Failed 298 again

684. Today my 7th attempt for MCSE and fail has reduced me to tears. Maybe the MCSE is not for me....

Still finding it hard to piece together the info esp on certain scenarios and i just find it hard to read or scan quickly.

Kamikaze_worm

P.S - CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME HOW I CAN IMPROVE ON THE TOPIC "Creating the Conceptual Design for Network infrastructure security by gathering and analyzing busineess and technical requiremens" COS THIS BAR IS VERY LOW ALL THE TIME. WHAT THE F%*% IS IT.

Yes im aware of the CAPS prob because im very upset at the moment!!!!!!!!!!

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Comments

Devilsbane

Sorry to hear that.

You should have seen my bar for analyzing business needs, it was maybe 1/4 full. I've never found any of the bars to be too helpful in specifying areas to study.

Have you tried the Transcender's for these? While I don't believe they are as good as they typically are, it is nice to see the format of the test and get some practice in an untimed stress free enviornment.

Other than that, know the information inside and out. The way I see it, there are several components to passing this.

Reading Comprehention - Not a whole lot you can do to increase this in a short term
Understanding business needs - I'm not sure where you can go learn this
Technical knowledge - The only thing left, if the other 2 topics are low for you, this has to be high to compensate. You won't score a 1,000 but you only need 700.

Try the 298 nuggets with James Conrad. He covers the technical topics and throws in some of the business ideas too.

Hope that helps

kamikaze_worm

Used transcender, done them so much now there not very helpful. CBT is what I used to study with.

I just hate the format, i need a better way of taking the exam and understanding the case study. Some of them are so confusing and long winded.

Any exam technqiues you can recommend?

Gonna leave it for a month, and cut down my study, I just feel tired from a year of Design exams.

Devilsbane

I don't know what I can tell you. Like I wrote in my post, while I was taking the test I expected to fail and I was thinking about how I could come more prepared next time and I didn't really have an answer.

Know the technology and get lucky is about all of the advice I can give.

Shadly1

I failed one of the core tests 3 times. Every time I did, I tacked on a new form of study to my routine. On the final attempt, I had Transcender, CramMaster, MeasureUp, the Mike Myers book, a Sybex book and CBT Nuggets under my belt. What did it for me was the Self-Paced Training Kit. I would have never bought this thing on my own. It was given to me. I now use these for every exam and have not had a problem since. I hope I didn't just jinx myself. I highly recommend getting the 298 Self-Paced Training Kit by Roberta Bragg. Don't let the size of it discourage you. It's broken up into 13 chapters and you can do a chapter a day at a casual pace. You can do 2 chapters a day if you hustle.

Amazon currently has used ones for 1 shiny penny. Make sure it's a shiny one...
Amazon.com: Used and New: MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-29

: Designing Security for a Microsoft® Windows Server(TM) 2003 Network

RobertKaucher

I'm going to give you some different advice than others. This exam is a reading comprehension test. Every single answer to the question is in the case study. Every one. My suggestion is that you use the MeasureUp exam questions that come with the MS Press book and you practice your test form until you get it right. Meaning switch back and forth between the case study text and the question so that you can see exactly what you are trying to do in th equestion. You have to go back to the text, you just have to. You are never going to pass unless you are able to read teh text, read the question and draw conculsions about the requirements. Are there 2 answers that are contradicting the requirements leaving one that is wrong on technological grounds making the 4th answer correct by default?

The design exams more than any other exam type force you to find the answer by exclusion. You have to read, understand and then prove each answer wrong until you find one you can't prove to be incorrect based on the text of the case study.

Once you get the form down use something like SelfTest Software/Transcender to really practice.

Asif Dasl

"Creating the Conceptual Design for Network infrastructure security by gathering and analyzing busineess and technical requirements" that would be the first 4 or 5 chapters of the MS Press book for 70-298. It's code for "Designing a solution by looking at the business requirements"

The best thing to do would be, take each chapter and cover the material in the original books 70-291/70-293 etc. 70-298 is mostly a review of everything you covered in the previous exams, but you'd have to agree some amount of time has passed since you originally passed those exams. Revisit the original books for the content within chapters 1-5 of the 298 book and use the method RK has outlined and I'm sure you will pass it on your next try. Good Luck with the re-test! And chill, anything worth doing is always hard work.

Shadly1

I'm developing a strategy. I don't know if this is going to work yet because I haven't actually seen the live test yet but it seems to be working for case study questions. I'm going to skim the text, focusing a little extra on business requirements and interviews, then answer the questions to the best of my ability, then fine tune my answers by looking for the relevant blurbs in the text until the clock runs out for the testlet. Seems like the best use of available time to me.

kamikaze_worm

Shadly1 wrote: »

I failed one of the core tests 3 times. Every time I did, I tacked on a new form of study to my routine. On the final attempt, I had Transcender, CramMaster, MeasureUp, the Mike Myers book, a Sybex book and CBT Nuggets under my belt. What did it for me was the Self-Paced Training Kit. I would have never bought this thing on my own. It was given to me. I now use these for every exam and have not had a problem since. I hope I didn't just jinx myself. I highly recommend getting the 298 Self-Paced Training Kit by Roberta Bragg. Don't let the size of it discourage you. It's broken up into 13 chapters and you can do a chapter a day at a casual pace. You can do 2 chapters a day if you hustle.

Amazon currently has used ones for 1 shiny penny. Make sure it's a shiny one...
Amazon.com: Used and New: MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-29: Designing Security for a Microsoft® Windows Server(TM) 2003 Network

Iv'e got Messure up for practice tests as well as testout and transcender. I found mesure up to run off course with some of its questions but maybe im wrong?!?

I think thats it! I know the bits but get flustered on long winded case studies. Does anyone have any other techniques for a MS design exam. I am looking to go again in a month or just under. I am strong on most questions just get confused with case studies, esp when they are complicated (ie multiple forests, extranets, and the lay out.

Also any advice on material for when you have to configure a VPN or PKI withing a complicated enviroment (AD).

I think im gonna brush up on a few subjects then just practice reading case studies.

Any advice welcome and thanks to those that have replied allready.

Kamikaze_worm

P.S - 684 1 question away roughly wasnt i?

Psoasman

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. 684 is about 1 question away. I have some old exam notes and practice questions archived somewhere. Let me find it and hopefully that will help you out.

Shadly1

kamikaze_worm wrote: »

P.S - 684 1 question away roughly wasnt i?

If your test was less than 60 questions... yes.

Devilsbane

kamikaze_worm wrote: »

Also any advice on material for when you have to configure a VPN or PKI withing a complicated enviroment (AD).
...

P.S - 684 1 question away roughly wasnt i?

I made frequent rechecks. My goal in the reading of the case study was just to understand where to find information. So when you are working on the question you quickly know where to turn back to. And especially any time the question references where to look, go back. For example, if the question says something about the CIO, then flip back and reread what he said. Or if it asks about the business requirements, better go read those again.

As for the number of questions, that is impossible to say for sure. Depends on the number of questions you had as well as the method that Microsoft use to grade it. (Do they look at actual question numbers or do they curve it so that a 4 question case study is the same point value as a 9 question study). Assuming all questions are equal, you are looking at each question being worth about 20 points. So I would guess 1-2 questions.

Shadly1

Psoasman wrote: »

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. 684 is about 1 question away. I have some old exam notes and practice questions archived somewhere. Let me find it and hopefully that will help you out.

I have those in my hand right now. Thank you, BTW:D

kamikaze_worm

Psoasman wrote: »

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. 684 is about 1 question away. I have some old exam notes and practice questions archived somewhere. Let me find it and hopefully that will help you out.

Thanks any help would be Great

Ok so exam booked for 15th July. Gonna have a break this weekend and then try studying again next week. Gonna brush up on some PKI then its down to my technique for the exam.

Is it better to read questions first. What I have been doing is reading questions first. Writing down a rough summary of the question, then as I go through the case study I have been jotting down a rough link to where in case study I have to look. Maybe thats taking too much time away what do you recon?

Kamikaze_worm

Psoasman

I found that reading the questions first helped me. The information given about the company remains the same throughout each testlet, so I would use the question to find the key words in the information, to see what is wanted.

RK's advice is excellent for studying for this. Perhaps looking at it a different way will help you out.