How much more preparation?

DissonantData

Ok, so I finished waching ALL of Messer's 801 and 802 videos on youtube and taken notes. Is there any more I should know? Should I finish reading Meyers book? Also, are there any practice exams I should take? Since this exam is more about memorization than troubleshooting, I'm not sure how much longer I will need to practice. I plan on finishing the A+ by the end of october.

P.S. The exam is expensive, costing $180 dollars. Is there anyway I can take it for less?

--chris--

DissonantData wrote: »

Ok, so I finished waching ALL of Messer's 801 and 802 videos on youtube and taken notes. Is there any more I should know? Should I finish reading Meyers book? Also, are there any practice exams I should take? Since this exam is more about memorization than troubleshooting, I'm not sure how much longer I will need to practice. I plan on finishing the A+ by the end of october.

P.S. The exam is expensive, costing $180 dollars. Is there anyway I can take it for less?

You can buy a voucher that has a 2 week shelf life for a reduced price from Comptia (i think its comptia) or your school may offer a discount on the voucher as well.

As for how much more studying to do, its impossible to say. I bought and use the Exam Cram practice test book and CD. It seems to give a pretty accurate portrayal of the test, but I have never sat for it..so what I say is all BS really

I would know all the bullet points for the exam objectives inside and out before I shelled out that much money. But I am also cheap and dont want to retake the A+.

Betrayal

I got my A+ back in February when I was 15 and trust me, all you really need is Professor Messer's training videos. That's what I used to pass and the fact that you've taken notes will help your chances of passing as it shows that you are serious about getting certified.

Read your notes daily, could take a couple of hours each day depending on how much notes you took. Or just skim through your notes every day if you are short on time.

Also, make flash cards on Quizlet and review your flash cards a lot, Quizlet really helps. You can find flash cards that people have already made related to the A+ exam.

Besides that, you could find some free practice exams to test your knowledge. The day before the test, try to memorize things that you are weak on. Like all of the DDR, DDR2, DDR3 speeds. Things like that. You never know what might be on the exam.

jvrlopez

$180 expensive? I paid $600 for my CEH :P

Check Ebay for vouchers that are cheaper than registering online for the exam. Some might be close to expiring or require registration with 48 hours or so, so be ready for that. Also, I'd recommend buying from a seller with a stellar reputation.

You can also call the testing center and see if they have their own vouchers. I know my PearsonVue testing center has prices for CompTIA exams that are $20 off the retail price. All you have to do is call and register over the phone as opposed to paying online and choosing the testing center.

--chris--

jvrlopez wrote: »

$180 expensive? I paid $600 for my CEH :P

Check Ebay for vouchers that are cheaper than registering online for the exam. Some might be close to expiring or require registration with 48 hours or so, so be ready for that. Also, I'd recommend buying from a seller with a stellar reputation.

You can also call the testing center and see if they have their own vouchers. I know my PearsonVue testing center has prices for CompTIA exams that are $20 off the retail price. All you have to do is call and register over the phone as opposed to paying online and choosing the testing center.

Relativly I don't think you want to put your CEH in the same ball park as the A+!

4_lom

$180 is expensive for the A+ exam... I mean, come on... it's JUST the A+ cert lol. But anyway, only you can be the judge of how prepared you are for an exam. But my advise would be to finish the Meyers book. Regardless of whether or not you are already prepared for the exam, that book has a LOT of good information in it. In fact, I may read it again

But if you're just looking to pass the exam, and not really learn everything that you can with the resources you have, than try taking a practice test. Any of the tests from Transcender or MeasureUp will help you judge your knowledge of the material.

DissonantData

Aren't there any free options for practice exams? I know that practice exams come with Messer's book, but would that be enough? I don't really wish to spend too much money other than that 300-360 cost for both exams.

donfrodini

for practice exams i was thinking about going with "Transcender A+" https://www.transcender.com/certprep/comptia/a-plus.kap

looks pretty good tbh includes flash cards and around 800 questions for around $60 but just trying to find out if they are a reputable company or not as I think this is the study route i will go down along with Messers YouTube vids.

Cant seem to get into the hang of any of the books ive tried so far was thinking about giving the exam cram books a blast.

4_lom

The questions that come with the Meyers book are good.

donfrodini

the questions that come with Meyers books is only a demo though is it worth purchasing the full package?

IrifiSix

Instead of reviewing notes on a daily basis, spend more time going over flash cards. Cognitive scientists have concluded that this is a far more effective study strategy than reviewing notes. Anki is a good electronic flashcard program that’s free. Text, pictures and audio can all be added. It also utilizes the concept of spaced learning.

Make your own flashcards and mix them with questions from other sources. I am currently doing this with the Mike Meyers A+ All-In-One in addition to the ExamCram questions.

Go over the exam objectives to see if you got everything covered. If there is anything you are a bit unsure on, review it and be sure about that topic.

Last thing, I don’t know how difficult the A+ exam is but the CCNA was tough because of the time factor. You needed to know the answers and be able to recall them quickly, and then move on to the next question. If anyone can give me an answer to this I would appreciate it.

IrifiSix

FloOz

Do you currently work for an employer that could potentially cover the cost? That's what I did when I passed my A+, and I was only an intern at the time.

--chris--

DissonantData wrote: »

Aren't there any free options for practice exams? I know that practice exams come with Messer's book, but would that be enough? I don't really wish to spend too much money other than that 300-360 cost for both exams.

I would give your 'old alma mater a call and see if you could get JK0 exam vouchers from them, I think its roughly half price if you can do that.

I used the exam cram practice tests, not bad for $15 if you can find it on amazon used. There are about 850 questions total. The real "gold" in the practice tests is not in the testing of your knowledge but rather clicking the "answer" button that displays the correct answer (and here is the important part) it also explains what the other 3 options are and why they are wrong in this instance but why they would be right in another instance. If will take you 3-4 weeks @ 1 hour a day if you go through and read ALL of the explanations. I would say if you are worried at all about it now, you wont be after.