Interesting Born to Learn article

Have MCTS/MCITP exams got easier? - Born to Learn - Born To Learn - Born to Learn

I was reading through this today. I tend to agree with most of the comments. Having taken a fair number of the exams relating to server 2003 and XP, some of those exams were quite difficult, especially the 291/293. Both in technical material and wading through 1/2 page of filler text. Having completed the 640 exam, I liked that the exam was more straight forward and asked more technical questions.

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Comments

ptilsen

I can't say that I found the exams I've taken so far much easier than the 2003 exams I took. I guess 7 was maybe a bit easier than XP, but XP was stupidly hard.

I really don't see any problem with the difficulty of the MCITP:SA/EA tracks relative to their MCSE equivalents. They are, for the most part, good exams that test the right knowledge in the right way.

Essendon

I'd say they are little easier but not by much. For me the MCITP exams became easier, but I think it's because I have been working on server OS's for a few years now. Back when I was doing the MCSA, I didnt get to touch a server at work and it made the tests harder.

But I'll agree that the MCITP tests are straightforward, with the exception of the 70-647 which throws plenty of curve balls in the scenario based questions.

PC509

I'm not sure if they are easier because I know a lot more of the material through work, hands on, and previous knowledge, or if they are just generally less difficult topics.

RobertKaucher

When I first took the MCTS/MCITP exams for Server 2008 it was right after having completed my MCSE: Security. So the 291 and 293 were VERY fresh in my mind. I in no way felt the exams were "easy" in that I could just read some books and take the test. But I was struck by the change and mentioned it several times on TE.

What I found was that the questions were less about reading comprehension and more about the application of the technology. The old MCP era exams seemed to try and confuse you, generally by front loading the question with irrelevant details that would distract the test taker into thinking the question was about DNS when really it was a question about the IP space and the default route.

I personally don't believe that questions like that are any more valid at evaluating the knowledge of the tester than more direct questions. I think all they do is make the test harder in a way that does not relate to what you know but how well you read and use logic (also important skills for IT pros but arguably NOT what the test is supposed to evaluate).

Slowhand

I found that, once they stopped writing the questions like page-long epic poems about Contoso Ltd., the exams were much more straightforward and you could rely more on your technical knowledge to recognize the problem rather than try to guess what answer they were expecting based solely on the twists and turns in the "storyline".

powerfool

I have to agree with the premise... Having an MCSE on 2003 and 2003, I saw questions on the MCITP: EA/SA path that could have been answered by someone that was vaguely familiar with Windows NT 3.51...

Psoasman

Slowhand wrote: »

I found that, once they stopped writing the questions like page-long epic poems about Contoso Ltd., the exams were much more straightforward and you could rely more on your technical knowledge to recognize the problem rather than try to guess what answer they were expecting based solely on the twists and turns in the "storyline".

+1 there. I prefer more straight-forward questions. I understand that some background information is necessary, but when you nearly run out of time due to reading a novel's worth of material, that's frustrating.