70-680 Success Story (& tips)
narohi
Registered Users Posts: 5 ■□□□□□□□□□
Thought I would post this in order to help people get an idea of how to pass the exam.
This was my first IT certification. I was familiar with windows 7 from a user standpoint (installation and light troubleshooting) before studying for the test. I am 25 years old and haven't done much with computers for the past 4 years. I needed a certification in order to transfer to WGU from the state college I have been attending and my admissions counselor recommended the 70-680.
I studied for approximately 6 weeks, about 10 hours a week (~60-70 hours total)
I used the Microsoft Self Training Kit and Testout 70-680 training.
I used Testout because of the student discount. Personally, for the 70-680 Testout, I found the lab simulations to be worthless. I could have done all of them with just a basic windows 7 installation. I was disappointed that they didn't have any simulations for enterprise deployment (such as WDS), because that was what I was most unfamiliar with (and I didn't have the capability to load up windows server in a VM). Therefore, as the labs are the only thing that differentiates it from its competitors (AFAIK), you would be just as well off with a competitor or free video collection.
The Microsoft Self Training Kit helped a lot. Considering it is only $20 from amazon if you count the 15% exam discount voucher, I would recommend this highly. There were many errors in the book which frustrated me for a while, but printing out the full errata AND the updated book pages (I put each updated book page in the book at their respective points before reading it) made it work out smoothly. Even with the errata and the updated book pages, there were a few things that still didn't work in the book, but it was inconsequential. The labs are what makes this book great. Following all the labs (yes, even the practice labs) in a virtual machine with the windows 7 trial Microsoft lets you use helped the most.
I also used the practice exam in the Self Training Kit.
I do not think you can get away with just one study resource. A second (at the minimum) is needed in order to reinforce what you have learned.
I passed with an 836 (700 is required for passing). My foremost advice would be to buckle down and deal with the fact that most likely a few parts of your studying is going to be difficult and uninteresting. For me, it was the windows 7 deployment chapters, but once I diligently made my way through them (I very nearly gave up in the middle), the rest of the studying went by smoothly.
As for the exam itself I have a few tips courtesy of Leif Walsh (with a few appended tips from myself)
Here is how you should prepare for your exam:
1. Caffeine, and other energy drinks, will make you perform worse on your exam.
These drinks give you an artificial sense of alertness that is more akin to hyperactivity (the 'H' in ADHD). They will prevent you from being able to focus on your exam, from recalling important information, and from developing the deep connections and thoughts about the material that will get you an A.
2. Study a few hours a day leading up to the exam. Each day, repeat the material you find yourself recalling with the most difficulty, and add a new subject, a new chapter, or another day's worth of lecture notes.
The day before the exam, have a relaxing day. Study a few hours in the afternoon or evening (or whatever time of day works best for you), but make sure to take at least two hours off before bed. If you go to bed still thinking about the exam, you won't be able to fall asleep.
3. Sleep 7-9 hours the night before the exam. This is the most important thing you can do for test performance.
4. Eat a good and balanced breakfast---you want to hit all the major elements of nutrition, especially vitamins, so I suggest eggs, toast, and some fruit or orange juice as a good start. Shower (if you do that in the morning), and take your time getting ready etc. You don't want to be rushed, your goal is to maintain a calm state of mind.
5. An hour before the exam, eat a banana. Bananas are full of potassium, and it will calm your nerves (also a good tip when public speaking).
6. Don't pull out your notes right before the exam. If you do, you'll get distracted by something you forgot to study for or can't remember at the moment, and you'll be thinking about it too much to do well on the other parts of the exam. If you've forgotten something, you'll deal with it when you get to that part of the exam, but you don't want to be worrying about it until then.
7. Stay hydrated with water (nothing else cuts it) for the few hours before the exam. Your pee should be clear or light yellow—if it isn't you need to drink more water.
8. Upon loading the exam you may be overwhelmed with questions you have no clue about. This happened to me. Do not worry, eliminate the answers you know are wrong and then guess on the right answer. You can apparently get quite a bit wrong and still pass so do not get anxious about being clueless for a while (I felt clueless on about 7 questions and still passed quite a bit above 700)
Good luck!
This was my first IT certification. I was familiar with windows 7 from a user standpoint (installation and light troubleshooting) before studying for the test. I am 25 years old and haven't done much with computers for the past 4 years. I needed a certification in order to transfer to WGU from the state college I have been attending and my admissions counselor recommended the 70-680.
I studied for approximately 6 weeks, about 10 hours a week (~60-70 hours total)
I used the Microsoft Self Training Kit and Testout 70-680 training.
I used Testout because of the student discount. Personally, for the 70-680 Testout, I found the lab simulations to be worthless. I could have done all of them with just a basic windows 7 installation. I was disappointed that they didn't have any simulations for enterprise deployment (such as WDS), because that was what I was most unfamiliar with (and I didn't have the capability to load up windows server in a VM). Therefore, as the labs are the only thing that differentiates it from its competitors (AFAIK), you would be just as well off with a competitor or free video collection.
The Microsoft Self Training Kit helped a lot. Considering it is only $20 from amazon if you count the 15% exam discount voucher, I would recommend this highly. There were many errors in the book which frustrated me for a while, but printing out the full errata AND the updated book pages (I put each updated book page in the book at their respective points before reading it) made it work out smoothly. Even with the errata and the updated book pages, there were a few things that still didn't work in the book, but it was inconsequential. The labs are what makes this book great. Following all the labs (yes, even the practice labs) in a virtual machine with the windows 7 trial Microsoft lets you use helped the most.
I also used the practice exam in the Self Training Kit.
I do not think you can get away with just one study resource. A second (at the minimum) is needed in order to reinforce what you have learned.
I passed with an 836 (700 is required for passing). My foremost advice would be to buckle down and deal with the fact that most likely a few parts of your studying is going to be difficult and uninteresting. For me, it was the windows 7 deployment chapters, but once I diligently made my way through them (I very nearly gave up in the middle), the rest of the studying went by smoothly.
As for the exam itself I have a few tips courtesy of Leif Walsh (with a few appended tips from myself)
Here is how you should prepare for your exam:
1. Caffeine, and other energy drinks, will make you perform worse on your exam.
These drinks give you an artificial sense of alertness that is more akin to hyperactivity (the 'H' in ADHD). They will prevent you from being able to focus on your exam, from recalling important information, and from developing the deep connections and thoughts about the material that will get you an A.
2. Study a few hours a day leading up to the exam. Each day, repeat the material you find yourself recalling with the most difficulty, and add a new subject, a new chapter, or another day's worth of lecture notes.
The day before the exam, have a relaxing day. Study a few hours in the afternoon or evening (or whatever time of day works best for you), but make sure to take at least two hours off before bed. If you go to bed still thinking about the exam, you won't be able to fall asleep.
3. Sleep 7-9 hours the night before the exam. This is the most important thing you can do for test performance.
4. Eat a good and balanced breakfast---you want to hit all the major elements of nutrition, especially vitamins, so I suggest eggs, toast, and some fruit or orange juice as a good start. Shower (if you do that in the morning), and take your time getting ready etc. You don't want to be rushed, your goal is to maintain a calm state of mind.
5. An hour before the exam, eat a banana. Bananas are full of potassium, and it will calm your nerves (also a good tip when public speaking).
6. Don't pull out your notes right before the exam. If you do, you'll get distracted by something you forgot to study for or can't remember at the moment, and you'll be thinking about it too much to do well on the other parts of the exam. If you've forgotten something, you'll deal with it when you get to that part of the exam, but you don't want to be worrying about it until then.
7. Stay hydrated with water (nothing else cuts it) for the few hours before the exam. Your pee should be clear or light yellow—if it isn't you need to drink more water.
8. Upon loading the exam you may be overwhelmed with questions you have no clue about. This happened to me. Do not worry, eliminate the answers you know are wrong and then guess on the right answer. You can apparently get quite a bit wrong and still pass so do not get anxious about being clueless for a while (I felt clueless on about 7 questions and still passed quite a bit above 700)
Good luck!
Comments
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Lord Nikon
Member Posts: 115
Thought I would post this in order to help people get an idea of how to pass the exam.
This was my first IT certification. I was familiar with windows 7 from a user standpoint (installation and light troubleshooting) before studying for the test. I am 25 years old and haven't done much with computers for the past 4 years. I needed a certification in order to transfer to WGU from the state college I have been attending and my admissions counselor recommended the 70-680.
I studied for approximately 6 weeks, about 10 hours a week (~60-70 hours total)
I used the Microsoft Self Training Kit and Testout 70-680 training.
I used Testout because of the student discount. Personally, for the 70-680 Testout, I found the lab simulations to be worthless. I could have done all of them with just a basic windows 7 installation. I was disappointed that they didn't have any simulations for enterprise deployment (such as WDS), because that was what I was most unfamiliar with (and I didn't have the capability to load up windows server in a VM). Therefore, as the labs are the only thing that differentiates it from its competitors (AFAIK), you would be just as well off with a competitor or free video collection.
The Microsoft Self Training Kit helped a lot. Considering it is only $20 from amazon if you count the 15% exam discount voucher, I would recommend this highly. There were many errors in the book which frustrated me for a while, but printing out the full errata AND the updated book pages (I put each updated book page in the book at their respective points before reading it) made it work out smoothly. Even with the errata and the updated book pages, there were a few things that still didn't work in the book, but it was inconsequential. The labs are what makes this book great. Following all the labs (yes, even the practice labs) in a virtual machine with the windows 7 trial Microsoft lets you use helped the most.
I also used the practice exam in the Self Training Kit.
I do not think you can get away with just one study resource. A second (at the minimum) is needed in order to reinforce what you have learned.
I passed with an 836 (700 is required for passing). My foremost advice would be to buckle down and deal with the fact that most likely a few parts of your studying is going to be difficult and uninteresting. For me, it was the windows 7 deployment chapters, but once I diligently made my way through them (I very nearly gave up in the middle), the rest of the studying went by smoothly.
As for the exam itself I have a few tips courtesy of Leif Walsh (with a few appended tips from myself)
Here is how you should prepare for your exam:
1. Caffeine, and other energy drinks, will make you perform worse on your exam.
These drinks give you an artificial sense of alertness that is more akin to hyperactivity (the 'H' in ADHD). They will prevent you from being able to focus on your exam, from recalling important information, and from developing the deep connections and thoughts about the material that will get you an A.
2. Study a few hours a day leading up to the exam. Each day, repeat the material you find yourself recalling with the most difficulty, and add a new subject, a new chapter, or another day's worth of lecture notes.
The day before the exam, have a relaxing day. Study a few hours in the afternoon or evening (or whatever time of day works best for you), but make sure to take at least two hours off before bed. If you go to bed still thinking about the exam, you won't be able to fall asleep.
3. Sleep 7-9 hours the night before the exam. This is the most important thing you can do for test performance.
4. Eat a good and balanced breakfast---you want to hit all the major elements of nutrition, especially vitamins, so I suggest eggs, toast, and some fruit or orange juice as a good start. Shower (if you do that in the morning), and take your time getting ready etc. You don't want to be rushed, your goal is to maintain a calm state of mind.
5. An hour before the exam, eat a banana. Bananas are full of potassium, and it will calm your nerves (also a good tip when public speaking).
6. Don't pull out your notes right before the exam. If you do, you'll get distracted by something you forgot to study for or can't remember at the moment, and you'll be thinking about it too much to do well on the other parts of the exam. If you've forgotten something, you'll deal with it when you get to that part of the exam, but you don't want to be worrying about it until then.
7. Stay hydrated with water (nothing else cuts it) for the few hours before the exam. Your pee should be clear or light yellow—if it isn't you need to drink more water.
8. Upon loading the exam you may be overwhelmed with questions you have no clue about. This happened to me. Do not worry, eliminate the answers you know are wrong and then guess on the right answer. You can apparently get quite a bit wrong and still pass so do not get anxious about being clueless for a while (I felt clueless on about 7 questions and still passed quite a bit above 700)
Good luck!
I am going to say great advice here, but #7 doesn't make sense, I am not sure how that will help.
I'd also tack on in your car before the exam sit quietly and close your eyes for about 5 minutes and calm yourself, almost as if doing meditation, try to think about a happy time or a happy place during that time.
I know it sounds silly, but its a good method to keeping you in a positive mood, because if you walk in with a bad mood thinking you are going to screw up or blow it, you will psyche yourself out."This is our world now. The world of the electron and the switch; the beauty of the baud. We exist without nationality, skin color, or religious bias. You wage wars, murder, ****, lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop me, but you can't stop us all.."
_______________________
Exams scheduled: 9L0-412 -
ConradJ
Member Posts: 83 ■■□□□□□□□□
Dehydration muddles the mind, staying hydrated improves cognative ability.
-
Todd Burrell
Member Posts: 280
I've passed around a dozen Microsoft and COMPTia exams over the past couple of years and I agree with most of this advice. However, I always make a **** sheet of 5-10 pages of notes and I review that right before I go in to take the exam. I just find that doing that makes me sure that I have reviewed what I consider as critical info.
Good score and congrats. -
NetworkingStudent
Member Posts: 1,407 ■■■■■■■■□□
Thought I would post this in order to help people get an idea of how to pass the exam.
This was my first IT certification. I was familiar with windows 7 from a user standpoint (installation and light troubleshooting) before studying for the test. I am 25 years old and haven't done much with computers for the past 4 years. I needed a certification in order to transfer to WGU from the state college I have been attending and my admissions counselor recommended the 70-680.
I studied for approximately 6 weeks, about 10 hours a week (~60-70 hours total)
I used the Microsoft Self Training Kit and Testout 70-680 training.
I used Testout because of the student discount. Personally, for the 70-680 Testout, I found the lab simulations to be worthless. I could have done all of them with just a basic windows 7 installation. I was disappointed that they didn't have any simulations for enterprise deployment (such as WDS), because that was what I was most unfamiliar with (and I didn't have the capability to load up windows server in a VM). Therefore, as the labs are the only thing that differentiates it from its competitors (AFAIK), you would be just as well off with a competitor or free video collection.
The Microsoft Self Training Kit helped a lot. Considering it is only $20 from amazon if you count the 15% exam discount voucher, I would recommend this highly. There were many errors in the book which frustrated me for a while, but printing out the full errata AND the updated book pages (I put each updated book page in the book at their respective points before reading it) made it work out smoothly. Even with the errata and the updated book pages, there were a few things that still didn't work in the book, but it was inconsequential. The labs are what makes this book great. Following all the labs (yes, even the practice labs) in a virtual machine with the windows 7 trial Microsoft lets you use helped the most.
I also used the practice exam in the Self Training Kit.
I do not think you can get away with just one study resource. A second (at the minimum) is needed in order to reinforce what you have learned.
I passed with an 836 (700 is required for passing). My foremost advice would be to buckle down and deal with the fact that most likely a few parts of your studying is going to be difficult and uninteresting. For me, it was the windows 7 deployment chapters, but once I diligently made my way through them (I very nearly gave up in the middle), the rest of the studying went by smoothly.
As for the exam itself I have a few tips courtesy of Leif Walsh (with a few appended tips from myself)
Here is how you should prepare for your exam:
1. Caffeine, and other energy drinks, will make you perform worse on your exam.
These drinks give you an artificial sense of alertness that is more akin to hyperactivity (the 'H' in ADHD). They will prevent you from being able to focus on your exam, from recalling important information, and from developing the deep connections and thoughts about the material that will get you an A.
2. Study a few hours a day leading up to the exam. Each day, repeat the material you find yourself recalling with the most difficulty, and add a new subject, a new chapter, or another day's worth of lecture notes.
The day before the exam, have a relaxing day. Study a few hours in the afternoon or evening (or whatever time of day works best for you), but make sure to take at least two hours off before bed. If you go to bed still thinking about the exam, you won't be able to fall asleep.
3. Sleep 7-9 hours the night before the exam. This is the most important thing you can do for test performance.
4. Eat a good and balanced breakfast---you want to hit all the major elements of nutrition, especially vitamins, so I suggest eggs, toast, and some fruit or orange juice as a good start. Shower (if you do that in the morning), and take your time getting ready etc. You don't want to be rushed, your goal is to maintain a calm state of mind.
5. An hour before the exam, eat a banana. Bananas are full of potassium, and it will calm your nerves (also a good tip when public speaking).
6. Don't pull out your notes right before the exam. If you do, you'll get distracted by something you forgot to study for or can't remember at the moment, and you'll be thinking about it too much to do well on the other parts of the exam. If you've forgotten something, you'll deal with it when you get to that part of the exam, but you don't want to be worrying about it until then.
7. Stay hydrated with water (nothing else cuts it) for the few hours before the exam. Your pee should be clear or light yellow—if it isn't you need to drink more water.
8. Upon loading the exam you may be overwhelmed with questions you have no clue about. This happened to me. Do not worry, eliminate the answers you know are wrong and then guess on the right answer. You can apparently get quite a bit wrong and still pass so do not get anxious about being clueless for a while (I felt clueless on about 7 questions and still passed quite a bit above 700)
Good luck!
Great write up on your experience with the exam.When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened."
--Alexander Graham Bell,
American inventor -
pzero
Member Posts: 192
Good advice and congrats on the pass!
I know that personally after I hit the "start" button on the exam, I like to not start answering questions until my pulse has settled down and im calm again. -
Lord Nikon
Member Posts: 115
Good advice and congrats on the pass!
I know that personally after I hit the "start" button on the exam, I like to not start answering questions until my pulse has settled down and im calm again.
Yeah, I know this feeling... I usually hit start and then do two quick breaths and close my eyes and then open it slowly.
"This is our world now. The world of the electron and the switch; the beauty of the baud. We exist without nationality, skin color, or religious bias. You wage wars, murder, ****, lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop me, but you can't stop us all.."
_______________________
Exams scheduled: 9L0-412
