270 test prep: 1 month??

I really don't have any idea how long this is going to take. I'm trying to put on my resume that I am preparing for the exam by a certain date. I gave myself til the 2nd week of June to pass. Could anybody share...
(I'm using the blue 70-270 mcsa/mcse self-paced training kit. I've finished 3 chapters so far it took me about two weeks. do you think I can prepare with this book, take practice exams, and any additional reading by the end of the month thanks.)

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Devilsbane

aequeous wrote: »

I really don't have any idea how long this is going to take. I'm trying to put on my resume that I am preparing for the exam by a certain date. I gave myself til the 2nd week of June to pass. Could anybody share...
(I'm using the blue 70-270 mcsa/mcse self-paced training kit. I've finished 3 chapters so far it took me about two weeks. do you think I can prepare with this book, take practice exams, and any additional reading by the end of the month thanks.)

Depends on your experience. I just took a 20 question pretest for the 70-271, and got 16 of them right which would probably be good enough to pass. I haven't spent a second studying for that exam, just experience in the field A+ Net+ and studying for this exam.

Use a tool like transcender to guage your progess, if after a week of studying you are scoring 80s and 90s then you are good to go. If it takes a month then thats when you should do it. (Just don't sit there and keep taking tests, study for a while and then take a few questions. If you repeatedly take tests and check answers then you will simply memorize the transcender questions which can be diffent than the actual questions thus giving you a false sense of knowledge.)

Devilsbane

Also note that there is a lot of subject matter to the 70-270. Many people think its just xp and I have used that for 8 years. But it covers file permissions, and computer deployment, IIS, GPO's, some networking, and much much more. Between the 270,290, and 291 some people find the 270 to be the hardest because of the vast material you have to be ready for. You could get lucky and get all easy questions, or you can also be unlucky and get all hard ones. Don't bank on getting lucky when $125 is on the line.

It is good to set goals though. Go ahead and pick a date and start preparing for it. Get it scheduled and work for it. If you find that you are ready a week early you can cancel it and bump it up. On the other hand if you are 3 days away and still scoring 50's and 60's maybe you should bump it back. (No penalty if you cancel with more than 24 hours before your exam.) But just having that date on paper is generally going to motivate you. Sure, you always know that you can move it but your not going to want to. Also advertise to some friends that you are taking the exam on that day. They can help ensure you stay on task since moving it back is better than failure and spending money again but you aren't going to move it back just for kicks because then you have to face them.

aequeous

how far in advance do you have to sign up or can you do it a day before? Sorry, I feel I should know this one.

Devilsbane

aequeous wrote: »

how far in advance do you have to sign up or can you do it a day before? Sorry, I feel I should know this one.

I believe you can just walk up to the test center without an appointment and if they have room they can get you in.

If you are going to register online I think its 24 or 48 hours but I usually see where about the next week is booked up to some extent. (Days usually still open but the preferred times are gone.) That really depends on your area and the testing center you are looking at.

miller811

aequeous wrote: »

how far in advance do you have to sign up or can you do it a day before? Sorry, I feel I should know this one.

You would be a fool

to not schedule the exam on line and also request and use a voucher for the free 2nd chance offer. The banner is in the middle of the Prometric site. Get the voucher and then schedule the exam, worse case, you fail and get a free retake.

Prometric: Microsoft Testing and Microsoft Certification: MCP

aequeous

Thank you. Is there a deadline for this special voucher? Should I sign up immediately. I guess I don't know how much time to give myself. ...still thinking about the second wk of June (thx humble2007 for replies).
sorry, i think i have my answer.

aequeous

by the way. I'm just using the book and my windows xp to study.

earweed

You probably set up a virtual lab so you can do a little "break and fix" for practice. It's usually a good thing to do when studying for client system tests.

Lamini

if you have the experience, a brush up on the topics you are rusty is a must. However, just because you are familiar with XP doesnt mean you will pass the exam. Download the objectives, do the sims/labs... this is key, you must know the HOW TO. It shouldnt be hard as I knew others who started in the IT world just a couple months before the exam and passed. good luck :P

poriggity

I am using testout, and a certified Microsoft text to do my training.. Through a training academy here.. It's not cheap, but they are really helping. I blew through my A+ in no time, and am getting ready to sit for 70-270... I have heard the hardest part of it all is reading the questions, as they can be quite a few paragraphs long. You can never do too much studying, but being able to take a free re-test is always good!
Scott

Devilsbane

miller811 wrote: »

You would be a fool to not schedule the exam on line and also request and use a voucher for the free 2nd chance offer. The banner is in the middle of the Prometric site. Get the voucher and then schedule the exam, worse case, you fail and get a free retake.

Prometric: Microsoft Testing and Microsoft Certification: MCP

Is there a special way to register for the free retake? I just located a test center and clicked scheduled the exam. I paid right there and received my confirmation. Are you telling me that I will not be getting a second chance?? (Should I need one, I'm hoping not)

earweed

humble2007 wrote: »

Is there a special way to register for the free retake? I just located a test center and clicked scheduled the exam. I paid right there and received my confirmation. Are you telling me that I will not be getting a second chance?? (Should I need one, I'm hoping not)

No second chance now. The second chance option was right in the middle of the page you quoted. Hopefully you wont need it. Good luck on your test.

aequeous

I don't get it. Was this because of registry other than prometric?

miller811

aequeous wrote: »

I don't get it. Was this because of registry other than prometric?

This is not difficult people.....

click the link
Prometric: Microsoft Testing and Microsoft Certification: MCP

Locate the HUGE BANNER AD in the middle of the page

click it, fill in the information and request your voucher from Microsoft....

Wait for the voucher (almost instant via email)

then schedule the exam, after picking the location and date and time on the top section of the registration is a place to input the voucher number.

INPUT the voucher and schedule the exam....

Devilsbane

aequeous wrote: »

I don't get it. Was this because of registry other than prometric?

If you go select your exam and pay for it right there, you do not get a second chance. I emailed prometric and confirmed this. However, they told me I can cancel my appointment and receive a full refund, and then go re-register using the method above. Why can't they just convert it over?? Because that would be too easy and make too much sense.

Edit: This must be done 24 or more hours before the appointment, otherwise you will NOT get the refund.

aequeous

Hi, just wondering where you got your 20 question pre-test. Went on Transcender website but did not find anything on 70-270. Appreciate your help.

Devilsbane

aequeous wrote: »

Hi, just wondering where you got your 20 question pre-test. Went on Transcender website but did not find anything on 70-270. Appreciate your help.

Well there is one for the 270 on this site that I thought was pretty good. Click on Microsoft to the left and then click on the 270.

The 270 is a tough exam. A lot of people fail it with the assumption that it is just XP. It is the broadast subject though. It pulls in a lot of server stuff about group policies, and remote installations that most people have probably never worked with.

I don't remember where I found the exam for the 271 that I referred to earlier. Just googled 70-270 practice questions. (Thats actually how I found this site)