Transcender

Bryzey

Hi all, my first post here. Great forum.

I am currently studying for the A+ exam(2 months).

I am wondering if anyone has used the transcender practice exam recently for A+ and has any feedback on it?

So far I have:
-Read Mike Myers All In One
-Watched Professor Messer
-Currently skimming through exam cram

I would like to get a decent practice exam so that I can get some practice in and be completely ready when I decide I would like to take the exam.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers.

rbowman

I'm using the Transcender for the 2009 objectives and it is very frustrating because it seems that about half the questions are not covered with the Sybex study guide I have right now.

So far it seems like an interactive brain **** or at least that's what it's accomplishing for me at the moment.

zenhound

I used the transcenders recently, and passed the test a couple of weeks ago. I don't recommend them for A+. Their questions were far, far more difficult than the exam and definitely included stuff that wasn't included in the objectives and that I didn't see on the exam. To be honest I'm seriously disappointed in the transcender quality on this exam. I've used them way in the past and found that they were a great representation of the exam. This time I got frustrated with them and ended up taking the tests when I was only getting 60-80% on Transcenders and passed both exams.

So yeah. We got ripped off, imo.

Bryzey

I ended up going with MeasureUp. I have not had a chance to look at it just yet though.

rbowman

Agreed zenhound. The questions are just unreasonably hard. Also the Transcender marks an 80% as a fail which is also a bit unreasonable. What if you were taking a class and your only option was to get an A? I understand that they're trying to prepare you for an exam but when your testing materials cost almost as much as the exam then it ought to fairly represent the exam. It just goes a bit overboard with the difficulty.

Plantwiz

Perhaps their quesitons are aimed at preparing you to be proficient in the field and your career rather than some 'easy' way to prepare for an exam?

I'd recommend folks download the objectives, have some experience, use the Meyers and Sybex texts.

I have looked at the Transcender stuff and typically, from the collections I have looked at the material they cover should be a sign the candidate is going to be very successful.


@zenhound and rbowman, I'm confused why you think they were a 'rip-off' and 'unreasonably hard'. How much time or how many times are you taking these tests? Are you using them to memorize questions rather then test your comprehension of the material? I'm curious.

Bryzey

I decided to go with MeasureUp based on the impression that it was even more difficult then Transcender. I got this impression when searching for comparisons between practice exams.

I want to be as prepared as possible as this will be my first exam in many many years. I got 79% today on practice exam and the questions seemed OK so I think I am close to being prepared to take the actual 701 exam. Fairly happy with the product.

I also got the Transcender IPhone app that i use when I am at work.

zenhound

Hey Plantwiz-
Thanks for asking for clarification. I actually didn't even use all of the Transcender tests after I became convinced they were too hard. I def wasn't wanting to use them as a brain **** or to memorize. To me the whole point of a test simulation product is that it is a very close approximation to the exam, so you can tell when you're ready. That's how the Transcenders I've used in the past for Microsoft tests were. Unfortunately, they were way way off on A+ in terms of difficulty and even subject matter--a couple of the network questions might appear on the Net+ or CCNA but not A+.

I felt ripped off mostly based on the grammatical and spelling problems. If I'm going to pay you that much money, you should be able to take the time to run spell check or hire an editor.