this one.

Goodluck!! I just had mine earlier and luckily I passed. Just go over your notes, have a good night sleep and have a healthy breakfast tomorrow. The 2nd shot voucher that I had made me relaxed a bit.

earweed

Good luck with the Beast

Devilsbane

eceric01 wrote: »

The 2nd shot voucher that I had made me relaxed a bit.

Don't go in prepared to fail, but know that if you need it you have it. This is just another practice test, no big deal.

smg1138

Well, unfortunately, The Beast got the best of me today. I had like 9 simulations in a row and a lot of the questions were pretty obscure. It seemed like there was a lot of stuff on WSUS which came as a surprise. It always seems like the stuff I study the most is never on the test. lol I was running short on time towards the end and pretty much had to guess on the last few questions. And wouldn't you know it, the last couple of questions required subnetting which I had no time to calculate. Oh, Murphy, I know you too well. At least I got the 2nd shot voucher, so I can take another stab at it before June 30th. I am a glutton for punishment.

Devilsbane

smg1138 wrote: »

Well, unfortunately, The Beast got the best of me today. I had like 9 simulations in a row and a lot of the questions were pretty obscure. It seemed like there was a lot of stuff on WSUS which came as a surprise. It always seems like the stuff I study the most is never on the test. lol I was running short on time towards the end and pretty much had to guess on the last few questions. And wouldn't you know it, the last couple of questions required subnetting which I had no time to calculate. Oh, Murphy, I know you too well. At least I got the 2nd shot voucher, so I can take another stab at it before June 30th. I am a glutton for punishment.

Don't give up.

One strategy I use is skipping questions I'm not sure on. This usually results in nearly half of the test being flagged, but when I come back to them they seem easier. Plus if the last question is something like subnetting, that is easy and takes time you can ensure you get that one right and save your guessing for the ones you don't know.

(Most times on my way back through I agree with my previous thinking, but it gives me a chance to slow down and made sure.)

TheSweetness

Devilsbane wrote: »

Don't give up.

One strategy I use is skipping questions I'm not sure on. This usually results in nearly half of the test being flagged, but when I come back to them they seem easier. Plus if the last question is something like subnetting, that is easy and takes time you can ensure you get that one right and save your guessing for the ones you don't know.

(Most times on my way back through I agree with my previous thinking, but it gives me a chance to slow down and made sure.)

I used the same strategy my second time around the 290. The advice I took was if I were unsure about a question to mark the "gut instinct" answer, flag it, and move on. After getting through the test I had ~18 flagged questions. The kicker is, when going through flagged questions, only change your answer if you are SURE your original response is incorrect.

As far as sims, I found that receiving a, "this feature is not available" warning when poking around relevant windows helped eliminate any incorrect possibilities. I knew the area I was working in had to be apart of the correct answer.

Now go over your areas of weakness, but don't assume those will be what you're tested on again. Be familiar with it all.

Good luck.

Devilsbane

Another thing I do the second time through is write down the answer choices. A B C D.

I then read each answer and determine if it is a possible answer. If not, I cross it out. Just helps me visually narrow it down.

Another common sense approach is, if 2 answers are worded differently but do the same thing, and you can only select 1 answer. Then both are wrong.

I also take a third swipe if needed. Usually most questions get resolved the second time though. Maybe 1 or 2 will last until round 3. Try to think like Microsoft. After you have had some experience and taken a few tests, you can kind of see what they are trying to do.

smg1138

Thanks for all the tips. I'll give it my best the next time around. On another note, has anybody noticed that the questions seem shorter now? I remember on the 270 and 290 that a lot of the questions were really long, but these seemed noticeably more to the point. It sure didn't make it any easier to pass though. There seems to be many more simulations now as well. I've pretty much covered Test Out and CBT Nuggets. Can anybody recommend some other good study materials? I think I need to do more reading this time. It seems like a remember things better when I read them as opposed to watching training videos.

Devilsbane

I haven't used transcender for this exam yet, but they are generally pretty good. It can give you a preview of what your going to see. It will also show you which areas you need to work with.

Caution here, don't just memorize the questions. Memorize why that is the answer. Because on the real test they will switch it up a little, so that answer would be wrong, but if you understood why that answer was right you will understand why a different one is right on the test.

EDIT: More reading is always good. Take a couple test to determine weak points, and then reread those chapters. Also practice, build a lab and implement WSUS and see how it works. Then break it and try to fix it.

TheSweetness

I agree with the above poster. I failed my first 290 exam because I thought just memorizing the answers to sample questions would be enough.

Unfortunately, <5% of the sample questions actually showed up on the test. You will know you are prepared for the exam when you can correctly answer samples questions you haven't seen before.

On that same note if you get a sample question wrong, study the material that question was based on. If there is a concept or command or anything that is listed as a possible answer and you haven't seen it before, learn what it is.

Looks like Microsoft has done a decent job at ensuring you actually know the content. This is a good thing, just takes a lot more time to absorb it all.

Edit: If it makes a difference, I only used the MS press book to study. After reading the content and going over the Measure Up test questions, I was averaging ~60-70% passing on those (though I always skipped the "what steps in what order" questions), and got a 718 on the exam. I knew I wasn't 100% prepared, and it showed. My guess is if you can ace the measure up questions, you will do pretty good on the exam.