Facing the beast in a week

Jarhead2011

I booked the exam for in a week so now its up to last minute preparations. Really hope I pass this one to get my MCSA 2003.

Dakinggamer87

Good luck!! I'm also pursuing my MCSA/MCSE certs

kamikaze_worm

Good Luck. Dont be intimidated by "The Beast". As someone that is strugerling with my last exam for MCSE (failed 3 times). Tho that exam is not easy, if you put the work in and know the knowlegde then you will be fine. Everyone said to me that I would struggle with the beast and design exam is the easiest. I sailed through first time with the beast.

Tip is to manage your time well and read every question carefully.

SteveO86

Good luck, remember to be confident.

It's only considered a failure if you fail and give up.

Devilsbane

Hands on experience will be a huge help here.

Good luck

Barrypr

I passed this Monday gone, was really worked up going into the exam, after I had finished I question why people call it the beast! Several sims but they were basic enough in my opinion!

Good luck, you'll be fine

jblake1986

I took this a couple years ago. Take your time and don't get rushed. I second hands on experience helps.

jfmcaninch

I am facing the beast this coming Thursday finally. I have started and stopped studying 4 times. I have used the MS Press book, O'Reilly MCSE Nutshell, MOC, CBT Nuggets and now the clincher for my confidence: testout. This is the first time I have used testout and it is fantastic so far I am able to see through the barriers I had before.

Good Luck next week! Hope to change theads along with you to 293.

Jarhead2011

thank you all for the motivation. yeah hands on experience is the best, but with this exams RRAS nobody uses it as much so its rather difficult to get to work with that much and now to understand all aspects of it.

have vmware installed. can someone maybe tell me how they setup their rras labs to get hands on it. think its the biggest worry for me now.

What practice exams did you guys use that you found very useful for this exam?

Jarhead2011

@jfmcaninch, yep hope i'll also be at the 70-293 in a weeks time. let me know how it went.
good luck and slay "the beast".

Devilsbane

I have server1 set up with 2 nics. One on the NAT network and one on a private network. I then have RRAS set up to bridge the connection and have a DHCP server to provide addresses for the rest of my enterprise.

MattMcNabb

jfmcaninch wrote: »

I have used the MS Press book, O'Reilly MCSE Nutshell, MOC, CBT Nuggets and now the clincher for my confidence: testout.

I would also recommend Self Test Software. Any time that I have been loose enough with the coin purse to purchase the Self Test practice exams I have done well on the real exam. To save money I usually do all my reading and labbing and then purchase the online version of the practice exam which is $30 cheaper than the download. Then I spend a couple weeks diligently testing myself and so far this method hasn't failed. However when I was being cheap and relying on MS-Press books and Readiness Review I had a couple fails. The key with these tests is finding a method that works well for you and sticking to it consistently.

Jarhead2011

thank you. will try that, the hardest part is remembering all those settings and when to use what settings in rras.

Devilsbane

Jarhead2011 wrote: »

thank you. will try that, the hardest part is remembering all those settings and when to use what settings in rras.

It really isn't too bad. I am still by no means an expert, but knowing it well enough for the test isn't so hard.

Jarhead2011

watched all the rras sections of cbtnuggets, feeling better about it now, still not 100% but better. great material. now just to go and try a few practice tests to see if i can really nail "the beast" on monday.

Jarhead2011

jfmcaninch wrote: »

I am facing the beast this coming Thursday finally. I have started and stopped studying 4 times. I have used the MS Press book, O'Reilly MCSE Nutshell, MOC, CBT Nuggets and now the clincher for my confidence: testout. This is the first time I have used testout and it is fantastic so far I am able to see through the barriers I had before.

Good Luck next week! Hope to change theads along with you to 293.

have you gone to write the exam yet?

Devilsbane

Jarhead2011 wrote: »

watched all the rras sections of cbtnuggets, feeling better about it now, still not 100% but better. great material. now just to go and try a few practice tests to see if i can really nail "the beast" on monday.

The 293 covers RRAS again. Not quite to the same detail (I think only 2 vids) but if you are going to be going that route anyway, it might benefit you to see it again in a slightly different format.

xenodamus

Good luck to you - I'm taking it on 2/21/11. I want to put it off and spend more time on all the material, but I have a second shot, so we'll call this a practice run if nothing else. I feel like if I pass on this first go, it will be one of my closest......

jfmcaninch

I haven't wrote the test yet, now scheduled for Feb 22nd. Testout went a little longer than I thought and I am just recovering from a nasty bout with the stomach flu. Crossing fingers for the 22nd. Will keep posting with status.

Jarhead2011

good luck and hopefully we can all move on to a next forum shortly.
I will let you know how it went, hopefully I can then be a MCSA 2003.

@devilsbane - yep im moving to 70-293 next want. so if I pass Monday I want to start immediately on 70-293. waited to long between 70-290 and 70-291.

Devilsbane

Jarhead2011 wrote: »

@devilsbane - yep im moving to 70-293 next want. so if I pass Monday I want to start immediately on 70-293. waited to long between 70-290 and 70-291.

You will find it scarily familiar.

Jarhead2011

only 24 hours remaining then it's exam time. feeling the nerves building up, so hopefully this last few hours remaining of studying and reviewing is worth the while. will let know how it was and if I made it

Jarhead2011

passed this morning with a score of 828. glad to get this one over, now its on to 70-293.

pizzaboy

Congrats, hope to join you soon.

Ahriakin

kamikaze_worm

Jarhead2011 wrote: »

passed this morning with a score of 828. glad to get this one over, now its on to 70-293.

Well Done Fella. Great feeling passing this one. I wouldnt hang around too long before attempting 293 as I waited ages and then had to re-revise alot of stuff!

jfmcaninch

Well I am off to the 293 forum now. I scored a 764 today in approx 1 3/4 hours. I am so relieved not to have to write this exam again. I was psyched out writing the 292 exam a few years ago that I was loathing have to write the 291. The 291 exam was not even close to what I have encountered in 292. Labbing and a good CBT is needed for this exam for sure. I had a few questions that I just had to use a gut feeling. Good luck to those challenging this exam.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!