Options

70-640 Advice?

JulianMSPJulianMSP Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hi there TechExams! I've been lurking the forums for some time now and decided to sign up to ask a few questions :) So far the help I've found around here has been fantastic to orienting myself as to what to study.

A little bit of background: I'm a Microsoft Student Partner and have been working in an actual AD domain environment for over two years now, however, I obviously haven't been allowed to "play" with our AD setup too much :P Last year I got all of the IT Pro MTA certifications which I found to be pretty easy and passed all of them with over 850 (one of them without studying icon_lol.gif), and the MOS Master certification, failing only the Excel Expert exam on the first try with a 690 if I remember right (darn macros!)

So some days ago now I got an email that said that the MCITP 2008 (at least the title) was expiring July 31st, and after speaking with a few faculty members and managing to scourge up some funds for my little venture, I decided to challenge myself by trying to get the MCITP: Server Administrator certification before the end of July. Call me crazy, but I think I just might be able to pull it off.

I started over a week ago with the MS Press book and the Don Poulton Cert guide and have gotten to Chapter 5 of MS Press and supplementing it with Poulton, labbing EVERYTHING as I'm going. I'm also taking notes, highlighting the text, and checking the errata, but I'm a very kinesthetic learner. I'm planning on taking the exam next Friday if all goes well and then doing the 642 and 646 sometime in July. I'm also reading tons of TechNet articles from the sticky on the bus and basically anytime I get a free moment.

My question is, does anyone have any tips or tricks for me on my little quest? I'm fortunate in that I love the material and studying tech for me is fun, which makes recall and application a lot easier. A few preliminary practice tests I've done from the book CDs have gotten me in the 50-60% range before studying, and I've seen a gradual increase with every chapter I've completed. Also, are the CBT Nuggets videos any good? Are they worth the little time that I've got to spare?

Thanks a bunch!
-Julian

Comments

  • Options
    EasyMac308EasyMac308 Member Posts: 57 ■■□□□□□□□□
    I didn't like the CBT Nuggets for 2008, but the Trainsignal videos for 2008 R2 are quite good, if initially basic. I've plowed through the MS Press book and am going through the Trainsignal videos for a ldifferent perspective.
    Currently Reading: A cereal box
    BS:IT student at WGU - 81/120 CU done as of 6/2016
  • Options
    Peterm44Peterm44 Member Posts: 36 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Each to their own as I liked the cbt nuggets videos, I found 640 series James Conrad did was easy to get into, if I had any advice it would be study up on gpo, cs and dns. Wasn't a lot for me in the exam on FS.

    Also if you understand the 5 fsmo roles and which are domain roles really helps in the exam.
  • Options
    JulianMSPJulianMSP Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Alright, so I've gotten up to chapter 10 of MS Press and will be taking the exam this coming Friday, but I feel like after Chapter 10 whoever wrote it got real lazy. How is the Don Poulton book for this exam? Any good?
Sign In or Register to comment.