Pre-exam Listlessness

marcels

I’m sitting my fourth exam of the MCITP: EA on Jan 24th (70-643).

I’ve read a lot of comments about this being a tricky one. Because of that I’m trying to revise as much as possible.

That said, I hate the wait before an exam.

I get stuck between not wanting to revise because the material is so familiar and the pre-exam nervous feeling that I need to do as much prep for the exam as possible.

I wait till I’m hitting mid-80s as a score in the mock exams, then I book the real exam two weeks in advance, that way I can take my time with revision.
What tends to happen next (we’re I am now) is I ignore the fact that I’ve got an exam until the week before and then go in to revision ninja mode for 7 days.
I try to book my exams on a Monday morning, around 9:30am, that way I can have a sleep in. Sitting it on a Monday also gives me a weekend to cram.
What is your exam routine and how do you psych yourself up for an exam?

za3bour

I usually don't book an exam until I got 90% in the test exams and when I book it I usually try not to reschedule.

The day before the exam I only read my notes I don't touch the books. The week before the exam is were I put my full strength and try to study as hard as possible. I usually book the exam at 1:00 PM because I have a long drive and I always have a big breakfast before I go and try to sleep at least 8-9 hours the day before it.

DV27

The way that works for me is proper timetables + planning. Take a look at the course material, judge how good of a learner you are and plan from there. I'd ususally give myself ample time to learn what I need to, then give myself a few days of practice exam cramming and then give myself an evening of relaxation before exam day.

I then know the day before the exam that I am ready, and that leads to confidence, and that lets me relax the evening before - a good night's sleep is built on that and gets you mentally and physically ready for the test.

The worst thing that can happen IMO is that you're left feeling pressured, studying up till the last minute and having two hours sleep the night before. Confidence and relaxation is everything.

LCA

I felt the same way when I was studying 643, I found parts very dry and frankly a bit of a drag to learn (think IIS ).

marcels

LCA wrote: »

I felt the same way when I was studying 643, I found parts very dry and frankly a bit of a drag to learn (think IIS ).

Yes, IIS is the hardest part for me, I don't really work with it a lot. RDS, Hyper-V, Storage and WDS are part of my day to day so I'm confident with them.

DV27 wrote: »

The way that works for me is proper timetables + planning. Take a look at the course material, judge how good of a learner you are and plan from there. I'd ususally give myself ample time to learn what I need to, then give myself a few days of practice exam cramming and then give myself an evening of relaxation before exam day.

It's interesting to me to see how other's study. I like the timetable idea, I try to have this in mind but have never written it down.
I was reading in another post where one person's method is to watch, read and lab on one topic completely then move on to the next.

I tend to read the MS Press book and complete the labs, then watch the CBT Nuggets, if I'm needing more I complete the TestOut course, finally I cram using my study notes and do a mock exam a day until I'm confident with the questions.

DV27

Hi Marcels - CBT Nuggets are an (pardon the expression) a gold mine. Very well worth the money - if only for being able to kick back and watch the training in action.

I tend to study with (based on length of the chapter) one or two chapters a day of the MS Press or Sybex books, then kick back with the relevant chapter of the CBT Nuggets. That way you can give the old eyes a bit of a rest if you're able to lie on your sofa and watch the Nuggets after spending a lot of time reading and/or playing with VMs.

Going with Nuggets is crucial in getting a "resting" element in, while still learning (and seeing the instructor's learning approach). You really maximize time with the videos IMO.