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70-680 and A+ in 2 Months?

ecuadraecuadra Member Posts: 42 ■■□□□□□□□□
in General Certification
Hello,

I am going to school for Network Engineering this summer and have trouble electing my courses. My school offers both 70-680 and A+ classes both in 8-weeks time, but is that overload?

I have minimum IT experience but have built several computers and fixed them when something went wrong. There is also a basic Windows 7 per-requisite class that I can take or waive leading to another class. Should I do A+ and basic W7 or seize the 70-680 and A+ classes? These classes do not include certification exam as I have to pay and do them separately but I can take more time studying for them if I feel I am not ready.

Please help!
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    Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    70-680 is a tough exam, it's not really for beginners as such. Do the A+ first then take the exam ASAP after the class has ended. Then take more time with 70-680 as there is a lot of tricky questions on that test. Having some server experience helps with 70-680.

    Do you have any plans to go down the Microsoft or Cisco routes or are you just going through your course and then figure it all out afterwards?

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    About7NarwhalAbout7Narwhal Member Posts: 761
    I think the A+ and Net+ could be done, if you have an interest in that. But I doubt highly that you would be able to pass the 70-680 even with the class. It isn't impossible, but the exam is very difficult and is a little more applied than simply picking a right answer from a list. In my experience, there are several right answers given to some questions, the context is very important to find the BEST answer. If you rush through the material, you might not be able to apply it appropriately for those kind of questions.
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    natxnatx Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
    70-680 was a damn hard test for me, and i scored 700/1000, barely made it. And I already had my MCSA on W2K3 and took the 70-680 when it was XP. I've been professionally supporting it since it came out.

    However, I only studied for the 70-680 for 2 weeks, (8 hours a day mind you). My study resources were the 70-680 Windows 7 Configuration Microsoft Official Text and the Professor Messor videos Microsoft 70-680 | Professor Messer - CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Technology Training the questions are really worded in a complicated way, and the answer choices are vague and overlapping. Many topics go beyond the OS and venture into automated deployment, server technologies like branchcache, bitlocker and networking, even ipv6 technology..

    So i would probably do that intro w7 and a+ and then take the 70-680 course next semester.
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    ITMonkeyITMonkey Member Posts: 200
    I'm in the same camp as every one else who has replied. Although I passed the exam -- barely: 703 score -- it and the cisco icnd1 that i took earlier humbled me. Now I overstudy for the exams -- and that is likely an understatement! It works well to be paranoid. I've passed the exams taken since then with decent scores. I rely a lot on labbing and microsoft Technet. I am thinking of adding Transcender to that list in the future.
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    PCSPrestonPCSPreston Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 127
    Agreed. The 680 was a hard test. Focus on the A+ and then go for something else which the Net+ may be a good choice.
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    ecuadraecuadra Member Posts: 42 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Thanks everyone for the info as I am pretty new to the IT world. I thought the 70-680 would be easier than taking my other 5 classes for my CP in Help Desk Support:

    CCNA Network Basics
    Security+
    Unix/Linux 1
    CCNA Routing/Switching class
    MS Office 2010

    A+
    70-680

    I guess I should do the MS Office course and then take the CCNA Network Basics class with 70-680 spread for 4 months instead of 2 in the summer?
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