A+ Exams Separate or Both at Same Time?

ibaime

Hi I'm new here, but was curious about how most people go about taking the A+ exam. The book I'm using to study for it (Exam Cram 220-801 220-802 by David L. Prowse) suggests that only 1 out of 10 of his students take both exams at the same time and usually have good success with it, but he recommends taking them separately. So is it common for most people to take them separately or both at the same time? I'm just about ready for the hardware portion, but haven't gotten into the software section yet. I apologize if I've posted this in the wrong section or anythin, like I said I'm new here and this is my first post. Thanks in advance!

Plantwiz

The choice will come down to you needing to decide for yourself, period.


I have always recommended and still recommend taking both exams the same day. Simply put, this is how the problems come up in the field, and a tech should be able to handle both.


HOWEVER, my one newly revised exception to the above is for those who are not native English speakers/readers or for those who cannot take the exam in their native language. After discussing with a few folks, those who do not speak English fluently may have enough mental stress translating their way through one test and might need a break before the second...so, that would be my only exception (simply because these folks will be working in their native tongue on the job, but for the exam they have only an English option.

Bottom line, no one can tell you what will work for you, you need to decide and set up your dates to get the exams completed.

Personally, for A+ prep I like the Mike Meyers text as my first choice. I you need only a light review, than Passport and Exam Cram will be fine.

ibaime

Thanks for your response. I have a pretty good tech background, I've assembled many PCs and have done a lot of troubleshooting in my past. I basically grew up in front of a PC, so I think the Exam cram is better for me. I was just kind of surprised that the text recommended taking them separately, because I had never heard of anyone doing that before.

srabiee

I think it may come down to your level of expertise. How difficult is this material for you? If you're new to the A+ concepts and topics, then I recommend splitting the material up and studying for each exam separately. If you're breezing through this material, then take them both and get it done.

Plantwiz

@ibaime,

Download a copy of the objectives and review those. If you are very familiar with all those topics, you should have no problem with the exams. Either way, (postponing the test date or just booking it from a week or two from now) It sounds like you can take them both the same day easily.

ibaime

Thank you both for the advice, it's much appreciated!

Polycosm

It's hard to argue with the reasons given thus far for taking both exams in one day. In addition to those, you also save on travel time, parking fees (if applicable to your location), and stress in the long-term.

However, I've chosen to take the exams separately (I'm aiming for approximately one week apart), and the reason is simply because I hadn't taken any kind of certification exam before and I wasn't 100% sure what to expect. I felt reasonably prepared going into the first exam (801) last week, but I thought to myself, how awful would it be if the 801 exam shocked me and I somehow failed, and then I had to take the 802 exam (my weaker area of the two) immediately after with no time to adjust or reschedule?

Now that I've got one exam under my belt, I think that if I study another split-exam subject in the future (such as Linux+), I'll sit for both back to back next time.

DoubleNNs

I took mine 2 days apart from each other. Passed 701 on Tues, passed 702 on Thurs. I think taking them in close succession is better than either taking them on the same day or taking them far apart.

chipcreep

Sounds like we're mostly on the same page, except you might have more experience than me. I'm using the Mike Meyer's Passport and the David L. Prowse Exam Cram books. I'm scheduled to take my 801 at the the beginning of next month. After that, I'm going to schedule my 802 test for a month after that. I'm not saying you should take them separately, but I know that's what I feel comfortable with.